When family outcast Lucky Flynn learns that his mother is dying, he decides to drive to the other side of Australia to see her, packing nothing but an upright piano for the journey.

But his plans are soon turned upside down when he meets the runaway teenager Meg, who’s dealing with some family demons of her own. Together they forge an unlikely friendship, embarking on a road trip adventure across the Nullarbor Plains in a race against time.

Along the way they encounter feral camels, a magical pink lake, highway thieves, cliff-top parties, a speed-loving truckie, an underworld fight ring, suspicious cops, and the world’s most musically appreciative motorcycle gang.

Over eight hot days, Lucky and Meg drive, hitch and scam their way across the scorching desert continent – with the upright piano never leaving their side - on a journey that will ultimately make them both feel more at peace with everything in life that they’ve been kicking against.

Here are the key characters in the series, and who plays them.

Played by: Tim Minchin (Jesus Christ Superstar, stand-up comedian)

If ever there were a man who didn’t live up to his name, it would be Lucky Flynn. At 40-years old, Lucky is broke, bitter and damaged. He lives the listless life of a muso in Sydney, estranged from his well-heeled family in Perth. His only worldly possession is an old upright piano, to which he has an oddly obsessive attachment.

A gifted player, Lucky’s talent for music is matched only by his talent for self-sabotage. But when he learns that his mother has only days left to live, he agrees to put old family wounds aside and make the 4000km drive across the country to see her one last time.

Played by: Milly Alcock (House of the Dragon, Reckoning)

Meg’s not your typical teenage country girl. Mature beyond her years, she’s a feisty, no-filter chatterbox who deserves to have a PhD in swearing. She’s got street smarts too: a wily, clever operator who plays people with the same brilliance that Lucky plays the piano.

It helps that she’s a gifted liar; and while her ability to spin a story comes in handy on her road trip with Lucky, it becomes increasingly clear that it’s also a coping mechanism to hide some painful family demons. Behind Meg’s bravura is a real sadness. And the irony isn’t lost on Lucky that the girl who ultimately helps him reconcile with his family is in the very same moment running away from hers.

Played by: Heather Mitchell (Fake, The Great Gatsby)

Although now in her dying days, Jen is the beating heart of the Flynn family.

A loving mother, who raised her two boys single handedly after her husband died, Jen has never stopped caring about Lucky – despite the terrible choices and mistakes that he’s made in life. She wants nothing more than to see Lucky before she passes away.

Played by: Daniel Lapaine (Catastrophe, Black Mirror)

A promising musician in his own right, Toby used to share the stage with Lucky in an indie Perth rock band on the rise, but he chose to give it all away to pursue a more responsible and secure job in the WA mining industry.

These days he barely speaks to Lucky and has never forgiven him for a devastating betrayal.

Played by: Ella Scott Lynch (Love Child, Pimped)

Not just the wife of Toby, but the nemesis of Lucky’s life: the so-called “Yoko” who Lucky holds responsible for breaking up his band.

But despite her comfortable existence in Perth, with Toby away so often away for work, Suzie feels an occasional loneliness. This, combined with a great deal of wine one night, leads her to make a life-changing mistake.