The Block co-creator Julian Cress (above) reminded Mediaweek as we started our interview this week that the format is returning for series 17. It’s an incredible achievement for a program that must rank as the most financially successful ever to screen on Australian TV.
Huge audiences still return to watch each year and commercial partners continue to line up too – another 20 this year.
“To be able to still deliver better content than we have previously is a real testament to the crew, our producers and the cast,” Cress told Mediaweek.
“Bringing back Ronnie and Georgia, and Mitch and Mark, was an inspired idea and all credit to Nine’s Michael Healy and Adrian Swift for that.
“To decide to make Fans v Favourites has created one of the most dramatic series we have ever made.”
Cress admitted he’d had great support from Nine management when he and colleague David Barbour first pitched the idea. However there was one opinion that mattered who didn’t share their vision initially.
The Block originally started with the support of then CEO David Gyngell. And it was Gyngell again who re-started the format after the first two series when he returned for a second time as Nine CEO.
“The show was originally pitched to Peter Meakin,” Cress explained. “At the time he was uniquely both head of news and head of reality at Nine. I worked in the news department and David Barbour worked for the reality side of the business.
“After we took the idea to Meakin, he took it to David Gyngell who was CEO. Gyngell was a huge supporter of the idea, against what Kerry Packer thought about the format. Packer thought the show would fail. Gyngell had to say to Packer that he had given him the job, so he was making the show.
“Gyngell took a big risk on it.”
Cress and Barbour made two series of The Block initially before it was “rested”. They subsequently left Nine after Eddie McGuire became CEO in 2006 and headed to the US where they produced programs for Gyngell who was then running ITV Studios in North America.
“When Gyngell came back to run Nine again, he called and asked us to come back to help him turn Nine around. We came back and reignited The Block.”
After Jamie Durie hosted the first two seasons, Durie’s former Backyard Blitz colleague Scott Cam stepped in as host and he’s still there 15 seasons later.
Although Gyngell has now departed Nine, the show continued to be a cash cow under CEO Hugh Marks during his time and will no doubt continue to do so under the leadership of Mike Sneesby.
Cress noted the longevity of the series means they might be one of the easiest shows for the network to work on. “Nine doesn’t really have to worry too much about it. The Block has maintained its quality and success and I’d like to think we are looked upon as easy people to work with because we always deliver.”
Fans v Faves: Covid clearance
After being impacted by Covid during the shot for The Block in 2020, the production was blessed with a lockdown-free shoot.
“It was just after 36 hours after Melbourne lockdown ended in February that we started this season,” Cress told Mediaweek. “We managed to finish filming 36 hours before the new lockdown started.”
During 2020 The Block was forced to close for six weeks. “We were just phenomenally lucky this year. We worked for 90 days straight between the two lockdowns.”
The Block: 2020 Auction
That 2020 season of The Block ended with an auction that not many people will forget. Property investor Danny Wallis bought three of the properties and another one did not proceed after the money was not forthcoming.
“It was unusual having a bidder who didn’t complete the sale,” said Cress. “The fact that we were able to sell that property off market later and get the money proves the market price was right.
“Regarding Danny who bought the three properties, some thought he was paying crazy money for those houses. It turns out he was the smartest guy in the room. Property prices have gone up in that area nearly 20% since that auction.
“It was a weird auction, but it was pretty memorable. I would welcome Danny back any day. He’s the guy you want at your auctions. I don’t care how weird the sale process might get, as long as the contestants do well.”
Longevity more important than quantity
One thing that The Block producers and the network have been careful to do is not saturate the market. Although they deliver 50 episodes a year, there was a period when people were consuming over 100.
Julian Cress: “There was a time for three years where we made two series each year. There is a huge chance if we had continued with that we wouldn’t be here now. The credit for that goes to Michael Healy who realised that longevity was more important than getting 100 episodes every year. The audience would have really burned out on it. Instead they are now looking forward to it just once a year.”
Why this really could be best season ever
“We went into this series with our normal crew and expectations around timings,” said Cress. “We found out that we were shooting 50% more material across 12 weeks than we did on earlier series.
“Our camera and sound teams were run off their feet because there was so much content from the teams. These contestants turned up at The Block on day one and they just went for it and never shut up! (Laughs)
“They went for it regarding the best job they could do for their homes and they went for each other’s throats at the same time. It was a hugely competitive group and the results make this one of the most exciting series we have ever made.”
Cress’s production partner David Barbour looks after post-production while Cress is the on-site production co-ordinator, along with Nine’s Justin Sturzaker.
Cress: “We presented David a bigger challenge with the extra content this year, but he loves to have so much to work with. It is a challenge though to tell the stories effectively. It is not like we have more episodes or more time.”