Even before the ground breaking Aussie whodunit series Secrets & Lies goes to air, the US version, starring Ryan Phillippe and Juliette Lewis, is ready to be filmed.
It's that kind of affirmation which has Network Ten and the show's executive producer Nathan Mayfield confident they have a potential hit on their hands.
Secrets & Lies has been specifically written so it incorporates second screen viewing on a tablet at the same time an episode is airing.
This means viewers can, for example, watch someone having a phone conversation and simultaneously hear the other person on the second screen.
The police interrogation has been stripped from the series and will air as weekly webisodes between each episode, so viewers can watch the police interviews online to gather more clues about who is responsible for the murder of a young boy.
But those who aren't computer savvy, or couldn't be bothered using a second screen, won't be left behind.
The six part-series starting Monday March 3 is self-contained for TV viewers.
It's just that for those do want to eavesdrop on telephone conversations or catch the police interview, they will be ahead of the water-cooler chit chat each week.
The series has been created by Queensland production company Hoodlum and was filmed in Brisbane.
It's the first multi-platform series made for free-to-air TV and it has been picked up by the ABC in the US where it will run for 10 episodes.
Mayfield says the Aussie writers have constructed the storyline so it easily crosses all multi-viewing platforms without diluting the TV version.
"All the clue-based material on the multi-platform viewing has come from the writers whereas normally that's an afterthought and is a marketing exercise to get people interested," Mayfield told AAP from LA where production on the US series is about to start.
The Australian version stars Martin Henderson as Ben Gundelach who finds the body of a young boy and then also becomes the prime suspect.
Joining Henderson are Diana Glenn (The Slap, Killing Time), Anthony Hayes and Adrienne Pickering.
"You can watch it every week just on TV and it will be easy to follow but we will give you clues on the other platforms," Mayfield says.
"One of the examples is a wide shot where in the back there is the daughter secretly talking to someone else on the phone and the second screen at that time will come to life and you will hear what she is saying on the phone.
"After the cliffhanger at the end of every episode, you can go back online and watch the police interview where it becomes more like Law & Order...there are more clues."
The series is one of Ten's marquee shows for 2013 and the webisodes will screen on www.secretsandlies.tv.
* Secrets & Lies premieres on Monday, March 3, 8.30pm on Network Ten
