Sunday 7 August
7:40pm Grand Designs New Zealand
8:30pm Wallander Final Series Premiere
10:00pm Redesign My Brain With Todd Sampson: Make Me Smarter
Monday 8 August
8:00pm Australian Story
8:30pm Four Corners
9:20pm Media Watch
9:35pm Q&A
Tuesday 9 August
8:00pm Catalyst
8:40pm Forces Of Nature With Brian Cox
9:30pm Foreign Correspondent
10:00pm The Book Club
Wednesday 10 August
8:00pm QI: Liblabble
8:30pm Gruen
9:10pm The Katering Show
9:20pm You Can’t Ask That
9:35pm Soul Mates II
10:10pm Would I Lie To You?
Thursday 11 August
8:00pm The Checkout
8:30pm New Blood
9:30pm Jonathan Creek Rpt
Friday 12 August
8:00pm Tony Robinson’s Time Walks: Geelong
8:30pm New Tricks
9:30pm Exile
Saturday 13 August
7:30pm The Coroner
8:20pm Inspector George Gently
9:50pm Poldark
Sunday 14 August
7:40pm Grand Designs New Zealand
8:30pm Wallander
10:00pm Redesign My Brain With Todd Sampson
Monday 15 August
8:00pm Australian Story
8:30pm Four Corners
9:20pm Media Watch
9:35pm Q&A
Tuesday 16 August
8:00pm Catalyst
8:40pm Forces Of Nature With Brian Cox
9:30pm Foreign Correspondent
10:00pm Keith Haring Uncovered In 1984 American artist Keith Haring visited Australia and created a mural in Collingwood, Melbourne. This is the story of the mural which is now one of only 31 known murals by Haring that are still in existence worldwide.
Wednesday 17 August
8:00pm QI: Lethal
8:30pm Gruen
9:10pm The Katering Show
9:20pm You Can’t Ask That
9:35pm Soul Mates II
10:10pm Would I Lie To You?
Thursday 18 August
8:00pm The Checkout
8:30pm New Blood
9:30pm Jonathan Creek Rpt
Friday 19 August
8:00pm Tony Robinson’s Time Walks: Alice Springs
8:30pm New Tricks
9:30pm Exile
Saturday 20 August
7:30pm The Coroner
8:20pm Inspector George Gently
9:50pm Poldark
10:50pm Cilla
In Series 2 of Meet the Mavericks, we meet filmmakers, theatre makers, musicians, performance artists, writers, actors and all round troublemakers.
Each episode brings two creative talents together for an inspiring conversation about how they see the world, what drives them, what enrages them, and how they channel that passion into their work.
The free-to-air premiere of Season 5 of Vera commences when DCI Vera Stanhope investigates the death of a young woman in a suspicious fire that rips through a coastal holiday park.
Starring Ashley Jensen and Matthew Horne and based on the much-loved books by M.C Beaton, our favorite Cotswold dwelling amateur sleuth returns for a new series of entertaining murder mystery adventures.
High-flying PR whizz Agatha Raisin (Ashley Jensen) is taking her foot off the gas. Having spent years toiling away, making a success of herself in London, the forty-something singleton has hit the refresh button and moved on to pastures new. Specifically the tiny village of Carsely in the Cotswolds, which ticks all the boxes: peaceful, stress-free and easy. Like all the best laid plans, it turns out to be anything but when murders occur in the village, its amateur sleuth Agatha who solves the crimes, often in a very unorthodox way.
One bloke’s mission to break the silence. In Australia, men are traditionally seen as strong, stoic and tough as nails. They’re the alpha males of the world. They laugh in the face of fear. They excel at everything. And when life gets them down, they drink a cup of concrete and harden the fuck up. Or so the saying goes. But hardening up doesn’t seem to be working out too well for our blokes. Research shows Aussie men are lonelier and more disconnected than ever. Common mental health problems like depression and anxiety go untreated. And suicide is the leading cause of death for men aged 15-44 years. So why are men killing themselves? And why isn’t anyone talking about it?
