Peter Andrikidis is one of Australia's most experienced directors. Winner of 3 Australian Film Institute Awards for Best Direction, 2 of which were for WILDSIDE, as well as a further 8 AFI Nominations and 2 Silver Hugos and 2 Gold/Silver Plaques at the Chicago International Television Awards.

Andrikidis:
‘I have received many scripts in my 24-year career and these are six of the best scripts I have ever read. The multi-layered script is highly cinematic. This is a fascinating and moving story with clearly developed characters, which are brilliantly crafted by the writers, headed by Kris Wyld and Steve Knapman. They are very clearly defined'.

One of the keys to the series was the casting of the character of Malik. His strength of purpose is very important. Malik’s journey is the audience’s journey. He is a well-conceived three-dimensional character who has convictions as well as flaws. The audience will be seeing Australia through his Islamic eyes – a man caught between two worlds, the police force (Conservative establishment world) and Arab Western suburbs (Islamic world).

Our television screens are filled with images of a ‘world on fire’, scenes of Bagdad burning, the charred bodies of civilians, the aftermath of suicide bombings and of course the twin towers on fire. Malik is a man searching for a place in this conflicted modern world. He is in a psychological sense ‘a man on fire’.

Don Hany brings so much warmth and reality to the role of Malik. He has shouldered a huge load; he’s in pretty much every scene. He did a lot of research with Hany Elbatoory and another detective, who must remain anonymous.