Hopefully HBO and showtime content continue to air ad free. It’s a premium drama channel and should remain ad free in my opinion.
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Were there ad-breaks during APTCH when it aired on Soho?
Yes.
Foxtel ‘Home of HBO’ screens Westworld, Divorce and Quarry
As the ‘Home of HBO’, Foxtel will exclusively premiere three of HBO’s hotly anticipated new series – Westworld, Divorce and Quarry – on its showcase channel from October and available to view on demand in Foxtel’s complimentary streaming service Anytime.
Westworld premieres first Mondays from October 3 at 12pm midday the same time as the US, followed by a prime time broadcast at 8.30pm. Quarry will premiere on Mondays from October 3 at 9.30pm, and Divorce will debut the following week Wednesdays from October 12 at 8.30pm.
Previews of the series have already been met with rave reviews from critics including:
• “Move over Game of Thrones! It’s cowboy time,” The Guardian
• “HBO’s mysterious Westworld sent fans into a tweeting frenzy last week after the first sustained peek debuted on HBO,” EW
• “Westworld: The first reviews are all raves,” EW
• “HBO’s major new drama [Westworld] is sinister and spectacular,” The Telegraph
• “A funny, engaging look at divorce, where neither character is portrayed as an antagonist of any kind,” /FILM
• “Move Quarry to the top of your watchlist now,” The Washington Post
Westworld, HBO’s reality-bending drama, starring Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden will premiere on Foxtel’s showcase channel on Monday October 3 at 12pm noon, the same time as the US, with a prime time encore at 8.30pm. Westworld is an ambitious and highly imaginative drama series that elevates the concept of adventure and thrill-seeking to a new and ultimately dangerous level. In the futuristic fantasy park known as Westworld, a group of android “hosts” deviate from their programmers’ carefully planned scripts in a disturbing pattern of aberrant behaviour. Westworld was inspired by the 1973 motion picture written and directed by Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park), and was created for television by EPs Jonathan Nolan (Interstellar, The Dark Knight) and Lisa Joy (Pushing Daisies, Burn Notice). Other Eps on the HBO series include J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk (Lost, the new Star Wars and Star Trek movies) and Jerry Weintraub.
The exceptional cast is headed by Hollywood heavyweight Anthony Hopkins who plays Doctor Robert Ford, when speaking of his role in Westworld, Hopkins said, “I get to play these very strange characters who are always in control, which is completely against my nature. I just go with the flow of it all now… I can’t take anything too seriously. With Doctor Ford it is on a massive scale – he controls everything and he wants to perfect everything, which means he’s mad.”
The original film Westworld from 1973 is about a futuristic theme park where robots are programmed to fulfil guests’ lustful and sometimes violent fantasies – until something goes wrong with their circuitry. Foxtel will air the original Westworld film starring Yul Brynner and James Brolin as part of their “Sunday Night At The Movies” weekly feature on the eve of the new HBO drama series debut. Discover the inspiration behind the incredible new Westworld on Sunday October 2 at 8.30pm only on FOX Classics.
Starring Sarah Jessica Parker and Thomas Haden Church, Divorce is a refreshingly honest new half-hour comedy series from HBO about the never-ending process of unwinding a marriage premiering exclusively on Foxtel’s showcase channel Wednesdays from October 12 at 8.30pm Express from the US.
Created by Sharon Horgan (creator and star of the Emmy®-nominated series Catastrophe), Divorce centres on Frances (Emmy® and Golden Globe Award winner Parker), who, after more than a decade of marriage and two children, has suddenly begun to reassess her life and her strained relationship with her husband Robert (Emmy® winner, Haden Church).
The story of a very, very long divorce, Frances and Robert grapple with the fallout from their failing union, not just for themselves, but also for their children and friends. Finding sharp, observant humour in tense situations ranging from awkward public encounters to bitter private therapy sessions, Divorce is about two people at the most difficult moment in their lives, feeling more intense emotions for each other than they’ve felt in years.