###Howard on Menzies: Building Modern Australia
Today, in a climate where Prime Ministers struggle to survive 18 months rather than 18 years, it’s hard to imagine one leader could survive at the top long enough to personally oversee the transformation of the country. Howard contends we will likely never see such leadership again. This is history told from the inside, from one master of the political game about another.
###Ice Wars
Australia has a problem with Crystal Methamphetamine. Street name: Ice. The program makers of this four-part series had unprecedented access to Police Anti-Ice operations in metropolitan as well as rural and remote communities. The programs reveal the scope of the challenges facing law enforcement, health workers, users and the community as they try to mitigate, if not eradicate, the effects of Ice use in Australia.
###New Jane Caro Compass Series (Title TBC)
Following the success of the series For Better For Worse social commentator Jane Caro is back in October with a new four part COMPASS documentary exploring family relationships. Jane is a mother of girls who openly admits to knowing nothing about boys, so when she learnt that her eldest daughter was expecting a son…yes…a boy…she was taken aback. Even her husband was a bit bewildered!
This got her thinking. What is different about mother/son and father/daughter relationships? How does parenting a child of the opposite sex change the way you see the world? While Jane awaits the birth of the first boy-child to be born into the Caro family in a generation; she explores these ideas with a group of fathers and daughters, mothers and sons, who invite her into their homes to share the journey of their relationships.
###Silvia’s Italian Table
Join Italian food writer, Silvia Colloca, as she invites Australia’s most interesting personalities into her kitchen to show them how to cook while sharing stories the Italian way – surrounded by good food and great friends.
###Back Roads Series 2
Award-winning ABC journalist, Heather Ewart returns with a second series of Back Roads, the program that transports audiences to some of the nation’s most remote and inspiring communities and highlights rural Australia’s trademark grit, generosity, humour and innovation.
##Entertainment
Already commenced:
Gruen, The Checkout, You Can’t Ask That
##Arts
###Streets of Your Town
Streets of Your Town is a two-part series focusing on the aesthetics of our suburbs. Tim Ross – comedian, broadcaster and Architecture enthusiast – is tour guide for this very personal journey exploring how and why our suburbs look the way they do. From the Modernist boom in the ‘50’s, ‘60’s and ‘70’s to the McMansions that came to dominate our suburban landscape from the ‘80’s, our design decisions say a lot about the times we live in.
Travelling the country and gaining unprecedented access to some of our most iconic homes and meeting their owners, peeling back their history and revelling in their beauty, Tim poses the question: from Modernism to McMansionism, how did we get here?
###Meet the Mavericks Series 2
In Series 2 of Meet the Mavericks, we meet filmmakers, theatre makers, musicians, performance artists, writers, actors and all round troublemakers. Each episode brings two creative talents together for an inspiring conversation about how they see the world, what drives them, what enrages them, and how they channel that passion into their work.
Whether from the same field or completely different areas of art and culture, these mavericks quiz each other and compare notes about their creative lives, giving the audience a deeper insight into the minds of the people who challenge and shape our cultural landscape.
##Exclusive to
###Short Cuts To Glory: Matt Okine Vs Food
Short Cuts To Glory: Matt Okine Vs Food is a ‘how to’ guide for anyone who can’t cook. Hosted by comedian and triple j breakfast co-host, Matt Okine, each 5-10 minute interstitial provides an easy to follow, step-by-step guide for simple but crowd-pleasing recipes.
In each episode Matt visits one of Australia’s finest cooks or chefs who will teach him one dish at a time while also sharing plenty of their insider tips and tricks of the trade.
###When TV Was Awesome
When TV Was Awesome is a series of short vignettes especially selected from the rich resource that is the ABC archive. Pulled out, dusted off and creatively revoiced, some of our best archival gems get the comedy-mash-up make-over they deserve! Irreverent, funny, satirical, sharable, clickable and above all, When TV Was Awesome is an enjoyable reimagining of our television history.
