Traditionally if Aussie audiences went for a period drama it was a bodice-ripping BBC yarn like the recent Downton Abbey, but 2011 has been the year that has seen a pair of local historical dramas head from television’s outback to the mainstream.

After three years mining the recent criminal past, Nine Network’s Underbelly series took a gamble and went right back to the 1920s for Underbelly: Razor the story of the razor gangs that terrorized Sydney during a bloody battle against two of the underworld’s notorious ‘queens’ Madam Tilly Devine and sly grog boss Kate Leigh.

The series got one of the biggest debut fi gures for a drama, with episode one receiving a whopping 2.5 million ratings fi gure before settling down to 1.5 million for subsequent entries.

Seven then blunted Razor’s edge in September when it debuted the much-hyped historical series Wild Boys, which follows the exploits of a band of bushrangers in the Australian outback. It bowed with 1.6 million viewers, inspiring the broadcaster to screen extra encore sessions after the show received such good reviews.

Cheekily dubbed UnderKelly by some, after the famous Aussie bushranger Ned Kelly, has Wild Boys confi rmed Australia’s renewed love of historical dramas?

Director of programming and production for Seven, Tim Worner, says he’s pleased that audiences have responded to his yesteryear antiheroes but is not sure it is just the time period that is responsible. “Actually, while the bonnets and buggies are interesting to look at – they are just part of the audiences enjoyment.

“It’s the telling of ripping, good yarns that really work – regardless of the era,” Worner added.

So if it’s not the olden days that are the draw what does he put the success of Wild Boys down to?

“It’s the appeal of the story and characters inside that story that made the premiere of Wild Boys a ratings hit,” he says. “Sure, good looking tough guys dressed accordingly and cops and robbers chases through the bush are all contributors – but at the heart of the series is a cracking story.”

But while the two shows do play fast and loose with historical facts, using modern soundtracks and language that would not be out of place in a local pub today, it is clear that horses and bowler hats are no longer a barrier to viewers tuning in. So we may yet see more such tales of old in the future.