Woman’s Day and New Idea are household names in Australia, but they have no always been. Back in the early 1980’s, New Idea, headed by editor, Dulce Boling (Rachel Griffiths) was the top seller on the newsstands. When Kerry Packer (Rob Carlton) buys into magazine, Woman’s Day, he appoints Nene King (Mandy McElhinney) as editor in chief. King, who was once employed by Boling at New Idea, has her own personal battle to fight with the opposing glossie. She sets out not just to make sure her magazine succeeds, but to make sure she comes out as number one.

Paper Giants: Magazine Wars is a tricky one. On one hand, it is a great historical biopic and that is a good thing. The mini-series completely captures the time period of the 1980’s. There are some fantastic montages of the news story worthy moments, trends and songs of the decade which could either make you nostalgic or make you glad that we have moved on from those times. It really does a good job of recreating Australia in that decade. However, on the other hand this is problematic when making this mini-series attractive for international audience. Paper Giants is so very Australian in every way that it is not relatable for anyone but Australians. There is a lot here which won’t seem to be of any importance, interest or entertainment to non-Australians. This is really just a television show for Australians about Australians, and therefore only has a small designated target audience.

Even though Paper Giants is interesting enough for this audience, it has no emotional depth. The characters themselves are well constructed, but you really feel for any of them. Yes you do take sides in this Magazine War, but nothing in this mini-series shakes you to the core. It is more a bit of fun than anything else. There are a few giggles and the takes on celebrities such as Kylie Minogue are hilarious.

The performances in this mini-series are fine, but not extraordinary. Mandy McElhinney (who is more well known as Rhonda in the AAMI commercials) does well as Nene King, but at times her character almost just seems tacky. This may be the way Nene King was seen to be in real life, but the character just comes across annoying and over the top. Rachel Griffiths is fine, but her character is really quite dull and doesn’t seem to change in manner throughout the whole series.