##Younger Viewers
###Little Lunch specials: Halloween and Christmas
The hugely successful Australian children’s series, Little Lunch, will return with 2 x 30’ Halloween and Christmas specials.
Little Lunch is a series of funny and touching adventures during snack time in the school playground, based on the popular books, written by Danny Katz and illustrated by Mitch Vane.
###Kazoops
Vibrant original animation series Kazoops is aimed at 3-5 year old viewers and follows the adventures of Monty, an inquisitive six- year-old with a vivid imagination, and Jimmy Jones, his loyal best friend. In each episode Monty confronts a preconception about the world in which he lives, usually imposed by grownups, and sets out to challenge it by embarking on a wild imaginary adventure with Jimmy Jones that offers them a fresh perspective.
Sunday 21 August
7:40pm Grand Designs New Zealand
8:30pm Wallander
10:00pm Redesign My Brain With Todd Sampson
Mon- Fri
6:10pm Pointless New Series A quiz in which contestants try to score as few points as possible by plumbing the depths of their general knowledge to come up with the answers no-one else could think of. Presented by Alexander Armstrong.
Monday 22 August
8:00pm Australian Story
8:30pm Four Corners
9:20pm Media Watch
9:35pm Q&A
Tuesday 23 August
8:00pm Catalyst
8:40pm Forces Of Nature With Brian Cox
9:30pm Foreign Correspondent
10:00pm Meet The Mavericks Series Return
Wednesday 24 August
8:00pm Anh Do’s Brush With Fame Series Premiere
8:30pm Gruen
9:10pm The Katering Show
9:20pm You Can’t Ask That
9:35pm Soul Mates II
10:10pm Would I Lie To You?
Thursday 25 August
8:00pm The Checkout
8:30pm New Blood
9:30pm Jonathan Creek Rpt
Friday 26 August
8:00pm Birds Of A Feather New Series
8:30pm New Tricks
9:30pm Exile
Saturday 27 August
7:30pm The Coroner
8:20pm Inspector George Gently
9:50pm Poldark
10:50pm Cilla
Sunday 28 August
7:40pm Grand Designs New Zealand
8:30pm Vera Series Premiere
10:00pm Orion: The Man Who Would Be King
Monday 29 August
8:00pm Australian Story
8:30pm Four Corners
9:20pm Media Watch
9:35pm Q&A
Tuesday 30 August
8:00pm Catalyst
8:30pm TBA
9:30pm Foreign Correspondent
10:00pm Meet The Mavericks
Wednesday 31 August
8:00pm Anh Do’s Brush With Fame
8:30pm Gruen
9:10pm The Katering Show
9:20pm You Can’t Ask That
9:35pm Soul Mates II
10:10pm Would I Lie To You?
Thursday 1 September
8:00pm The Checkout
8:30pm The Code Series Premiere
9:30pm The Tunnel New Series
Friday 2 September
8:00pm Birds Of A Feather
8:30pm Midsomer Murders Rpt
10:00pm QI: Knees & Knockers Rpt
Saturday 3 September
7:30pm Agatha Raisin Series Premiere
8:20pm Agatha Christie’s Partners In Crime Rpt
9:15pm The Doctor Blake Mysteries Rpt
10.15pm Poldark
SKIT BOX in production on WHAM BAM THANK YOU MA’AM for ABC’s FRESH BLOOD
Fresh off the back of worldwide viral sensation Activewear, Sydney based Skit Box have passed the halfway mark filming their Fresh Blood series Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am. This 6x30 minute sketch series has been commissioned thanks to a partnership between ABC TV, Screen Australia and NBCUniversal’s ad-free comedy streaming channel Seeso.
The series is written, directed and stars Adele Vuko (Soul Mates, This Is Littleton), Greta Lee Jackson (Crazy Bastards, In a Woman’s World) and Sarah Bishop (Red Christmas, Crushed).
Skit Box is well positioned to deliver comedy from a uniquely female perspective; as well as the three Creator / Writer / Directors, the Executive Producer, Producer, Cinematographer, Production Designer, Hair, Makeup and Costume Designers are all women. Erin White, Nikos Andronicos and Kacie Anning also guest direct.
