Roger Monk.

When screenwriter Roger Monk was offered a gig on the Aquarius Films/Sbs crime caper The Unusual Suspects, he seized the opportunity to channel his favourite film, Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

Tonally he saw similarities with Pedro Almodóvar’s Oscar-winning 1988 black comedy-drama about a woman who embarks on a strange journey to try to discover why lover suddenly left her without any explanation.

Set in Sydney’s affluent Eastern suburbs, The Unusual Suspects revolves around the theft of a $10 million necklace from self-made Filipino businesswoman Roxanne Waters’ home during her twins’ birthday party,

The suspects include including socialite Sara Beasley, whose life is crumbling fast, and her long-suffering nanny, Evie De La Rosa, a godmother of sorts for other Filipino domestic workers.

“The show is about female frenemies, disparate characters who come together through circumstance and become friends,” Monk tell If.

Producers Angie Fielder