Life
From Sunday 24 April 9.30pm
An explosive series exploring the human capacity for connection in a splintered society. When the lives of the residents of a large house intersect, hidden secrets connect them in ways they couldn’t have anticipated.
Life is an explosive new six-part drama series from the team behind BAFTA-winning global hit Doctor Foster. Created by multi-award-winning writer Mike Bartlett, Life explores the human capacity for connection in an increasingly splintered society.
In Manchester, England, the residents of a large suburban house go about their very different lives. The walls that divide their flats keep them apart. But life has a way of bringing people together.
David (Adrian Lester), a happily married university lecturer, is torn by temptation when he meets an impulsive younger woman. As Gail (Alison Steadman) approaches her 70th birthday, a chance encounter makes her question the choices she’s built her whole life around. Secret alcoholic Belle (Victoria Stone) is managing to maintain a fragile happiness, until her wilful 15-year-old niece crashes into her neatly ordered existence. And heavily pregnant Hannah (Melissa Johns), who has two men in her life, must choose between desire and dependability.
Like all ordinary lives, theirs are filled with the extraordinary. And as their stories begin to intersect, hidden secrets connect these characters in ways that could never have been anticipated.
Production credit: A Drama Republic production.
Anzac Day Programming
Monday 25 April from 4.30am
On Anzac Day the ABC will present comprehensive broadcast coverage of all the commemorations, from local marches in towns and cities across Australia to the battlefields of Gallipoli and Villers-Bretonneux.
The ABC live coverage of Anzac Day marches in each state and other services at home and abroad have become fundamental to the commemoration of Anzac Day for Australians.
The ABC’s coverage will coordinate the key commemorative events in Australia, Gallipoli in Turkey, and Villers-Bretonneux in France. These will be broadcast on ABC TV, ABC NEWS channel, and live streaming on ABC iview, Youtube and Facebook throughout the day.
From 4.30am AEST, ABC will broadcast the Anzac Dawn Service from Sydney, followed by the Anzac Day Dawn Service live from the Australian War Memorial, Canberra, at 5.30am AEST. This will be followed from 9am AEST with live local coverages of marches in all state and territory capital cities.
At 12.30pm AEST, the Gallipoli Dawn Service will commence from the Anzac Commemorative site located by the water at Anzac Cove in Turkey. The cove is on the Gallipoli Peninsula and following the landing became the main base for the Australian and New Zealand troops during the 8-month campaign.The Villers-Bretonneux Dawn Service will be broadcast live at 1.30pm AEST from the Australian National Memorial in Villers-Bretonneux.
ABC NEWS channel will have live coverage all day, with the major national services in full and crossing to marches in all state capitals. Plus, we’ll hear from ABC News reporters in regional areas and overseas to see how Australians are marking the day.
On ABC Radio there will be live coverage of local dawn services and marches, and Radio National will broadcast the Anzac Day Dawn Service in Canberra from 5.30am.
As is customary, the Anzac Day Address by the Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Retd) will be broadcast nationally immediately before the ABC evening news bulletins at 7pm.
Griff’s Canadian Adventure
From Saturday 30 April 6.00pm
British Comedian and travel enthusiast Griff Rhys Jones embarks on a journey across the second largest Country on the planet: Canada. From mountain ranges and vast prairies to glittering cities and ice-locked towns, Griff will travel some 4000 miles, nearly 7000km, from Newfoundland and Labrador on the rugged Atlantic Coast in the East, all the way across the country, to Vancouver Island in the Pacific NorthWest.
As he travels Griff will uncover what makes each province so tantalisingly unique yet distinctly Canadian; from the Frenchness of cosmopolitan Quebec City and Montreal in Quebec to the isolation and coldness of the frozen North in Manitoba and the richness of the endless prairies across Alberta and Saskatchewan. He’ll reveal how the history of each province has impacted its past, present and future, and helped shape the Canada of today.
Throughout his journey he’ll be given a challenge to learn to appreciate each province like a local. Will he leave Ontario with a genuine Canadian souvenir? Can he uncover what it means to be good in the kitchen in Newfoundland and Labrador? Will he refresh his mind, body and spirit while in British Columbia? Each challenge will offer him the opportunity to live like a local and uncover aspects of life particular to each province, with a little help from the local characters and experts he meets along the way.
Episode One - Newfoundland: Bigness
In this first episode, Griff explores Newfoundland and Labrador in the East and uncovers what makes Canada distinctly unique and decidedly ‘big’.Production credit: An EQMEDIA (NZ) and Niki Ray Media co -production.
Call the Midwife - Season 10
From Saturday 30 April 8.20pm
Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) and Dr Turner (Stephen McGann) clash over whether to provide a private care service, and a distressing birth raises fears of another Thalidomide case.
It’s 1966, and it’s a testing time for the midwives. But there’s excitement, too, as the women’s rights movement intensifies.
With Trixie’s (Helen George) help, Sister Julienne (Jenny Agutter) is determined to steer Nonnatus House out of its financial quandary. Dr Turner (Stephen McGann) deals with an array of difficult cases including a former soldier involved in nuclear test explosions. Meanwhile, Sister Monica Joan (Linda Bassett) experiences a crisis of faith, and Sister Frances (Ella Bruccoleri) realises she needs to be a little less spiritual if she’s to really connect with the local women.
There are some interesting challenges ahead, as well as great celebrations when England wins the World Cup.
In this episode, Sister Julienne and Dr Turner clash over whether to provide a private care service, and a distressing birth raises fears of another Thalidomide case.
Production credit: Series Creator/Lead Writer: Heidi Thomas, Producer: Anne Tricklebank, Executive Producers: Mona Qureshi, Pippa Harris, Heid Thomas and Ann Tricklebank. A Neal Street Production for BBC/PBS.