Inside the tragic true story behind new Netflix show Boy Swallows Universe that follows a young boy, 13, who finds himself navigating through the criminal underworld of 1980s Brisbane

Boy Swallows Universe is Netflix’s most successful Australian series to date and has been a hit with streamers since its release this month.

Adapted from Trent Dalton’s iconic novel, Boy Swallows Universe is an extraordinary story that explores the trials and tribulations of two brothers – Eli and August – growing up in suburban Brisbane in the 1980s.

The seven-part series was released in full on January 11, and many of the platform’s subscribers have already binge-watched their way through more than seven hours, calling the show “beautiful and brilliant.”

True to its Australian roots, the series stars an A-list of Australian actors, including Phoebe Tonkin as Frances Bell, Eli’s mother, and Vikings star Travis Fimmel, as her drug dealing partner Lyle Orlik.

The troubled story first touched the hearts of many Australians when the book was released in 2018 – with certain elements of the story revealed to have been loosely inspired by some of the author’s own childhood experiences.

Trent Dalton (L) and Felix Cameron (R), who plays Eli Bell, pose for photos at the Netflix world premiere of Boy Swallows Universe on January 9, 2024 in Brisbane, Australia (Photo: Getty)

Speaking to the Townsville Bulletin in July 2018, Trent recalled growing up with two unconventional male role models.

One was his criminal stepfather, and the second was a family friend, Arthur “Slim” Halliday, a convicted murderer and prison escapee known as ‘The Houdini of Boggo Road’.

Trent described his stepfather as the “first man I ever really loved” and as a boy looked up to the man he called “Dad” – despite his dark, shady actions as a criminal.

Trent often asked his stepfather with burning curiosity about his companions, but was told that he would not find out until he reached a certain age.

However, when his stepfather was taken away by the police, the novelist began to channel his desire to find out more about his father figure’s secret life into writing a book based on “answers that never came.”

Arthur Halliday, known as ‘Houdini’, became infamous for his two escapes from prison in the 1940s and his later conviction in 1952 for murdering a Gold Coast taxi driver by pistol-whipping him.

As a young boy, Trent was unfazed by his past and described the family friend as the “funniest, nicest old guy.”

Now a contented suburban grandmother in her late sixties, the author’s greatest love was for the woman who was once ensnared in that dark and violent world: his mother.

Author Trent Dalston revealed that he grew up with two unconventional male role models: his criminal stepfather and a family friend who was a convicted murderer

The author’s greatest love was for the woman once enmeshed in that dark and violent world: his mother, starring Phoebe Tonkin as the fictional Frances Bell in the Netflix show

Trent’s three real-life older brothers, Joel, Ben and Jesse, have been combined in the show into one older brother: August Bell, who does not speak and writes prophetic messages in the sky

Trent said: ‘She inspired the character of Frankie Bell and I don’t have enough words in the book to go on about all the things my mother survived, things that other people would have succumbed to.’

Meanwhile, Trent’s three older brothers, Joel, Ben and Jesse, have been merged into one fictional older brother in Boy Swallows Universe: August Bell, who does not speak and writes prophetic messages in the sky.

But there were also elements of the show where the novelist created situations that didn’t really happen in order to add something unique.

For example, the retro red telephone that appears in a number of crucial scenes in Eli and August’s house is one of the mystical details in the novel and the TV series, but the author explains that it includes many true events that inform the plot of determine the story.

He told the Bulletin: ‘Over a period of about fifteen years I saw something of a mess of drug abuse, domestic violence, alcohol abuse and anxiety. All I do on the 407 pages is fantasize about who’s at the end of the phone line.’