Tough Love starts shooting in Sydney

Former Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee Liz Kingsman is to star in a new Australian comedy, Tough Love.

The series, which stars Lord of the Rings actress Miranda Otto as the mother of three grown-up children, has just got under way in Sydney.

Kingsman – who had a Fringe hit with her Fleabag parody One Woman Show – plays daughter Steph, with Rick Donald and Hugo Johnston-Burt as sons Shane and Rodney.

Donald, who previously created the comedy series Australia's Sexiest Tradie, also wrote  Tough Love, which will be directed by Colin From Accounts’ directors Trent O’Donnell and Madeleine Dyer.

Sydney-born Kingsman is pictured above with Jay Ryan, who plays her partner Mick, in a newly released image from the show. She came to prominence on the comedy circuit with the sketch trio Massive Dad, alongside Stevie Martin and Tessa Coates, before earning herEdinburgh nomination for One Woman Show in 2022, before the show transferred to the West End. 

She subsequently appeared in comedies including Pls Like, King Gary and Rose Matafeo’s Starstruck as well as more recent supporting roles in F1 and Project Hail Mary.

Set in a suburban Australia Tough Love follows Otto’s character Kerry as she receives a cancer diagnosis and realises that all her adult children are totally incapable of surviving the world without her. 

• Rick Donald, Miranda Otto, Liz Kingsman and Hugo Johnstone-Burt in Tough Love

Donald said: ‘Tough Love draws on my observations of family, and the strange, funny and often difficult ways we look after the people we love. I wanted to explore what happens when a family is forced to confront something they’d rather not think about, while finding the humour in the chaos along the way.’

It will stream on Binge down under. Daniel Monaghan, an executive at parent company Foxtel, said: ‘We were immediately drawn to Rick Donald's sharp, heartfelt comedy about the messiness of family and being forced to grow up. With an outstanding cast led by Miranda Otto, Tough Love upholds our investment in authentic local storytelling.’

Published: 3 Sep 2026