Marking Time(2003)

Marking Time is an Australian television mini-series that premiered on ABC-TV in November 2003. Directed by Cherie Nowlan and written by John Doyle, the four-episode drama was the first mainstream Australian TV project to tackle the country's refugee policy. The story follows a young man taking a gap year in the fictional rural town of Brackley, where he confronts the human cost of government immigration decisions. Inspired by real events involving Afghan refugees and their hosts in Young, New South Wales, Marking Time explores themes of compassion, community, and moral responsibility through intimate character drama. The series was shot primarily in Singleton in the Hunter Region, offering a grounded look at how asylum seekers and ordinary Australians navigate displacement and belonging in small-town Australia.