Loose Units: The Podcast

This week, Loose Units, Castaway Studios and Tegan Higginbotham proudly present Red Hot Australian Christmas, a hilarious and touching 45-minute Christmas audio play based in Gippsland, Victoria. 

It’s Christmas in Australia, and Victoria is in the grip of an unprecedented heatwave.  

As the mercury rises across the state, the threat of fire plays heavily on the minds of many. But for a stubborn few, Christmas is – first and foremost – a time for family, feasting, and forced frivolity. And as far as they’re concerned, the fires can go and get f**ked. 

One such believer is grizzled country Grandmother Heather Kelly, who has finally managed to get her entire family under one roof in Maffra, Gippsland. But before Heather even has time to interrogate her children about their failing love lives, the family receive a fire evacuation order. Code Red – they have to leave. 

With danger pressing in on them, the Kelly family pack Christmas into the back of a caravan and flee for their lives. But as night rolls into day and the fires begin to surround them, Heather has to face up to the fact that she could be about to lose much, much more than her Christmas.  

Starring (in alphabetical order):

Michala Banas, Eddie Baroo, Michelle Brasier, Bev Killick, Jackson Tozer, Paul Verhoeven, Kirsty Webeck. 

With special guests, Georgia Love and John Verhoeven.  

Written and directed by Tegan Higginbotham 

Audio production by Paul Verhoeven 

Proudly recorded on Wurundjeri land.  

All proceeds going to Stand by Support – dedicated to supporting individuals and communities across Australia bereaved or impacted by suicide.