Wham Bam Thank You Ma’am features a range of sketch formats with recurring characters and storylines, as well as unique one-off content in each episode. Special guests include David Collins (Umbilical Brothers), Triple J’s Matt Okine and Christiaan Van Vuuren (Bondi Hipsters). Fellow Fresh Blood initiative recipients Aunty Donna, Henry Stone, Paul Ayre and Veronica Milsom complete a lineup of established and emerging Australian comedians.
“It’s great that we get to make a show that dissects modern sexism whilst also watching guys in our crew carry lots of heavy stuff for us," said Sarah.
“We were really excited to create a show with Screen Australia, ABC, Seeso and Screen NSW, they are all such a wealth of support and are so pragmatic about fostering new and creative show ideas,” said Adele.
“Have you ever noticed that Donald Duck walks around without pants, but when he loses his shirt, he covers his lower half? What’s up with that?” asked Greta.
Screen Australia and ABC’s Fresh Blood initiative has been kickstarting the careers of young comedy writers, directors and performers since 2013. With Seeso now coming on board the series will also be available in the US, helping to grow the profile of Australia’s best new comedy creators.
“Watching these talented women grow over the past two years has been a privilege. I am so grateful to our backers for Fresh Blood, giving emerging talent like Skit Box a breakthrough into the industry,” said producer Michelle Hardy.
Head of ABC Entertainment Jon Casimir said, “The team behind Wham Bam are the best kind of troublemakers: smart, funny, charming and full of bite. We’re lucky to know them and even luckier to be launching their debut comedy series on the world.”
“It has been extremely rewarding to see Skit Box progress through the ranks of Fresh Blood, moving from their hilarious gender-bending sketches, to a confident and popular pilot capable of attracting international finance for this full series. We’re sure Adele, Sarah & Greta will make a blistering debut season,” said Mike Cowap, Screen Australia’s Investment Manager.
Seeso’s Kelsey Balance said: “It’s a dream come true to work with such a talented team of strong, comedic women. Their hilarious and poignant sketches have already made an impact in the zeitgeist in an international way and we can’t wait to share this show with our US audience.”
Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard is adamant that Robert Menzies, Australia’s longest-serving PM, deserves more credit for the positive part he played in shaping modern Australia.
“No other Australian Prime Minister met and navigated such a range of challenges as did Menzies.” - Former Australian Prime Minister, John Howard
In this unique two-part series, Howard examines Menzies’ career and legacy and takes us through the Menzies era to set the record straight.
“I was conscious of the fact that there had been no dedicated documentary about Menzies’ time in power and there had been several on Gough Whitlam.” - John Howard
His exploration of the times captures the drama and ruthlessness of politics; the far-reaching impact of international conflicts; and the way migration, bold trading initiatives and an emphasis on education transformed the nation.
Beyond his own recollections and research, Howard invites historians, academics, journalists and former politicians from the left and the right, including Bob Hawke, to challenge him on his beliefs.
He also seeks input from his contemporaries in the creative industries, including Clive James, Barry Humphries and Thomas Keneally.
Howard undertook nearly all of the 30 interviews featured in the series, which were recorded over 15 months mostly in Australia.
“Having been interviewed all my life, it was a fascinating and entirely new experience to be interviewing others. Exciting and enjoyable.” - John Howard
Told with the insight that only the ultimate insider can bring to the great events of the era, Howard on Menzies invites us to think again about Australia’s longest serving Prime Minister and the nation he helped to build.
Howard on Menzies: Building Modern Australia features interviews with: Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and former Prime Minister Bob Hawke, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, historians Geoffrey Blainey and Henry Reynolds, economist Bob Gregory, academics Professor Judith Brett and Dr Stephen Mills, journalists Paul Kelly and Greg Sheridan, former politicians Barry Jones and Alexander Downer, creative industry legends Barry Humphries, Clive James and Thomas Keneally and many more.
