Some of the women who allege Craig McLachlan harassed them on the set of the hit ABC TV show The Doctor Blake Mysteries may be able to give evidence at the actor's upcoming defamation trial after all, a court has heard.
McLachlan is suing actor Christie Whelan Browne, Fairfax Media and the ABC for defamation in the NSW Supreme Court over claims that he indecently assaulted and sexually harassed cast members during a 2014 run of The Rocky Horror Show musical.
The 53-year-old strongly denies the allegations and has filed two separate lawsuits: one against Fairfax Media (since bought out and renamed Nine) and Whelan Browne, and one against Whelan Browne and the ABC. The defendants will argue a defence of truth.
In a decision handed down on Tuesday afternoon, Justice Lucy McCallum ruled that Whelan Browne and the two media organisations can amend their defences to add in an imputation of "contextual truth" – a complex defence to defamation that is different from a regular truth defence.
She allowed Fairfax to add to its defence the imputation that McLachlan "is a sexual predator in that he has indecently assaulted, exposed himself to and sexually harassed female colleagues in the workplace", and allowed the ABC to argue the same, excluding the "exposed himself to" part.
The decision opens up the possibility of the defamation trial hearing from women who acted alongside McLachlan in The Doctor Blake Mysteries.
The media organisations had sought to add three actors from the show – Anna Samson, Cate Wolfe and Tamzen Hayes – to the defence earlier this month, but the testimony was ruled out in another pre-trial decision.
McCallum said it appeared that the change to the defence would see Samson's evidence allowed in and Wolfe's still excluded, but said "for an abundance of caution" she would hear arguments on the issue on Wednesday afternoon.
Samson alleges McLachlan placed his hand on her buttock during the filming of a scene of The Doctor Blake Mysteries in 2014, the court has previously heard.
The jury trial is scheduled to begin on February 4 and last for four weeks, leaving little time at this stage for further pre-trial applications and hearings.
On Tuesday McCallum also granted an application for actor Angela Scundi to give evidence via video link.
Scundi, a key witness who accused McLachlan of misconduct in the publications at the centre of the lawsuit, is pregnant and cannot travel on doctor's orders, the court heard.
McLachlan has also applied for two of his witnesses – Kristian Lavercombe, who played Riff Raff in The Rocky Horror Show, and choreographer Nathan Wright – to appear via video link from London.
McCallum asked McLachlan's barrister Matthew Richardson to provide a brief summary of the evidence each man is expected to give before she rules on the application.
McLachlan is seeking $6.5 million in special damages for economic loss in the lawsuit.
The matter is back in court on Wednesday afternoon.