Netflix’s new adaptation of My Brilliant Career is now available to stream worldwide.
Based on Miles Franklin’s much-loved 1901 novel, the six-part Australian period drama stars Philippa Northeast as Sybylla Melvyn, an independent and spirited young woman rural and her life in rural Australia at the turn of the 20th century.
What is My Brilliant Career about?
Sybylla has one burning ambition: to become a writer.
Unfortunately for her, the impoverished Melvyn family have a different plan for her future. When she is sent to live with her wealthy grandmother, Sybylla encounters a more privileged world where marriage offers the obvious route to financial stability.
She soon meets two very different potential suitors, Harry Beecham and Frank Hawdon, played by Christopher Chung and Jake Dunn.
But Sybylla’s real struggle isn’t simply about which man would make the best choice – she ultimately has to decide whether romance and the expectations placed upon her can be reconciled with her desire for independence and a creative life. Sibylla’s dilemma made the heroine seem remarkably unconventional when the book was first published and the new adaptation focuses on this aspect of the book.
Who stars in the Netflix series?
Northeast leads an extensive Australian cast alongside Chung and Dunn, with Nathan Page playing Sybylla’s father Richard Melvyn.
The supporting cast includes quite a few familiar faces for period drama fans. Anna Chancellor plays Sybylla’s formidable grandmother, Mrs Bossier, while Genevieve O’Reilly stars as her aunt, Helen Bossier, and Kate Mulvany plays Harry’s aunt, Augusta Beecham.
The adaptation was created and written by Liz Doran, with Alyssa McClelland directing.
Watch the trailer:
Where was My Brilliant Career filmed?
Although Franklin’s novel is set in New South Wales, the Netflix adaptation was filmed mainly in South Australia.
Principal photography took place over 12 weeks during the Australian winter of 2025, with locations including Gawler, Penola, Pewsey Vale, Harrogate, Murray Bridge, Urrbrae and Kangarilla.
The production team were particularly attracted by South Australia’s surviving heritage buildings and relatively untouched countryside.
Many of the locations had never previously appeared on film or television so this helped give the series its distinctive visual identity. Interior sets were also constructed at Adelaide Studios.
A new take on an Australian classic
This isn’t the first time My Brilliant Career has been filmed – the best-known previous adaptation is Gillian Armstrong’s acclaimed 1979 film, with Judy Davis as Sybylla and Sam Neill as Harry Beecham. The film helped launch Davis’s career overseas and has since been hailed as an Australian cinema classic.
The Netflix version has had a lot more time to develop Franklin’s story, spread out over six episodes, while also giving it a distinctly contemporary feel.
This is most evident in the choice of music. François Tétaz’s score is a mixture of orchestral music with Molly Lewis’s whistling and the voice of Kate Miller-Heidke, while the wider soundtrack includes modern Australian artists and reinterpretations of songs by international artists such as Blondie and Simon & Garfunkel.
All six episodes of My Brilliant Career are streaming on Netflix now. The series launched globally on 13 August 2026.