Recognition: Yes or No a documentary by shock journo Andrew Bolt and Linda Burney, an Aboriginal MP, that discusses proposed changes to the Australian Constitution relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will be broadcast on ABC on 20 September 2016. It was originally scheduled to be shown next year. On the weekend Bolt claimed that the ABC was being internally pressured to dump the program, but Amanda Meade writes that it was always going to be broadcast.
ABC announces that the (1x60min) documentary Recognition: Yes or No? will premiere on Tuesday September 20 at 8.30pm on ABC and ABC iview.
Recognition: Yes or No?, asks the question - where do you stand on moves to change the Australian Constitution?
Indigenous politician Linda Burney and controversial commentator Andrew Bolt interrogate a question all Australians need to grapple with: how important is it to the nation that the unique nature of Indigenous Australia is recognised in the Constitution?
Burney and Bolt are deeply divided on this question. Linda says changing the Constitution would heal wounds, help with reconciliation and be nation building. Andrew says it would be a racist act in itself that will divide rather than unite us.
Aiming to change each other’s views, they embark on a four-week journey to seek out opinions from community leaders, lobbyists and lawmakers in Australia and New Zealand. Some want the emphasis put on education, some on a treaty, and some are applying their minds to how to remove a section of the Constitution that still refers to ‘race’ without affecting the legal foundation for native title.
How important constitutional recognition is for Indigenous Australia and the nation is a subject all Australians will need to consider if it goes to a referendum.
Sunday 4 September
7:40pm Grand Designs New Zealand
8:30pm Vera
10:00pm The Bletchley Circle
Monday 5 September
8:00pm Australian Story
8:30pm Four Corners
9:20pm Media Watch
9:35pm Q&A
Tuesday 6 September
8:00pm Catalyst
8:30pm City In The Sky: Airborne Dallas Campbell & Dr Hannah Fry explore just what it takes to keep this city in the sky safe between take-off & landing. They discover just how pilots find their way across thousands of miles of sky in the dead of night.
9:30pm Foreign Correspondent
10:00pm Meet The Mavericks
Wednesday 7 September
8:00pm Anh Do’s Brush With Fame
8:30pm Gruen
9:10pm The Katering Show
9:20pm You Can’t Ask That
9:35pm Soul Mates II
10:10pm Would I Lie To You?
Thursday 8 September
8:00pm The Checkout
8:30pm The Code
9:30pm The Tunnel
Friday 9 September
8:00pm Birds Of A Feather
8:30pm Midsomer Murders Rpt
10:00pm QI: Knees & Knockers Rpt
Saturday 10 September
7:30pm Agatha Raisin
8:20pm Agatha Christie’s Partners In Crime Rpt
9:15pm The Doctor Blake Mysteries Rpt
10.15pm Poldark
Attenborough at 90: Behind The Lens starts the moment David Attenborough was expected to retire.
After the success of his Life in Cold Blood series in 2008, many assumed, including himself, the 82-year-old broadcaster had achieved all he possibly could in his television career. But he turned his back on retirement. The opportunities brought about through advances in new film technologies were too alluring to witness from afar. The result has been one of the most prolific periods of his career. For the last decade, a film crew from Atlantic Productions has been working with and capturing what it’s like to be on the road with the world’s most loved broadcaster to bring us new, unseen and unexpected stories from the natural world – from the Great Barrier Reef to the fossil fields of Xi’an and the jungles of Borneo.
This unique and personal film reveals an extraordinarily innovative mind, and one of the greatest broadcasters of all time. David Attenborough has always pioneered cutting-edge technologies to create “world firsts”, more than ever in the last 10 years. From 3D to 4k now Virtual Reality, we watch him take his message to a bigger audience than ever before.