Premiering Mondays from October 3 at 9.30pm only on Foxtel’s showcase channel, Quarry is a thrilling action drama centering on the character of Mac Conway (Logan Marshall-Green Prometheus, 24, Spider-Man: Homecoming), a Marine who returns home to Memphis from a second tour of duty in Vietnam in 1972, only to find himself stigmatised by his involvement in a highly publicised massacre while fighting abroad. Though he and his fellow Marine Arthur Solomon (Jamie Hector The Wire) have been exonerated of wrongdoing, they are greeted with hostility and rejection from their families and the public in Memphis, with neither able to land a decent job.
With Mac’s relationship with his wife Joni (Jodi Balfour Final Destination 5) growing tenuous, he and Arthur are tempted by a lucrative offer from a shady criminal known as The Broker (Peter Mullan Olive Kitteridge). At first, Mac refuses to offer up his services to The Broker, but after Arthur opts to trade his principles for quick cash, Mac – whom The Broker codenames “Quarry” – finds himself conscripted against his better judgement into The Broker’s crew, a turn of events that has dire consequences for himself and those close to him.
Based on the novels of Max Allan Collins (who also wrote Road to Perdition), the eight S1 episodes of Quarry are directed and executive produced by Greg Yaitanes (Banshee), along with EP Steve Golin (True Detective). It is created and executive produced by Graham Gordy & Michael D. Fuller (Rectify). Other EPs are Matt DeRoss (The End of the Tour), David Kanter (The End of the Tour), Ken Levin (The Scribbler) and Max Allan Collins. Quarry was shot on location in New Orleans and Tennessee. As he struggles to cope with his experiences at war, Conway is drawn into a network of killing and corruption that spans the length of the Mississippi River.
Australian actor Damon Herriman (Secret City, Justified) plays Buddy, an eccentric member of The Broker’s team in Quarry. About his character, Herriman said, “Buddy is someone who’s been working for The Broker in this particular world for five years. I’m the most experienced of the guys that he’s got working for him, so for the purpose of the show, I show [Mac] the ropes and show him what he’s about to become a part of. In terms of Buddy the man, he’s such a layered, complex character. He can be incredibly sensitive and quite charming, but he’s also very violent and flies off the handle incredibly easily. Despite having a very tough front, he’s finding life pretty hard at the moment. It’s starting to get to him, the fact that his life pretty much amounts to going out and murdering people. He’s a very layered guy. And he’s gay and living in the South in 1972 – that’s another tough combination.”
###The Exorcist
From Sunday 4 December at 8.30pm AEDT
Widely regarded as the greatest horror movie ever made, The Exorcist broke box office records and terrified audiences around the world. Now, more than four decades after the Academy Award®-nominated film, The Exorcist returns as a TV series starting December 4, Sundays at 8.30pm AEDT, only on Foxtel’s showcase channel.
Based on the 1973 horror film, The Exorcist is a propulsive, psychological thriller series following two very different priests tackling one family’s case of horrifying demonic possession.
Father Tomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera, Sense8, The Chosen) is the new face of the Catholic Church: progressive, ambitious and compassionate. He runs a small, but loyal, parish in the suburbs of Chicago. He has no idea his quiet life is about to change forever. Deep in the slums of Mexico City, another priest has found himself locked in a life-and-death struggle with evil. Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels, Flesh and Bone, House of Cards) is a modern-day Templar Knight, an orphan raised since childhood by the Vatican to wage war against its enemies. Father Marcus is everything Father Tomas is not: relentless, abrasive and utterly consumed by his mission – and he constantly butts heads with his adversary within the church, Father Bennett (Kurt Egyiawan, Beasts of No Nation).
Caught in the middle of the two priests is the Rance family, who are members of Tomas’ parish. On the surface, they’re a normal, American family, but all is not as it seems in this household. The patriarch, Henry Rance (Alan Ruck, Spin City, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off), is recovering from a traumatic injury. Eldest daughter Katherine (Brianne Howey, Scream Queens) has become a recluse who refuses to leave her room. Her younger sister Casey (Hannah Kasulka, The Fosters) thinks she’s hearing strange noises coming from inside the walls. And mother Angela (Academy Award® and Golden Globe® winner Geena Davis, Commander in Chief, Thelma & Louise) believes there is something in the house, a demonic presence, growing stronger by the day. Desperate, she begs Father Tomas for help, unwittingly setting the naïve young priest on a collision course with Father Marcus. Separately, each faces an insurmountable task, but together they become the Rances’ only hope against an evil force that has been mobilising for centuries.
