Underbelly Razor – Dope in old Sydney

Underbelly, the Australian true crime TV franchise that is pretty damn good reaches a peak for me with Underbelly Razor, the story of the late 1920s, early 1930s razor gang wars in Sydney between the gangs of the two madams Kate Leigh and Tilly Devine. A cracking series – better than Boardwalk Empire for my money.  Quite a few good references to Chinoiserie or things Chinese including a whore being introduced to her first chop suey (and liking it) as well as several opium den scenes with Chinese serving up the dope to washed up WW1 vets turned killers for hire in Sydney. One character, John “Snowy” Cutmore (a Melbourne standover man exiled to Sydney) particularly likes the dens and also smoke opium (with a pucker pipe) at home. Eventually, towards the end of the series, we see the Chinese involvement in the Sydney dope business in more detail. Not sure how you can see the show outside Australia (though it has popped up on pirated DVD in Shanghai I note).