A small country town in north Queensland holds secrets within its sugar mill, while outside the scent of corruption sweeps through the cane.
Welcome to Ashford, a fictional town portrayed in a Stan series recently filmed in Proserpine, which is about 25 kilometres inland from Airlie Beach.
The cold case murder mystery, entitled Black Snow, will be available for streaming New Year's Day and will feature homegrown talent as well as Travis Fimmel, who starred in television series, Vikings.
The six-part series, created by Lucas Taylor, unfolds across two time periods and features many familiar parts of modern-day Proserpine.
This includes the council chambers, which were transformed into a Brisbane cold case police unit.
While the murder plot is fictional, producers say the story weaves together factual aspects from the Australian South Sea Islander community.
Many members of the islander community are descendants of people forced from the Pacific to work in Australia's cane fields.
Talijah Blackman-Corowa, 21, plays murder victim Isabel Baker, which the show revolves around.
"It's really sad and disappointing because I'd bring it [history] up to friends and they'd be like, 'That happened?'."
That sentiment is shared in the series when Isabel's best friend is ignorant of the turbulent past behind the South Sea Islanders working in her family's mill.
"You just become so connected and so in it and it becomes part of you," Ms Blackman-Corowa said.
A cultural collaboration
Mr Taylor said many Australian South Sea Islanders helped shape the story, including producer Kaylene Butler.
Ms Butler is a direct descendent of a chief from Tanna Island in Vanuatu, who was stolen from a beach and transported to Australia.
Mr Taylor said when he set out to write the story, he did not intend to draw from a different culture.
"I developed the story, set in cane, and the history of the cane fields started to become a part of the story," he said.
Also among the writing team was Boyd Quakawoot, who has Australia South Sea Islander heritage.
Tanna Island sounds recorded
All music featured in the series is a collaboration between artist Ziggy Ramo and composer Jed Palmer, both from Australia.
Recording the songs for the show included a trip to Tanna Island to meet the community and record organic sounds, such as the rumbling of a volcano.
Mr Taylor said the cultural collaboration was something he would carry forward into other projects.
"We're making strides to doing better in this industry but we're not there yet," he said.
Ms Blight said while the show is "absolutely bingeable" the audience could learn a lot from it.
"It, without a doubt, will have you on the edge of your seats," she said.