Sunday 11 September
7:40pm Attenborough At 90: Behind The Lens Premiere
8:30pm Vera
10:00pm The Bletchley Circle
Monday 12 September
8:00pm Australian Story
8:30pm Four Corners
9:20pm Media Watch
9:35pm Q&A
Tuesday 13 September
8:00pm Catalyst
8:30pm City In The Sky: Arrival Final
9:30pm Foreign Correspondent
10:00pm Meet The Mavericks
Wednesday 14 September
8:00pm Anh Do’s Brush With Fame
8:30pm Gruen
9:10pm The Katering Show
9:20pm You Can’t Ask That
9:35pm QI: Messy
10:10pm Would I Lie To You?
Thursday 15 September
8:00pm The Checkout
8:30pm The Code
9:30pm The Tunnel
Friday 16 September
8:00pm Birds Of A Feather
8:25pm Midsomer Murders Rpt
9:55pm QI: K Folk
Saturday 17 September
7:30pm Agatha Raisin
8:20pm Agatha Christie’s Partners In Crime Rpt
9:15pm The Doctor Blake Mysteries Rpt
10.15pm Poldark
The one off documentary special Conviction, is an intense and riveting study of what it takes to solve a high-profile and emotionally charged murder, told through the eyes of the homicide detectives who brought Jill Meagher’s killer to justice.
In a series of powerfully honest and engrossing interviews, Victorian detectives relive the hunt for the killer of the Melbourne ABC staffer, whose disappearance in September 2012 sparked a social media frenzy and galvanised a national outpouring of emotion.
Narrated by Walkley award-winning crime writer John Silvester, this is the story behind the headlines: the personal journeys that underpinned the search for Jill, the very public manhunt for her killer and the elaborate weaving of evidence that would finally trap him into confession after hours of police interrogation. The journey as the case unfolds piece-by-piece, is a remarkable account of the often painstaking and sometimes inspired steps that must be taken to find, catch and convict a killer.
Conviction leads viewers through the complicated professional, personal and public stakes that intertwine around murder. It is a twisting of events that leaves very few untouched
Production Credits: A DD&B Production made in association with ABC TV, Film Victoria and Screen Australia. Producer/Director/Cinematographer/Editor Terry Carlyon. Co-Producer Robyn Miller. Narrator/Associate Producer John Silvester. ABC Commissioning Editor Andrea Ulbrick. ABC Head of Factual Steve Bibb.
Silvia’s Italian Table is a unique eight-part cooking and celebrity chat series presented by cook Silvia Colloca. Self-taught cook Silvia leads three personalities around the kitchen bench and dining table as she teaches them to cook an Italian inspired entrée, main and dessert together, all while serving up delicious conversation on a chosen theme. With Silvia’s Italian upbringing revolving around cooking and chatting, this enlightening series sees Silvia visit Italy and includes guests Tom Gleeson, Marta Dusseldorp, Cathy Freeman, Claudia Karvan, Ian Thorpe, Tara Moss and many more.
In Australia, men are traditionally seen as strong, stoic and tough as nails. They’re the alpha males of the world. They laugh in the face of fear. They excel at everything. And when life gets them down, they drink a cup of concrete and harden the f**k up.
Or so the saying goes. But hardening up doesn’t seem to be working out too well for our blokes. Research shows Aussie men are lonelier and more disconnected than ever. Common mental health problems such as depression and anxiety go untreated. And suicide is the leading cause of death for men aged 15 to 44 years. So why are men killing themselves? And why isn’t anyone talking about it?
Enter Gus Worland: professional talker. As the star of Triple M’s breakfast radio team in Sydney, Gus thinks he has got his finger on the pulse of real Aussie blokes.Deeply impacted by the suicide of a dear friend 10 years ago, and with a teenage son of his own about to become a man, Gus sets out on a mission to save Aussie men from their biggest killer. Themselves.
###Streets of Your Town
From Tuesday 8 November at 8.30pm
2 episodes
A look at the aesthetics of our suburbs. Tim Ross - comedian, broadcaster and aficionado of the Modernist era – is tour guide for this very personal journey exploring how and why our suburbs look the way they do. Travelling the country gaining unprecedented access to some of our most epic homes, meeting their owners, peeling back their history and revelling in their beauty Tim poses the question: from Modernism to McMansionism – how did we get here?
