Dylan River’s highly addictive show, following a teenager on the run across the outback in the 1980s, has real oomph and chutzpah

This highly addictive and fiendishly entertaining series about a delinquent on the run across outback Australia in the 1980s has real oomph and chutzpah, leaping from the screen like a frog strapped to a firecracker. With its in-your-face attitude, springy plotlines and sassy young female protagonist, Thou Shalt Not Steal reminded me of SBS’s recent series Swift Street: both extremely bingeable productions that never take the audience’s attention for granted and work hard to sustain a punchy tempo.

Co-created by director Dylan River and executive producer Tanith Glynn-Maloney, this stylish Stan original is packaged into eight tight episodes, clocking in at less than 30 minutes a piece. It begins with 17-year-old incarcerated Aboriginal protagonist Robyn (Sherry-Lee Watson) declaring: “Them missionaries reckon thou shalt not steal. Bit rich from the Bible-bashing bastards that stole our country!” This is just the beginning of a wildly irreverent show largely set in – to quote Robyn – “the middle of bumfuck nowhere”.