HBO renews Westworld, Divorce and Insecure for second seasons - watch them only on Foxtel’s showcase channel
Foxtel is pleased to announce that HBO has confirmed second seasons of its hit 2016 debut fantasy drama series Westworld, and comedies Divorce and Insecure – all which screen exclusively on Foxtel’s showcase.
Westworld the reality bending drama, starring Anthony Hopkins, Evan Rachel Wood and James Marsden along with Australia’s Luke Hemsworth has regularly been a ratings hit for both HBO and Foxtel.
HBO’s President of Programming, Casey Bloys, said: “While Game of Thrones is closing in on its final 13 episodes, which will be spread out over two seasons, Westworld represents a really, really great building block. All three (series) have done exactly what I’d hoped in terms of connecting with audiences and raising the questions the creators set out to raise.”
The first 10 episode season of Westworld is an ambitious and highly imaginative drama that elevates the concept of adventure and thrill-seeking to a new, ultimately dangerous level. In the futuristic fantasy park known as Westworld, a group of android “hosts” deviate from their programmers’ carefully planned scripts in a disturbing pattern of aberrant behaviour.
The comedy series Insecure and Sarah Jessica Parker’s Divorce have also been renewed with second seasons due to air in 2017.
Divorce centres on Frances (Parker, Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner for Sex and the City), who, after more than a decade of marriage and two children, has suddenly begun to reassess her life and her strained relationship with her husband Robert (Thomas Haden Church, Oscar nominee for Sideways and Emmy winner for Broken Trail). Created by Sharon Horgan (creator and star of the Emmy-nominated series Catastrophe), Divorce is a refreshingly honest new half-hour comedy series about the never-ending process of unwinding a marriage.
Insecure is created by, written and stars Issa Rae. The new half-hour comedy looks at the friendship of two modern-day African American women, as well as all their uncomfortable experiences and racy tribulations.
Catch the first seasons of Westworld Monday’s same time as the US at 12noon and 8.30pm primetime encore, Divorce Wednesday’s at 8.30pm and Insecure Thursdays at 9.30pm only on showcase.
Shameless, which airs on Showcase after the closure of SoHo, has been renewed for an 8th season after star Emmy Rossum finalised her contract with producers Warner Bros last week. She was seeking pay equal to that of co-star William H. Macy.
###Bright Lights
Sunday 8 January at 12pm
New HBO Documentary on loving relationship of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds
In light of the recent and unexpected deaths of both Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, the HBO documentary Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds will premiere exclusively on Foxtel this Sunday January 8 at 12pm noon, broadcasting as the same time the documentary will be seen on the US east coast. It will be screened on Foxtel’s Showcase channel. There will be further broadcasts Sunday night, on the Foxtel ARTS Channel at 8.30pm, immediately following the International AACTA Awards (telecast at 7.30pm), and again at 9.30pm on the Showcase channel.
The story of a family’s complicated love, this documentary is an intimate portrait of Hollywood royalty in all its eccentricity. Carrie Fisher and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, live in the same Beverly Hills compound. The 83-year-old grand dame still has a Las Vegas act, but performing is taking its toll. Carrie’s response is both hilarious and heart-rending.
Featuring vintage family films that bring iconic old-world Hollywood to life, as well as extensive vérité footage, the 95 minute film is directed by Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens.
Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds has already received audience and critical acclaim at many prestigious film festivals, including the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, the Telluride Film Festival and the New York Film Festival.
All times are in AEDT.
###The Affair
Foxtel to continue its “affair” with U.S. Showtime
Foxtel is pleased to announce that U.S cable network has confirmed a fourth season of its unique and captivating drama series, The Affair. It will be seen exclusively on Foxtel’s premium drama channel, showcase day and date with the U.S. broadcast.
The current season of The Affair – Season 3 is screening on Foxtel Tuesdays at 8.30pm and Season 4 will also be broadcast exclusively on Foxtel upon its release.
