Entitled Rake, it will chronicle the cases of a criminal defence lawyer who defends difficult cases.

Filming of the one-hour episodes will begin in Sydney in May.

Mr Waterstreet insisted in Albury yesterday that it would be serious drama.

According to the ABC promoters, it would be about cases involving “bigamists to cannibals and everything in between”.

“A little of the stories will be true and there’s a lot of imagination,’’ Mr Waterstreet said with a smile.

Both Mr Waterstreet and Mr Roxburgh were born in Albury.

But they did not know each other in Albury and became friends while living and working in Sydney.

“We met through a mutual friend and I’ve produced a few films,” Mr Waterstreet said.

He attended Christian Brothers College in Smollett Street, the same street as his late parents kept Waterstreets’ pub, the part-setting for his best-seller book, Precious Bodily Fluids.

That book mentions former mayor Cleaver Bunton and the lawyer in the series is, oddly enough, called Cleaver Greene.

Roxburgh is a former student of Albury High School and his parents live in East Albury.

With a distinguished career in film and on stage, he has played characters ranging from Dracula to Sherlock Holmes.

Last year he played former prime minister Bob Hawke, in a television production.

Mr Waterstreet said the idea for Rake came from discussions between him, Roxburgh and friend Peter Duncan, who will direct the series.

Brushing aside questions about being older than Roxburgh he joked, “Richard is shorter than me so will have to use stilts”.

Mr Waterstreet will be a consultant to the series, which will be produced by Essential Media and Entertainment.