Melanie Lynskey is set to play convicted murderer Erin Patterson in a limited series about Australia’s notorious mushroom murders.
The Yellowjackets actor will star in Mushroom Murders: There’s More to Unearth, a six-part drama commissioned by Paramount+ and due to premiere in 2027.
Filming is due to take place in Victoria, where the 2023 lunch and subsequent investigation unfolded, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
The series will reconstruct the 97 days between the family lunch that killed three of Patterson’s relatives and her arrest, with Lynskey also serving as an executive producer.
In July 2023, Patterson invited her estranged husband’s relatives to her home in Leongatha, a rural town in Victoria, and served them individual beef Wellingtons. The meal killed her estranged in-laws Don and Gail Patterson and Gail’s sister Heather Wilkinson.
Heather’s husband, Ian, survived after spending weeks in hospital.
Patterson was convicted in 2025 of murdering the three guests and attempting to murder Ian Wilkinson. She was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 33 years before she can apply for parole.
She has appealed against her convictions, with a decision expected from Victoria’s Court of Appeal on Friday.
Prosecutors have separately appealed her sentence, arguing that the 33-year minimum term is too lenient and that she should not be eligible for parole.
Lynskey announced the project at the combined Paramount+ and Network 10 Upfronts in Melbourne on Wednesday, where the Australian broadcasters unveiled their forthcoming programmes.
She said the series “offers a compelling and unique perspective on the events that made headlines around the world”, according to The Guardian.
She added: “It’s really good. Because behind all those headlines there is still so much to unearth.”
The series is created by Anya Beyersdorf, whose credits include the Netflix drama Apple Cider Vinegar about wellness influencer Belle Gibson, along with The Handmaid’s Tale director Daina Reid and producer Deb Balderstone.
Reid will direct all six episodes, while Beyersdorf, Dianne Taylor and Belinda Chayko are writing the scripts.
Australian production company Soapbox Pictures will produce the drama.
Beverley McGarvey, president of Network 10 and head of streaming at Paramount Australia, said in a statement: “It is a powerful addition to our growing slate of premium storytelling, and we are delighted to partner with such an exceptional creative team to share it with viewers around the world.”
Lynskey will next return as Shauna Sadecki in the fourth and final season of Yellowjackets.
The psychological thriller follows a girls’ football team whose plane crashes in a remote wilderness, forcing the survivors to descend into increasingly savage behaviour, while the adult survivors grapple with the secrets of what happened nearly 25 years later.
The final season picks up as rescue approaches, with the survivors facing the prospect of returning home and the consequences of what they did to stay alive.
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