The Netflix TV drama Boy Swallows Universe is an Aussie delight

Anyone who read Dalton's epic coming of age novel set in 1980s Brisbane against the low-rent criminal milieu might fret that nothing could do it justice. This production does - it's bloody brilliant.

The semi-autobiographical story about a young boy and his older brother negotiating an alcoholic absent father, heroin-dealing stepfather, behind-bars mother, school bullies, warring drug gangs and bent cops sounds bleak. But it's not. It's full of heart and humour and humanity.

And so many fantastic 1980s references - from the orange powdered drink Tang to Sale of the Century to a Holden Kingswood ambulance to Viv Richards to that hanging cutlery set that seemed to be in every household.

And the humour, the one-liners! There is a lot of pathos and tears, don't get me wrong, brilliant Felix Cameron who plays the young protagonist Eli Bell, is the best on-screen crier since Meryl Streep.

But there are a lot of non-PC laughs. When Eli and his brother Gus suggest moving in with family friend, former Boggo Road jail inmate Slim Halliday (played by Bryan Brown), he refuses telling them they'll both end up in care and "I'll go on the pedo register". When their real dad Robert (played by Simon Baker) is knifed in the throat, ever self-effacing, he brushes it off as "just a nick to the jugular".

Netflix says the series, whose producers include Aussie acting legend Joel Edgerton, has won an audience worldwide. Since its release on January 11, the limited series has gained 3.6 million views. Last week, it was number five on the global top 10 Netflix TV shows and number two in Australia.

To stay true to the novel being based on Dalton's own childhood, the seven-part series was filmed on location over five months in south-east Queensland. Production ran for 95 days in 67 locations across five local government areas.

What I love about the book and the series most is the way they show characters who are flawed but essentially good, especially the male characters.

Robert is an alcoholic who loves to read and loves his boys, despite his addiction. Step-dad Lyle Orlik (played by Travis Fimmel from Vikings) deals heroin but is charismatic and loveable. He brings joy to the boys' lives. For a while.

And Slim Halliday, who may or may not have killed a taxi driver and did attempt numerous jail escapes, is the sage father figure Eli and Gus need. None of them are fancy. None of them have money. But they are good men. Better than the other male characters in the story with more money and resources available to them. Eli, meanwhile, just loves his mum and wants a better life for her.

"With all my characters, I just hope people like them," Bryan Brown, who plays Slim Halliday, said. "As long as they're human, they're vulnerable. They make blues, like we all do, and some blues are really bad. But at the heart of it, we all get given a number of years and we're trying to make the most of it. And I think in his last term, Slim's really thinking, 'I want to contribute in some bloody way, and here's a couple of kids and maybe that's the answer'."

They're doing their best.

The other wonderful aspect of the series is the music. From Paul Kelly's Dumb Things to The Angels' Am I Ever Going to See Your Face Again? to Men at Work's Johnny Be Good, I need the Boy Swallows Universe soundtrack. A tape even. Like Thru the Roof 1983. Hearing Joe Jackson's Steppin' Out, sung a little unconventionally in the series, rockets me right back to 1982.

Boy Swallows Universe is, in the end, hopeful.

Like the last song of the series, Madness' It Must Be Love says: Nothing more, nothing less, love is the best.

Group hug everyone.