The series’ trademark formula will remain with episodes told through different viewpoints and will continue to explore different points of view and how two people – even those in a close relationship – are never on the same page.
The show has evolved from the first season, when it explored the impact of Noah (Dominic West) and Allison’s (Ruth Wilson) affair on their marriages, their families, and their lives. Season 3 picked up three years after Noah’s (Dominic West) shocking admission of guilt at his murder trial and introduced a fifth perspective in Irene Jacob’s Juliette Le Gall, as well as new character Gunther played by Brendan Fraser.
Noah attempted to restart his life, but the damage wrought by his past decisions has made him a ghost of his former self. Alison has been raising daughter Joanie alongside Cole (Joshua Jackson) and Luisa (Catalina Sandino Moreno) in Montauk, but Alison’s past continues to rear its ugly head as Cole and Luisa attempt to build their own future.
For Helen (Maura Tierney), life appears to continue on, but just below the surface of a successful business and a bustling home lies uncertainty with her boyfriend Vik, instability among her children, and an unshakeable feeling of guilt.
###GIRLS SEASON 6
From Wednesday 15 February 15 at 8.30pm AEDT
Foxtel and HBO are proud to present the sixth and final season of the Emmy®- and Golden Globe-winning comedy series GIRLS from writer/director/actor Lena Dunham, focusing on the ups and downs of a group of 20-something friends in NYC.
GIRLS premiered in 2012 to great acclaim from critics and fans. The series has received a total of 15 Primetime Emmy® nominations, picking up an Outstanding Guest Actor Emmy® in 2016 (for Peter Scolari), as well as for Outstanding Casting for a Comedy Series in its first season. The series also won two 2013 Golden Globe Awards – for Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy and for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series-Musical or Comedy (Dunham).
Season 6 picks up six months after the end of Season 5, with Hannah (Dunham), enjoying new success as a writer after her participation in “The Moth” last season, getting a plum writing assignment that could dramatically change the course of her life.
Marnie (Allison Williams), now in a relationship with Ray (Alex Karpovsky), seeks to maintain her independence post-divorce from Desi (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), but when her actions veer into self-absorption, it may end up making her current relationship unsustainable.
Now also a couple, Jessa and Adam (Jemima Kirke and Adam Driver) decide to embark on a creative project to channel their passions, which could become a source of contention.
Shoshanna (Zosia Mamet) finds herself professionally on the right path in a new job at a marketing agency, though personally she realises that her friendships may be holding her back. While Elijah (Andrew Rannells) decides to get serious about pursuing a Broadway career.
Season 6 brings back a number of guests from past years, including Becky Ann Baker and Peter Scolari (as Hannah’s parents Loreen and Tad), Rita Wilson (Marnie’s mom Evie), Jon Glaser (Laird), Colin Quinn (Hermie), and Corey Stoll (Dill Harcourt). Along with new guests this season include Riz Ahmed (The Night Of), Matthew Rhys (The Americans), Tracey Ullman (Tracey Ullman’s Show), and others to be announced.
A time for closing chapters and new beginnings, the 10-episode final season of Girls follows our four familiar friends as they attempt to get closer to becoming the women they always envisioned – even as life sometimes gets in the way.
###Big Little Lies
From Monday 20 February at 1pm AEDT same time as the US and 8.30pm primetime encore
Foxtel and HBO are proud to present the new drama series Big Little Lies based on the bestselling novel by Australian author Liane Moriarty, of the same name, and featuring tour de force performances by several top Hollywood actors including Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern, Zoe Kravitz and Alexander Skarsgard.
Big Little Lies is a darkly comic drama set in Monterey, CA that begins with a suspicious homicide at an elementary-school fundraiser. Though the victim and the perpetrator initially remain a mystery, it seems likely that the murder was spawned by rivalries and secrets surrounding three mothers: type-A stay-at-home mum Madeline Mackenzie (Reese Witherspoon), who harbors jealousy towards her ex’s new, younger wife Bonnie (Zoe Kravitz), a yoga instructor with a Zen attitude; Madeline’s best friend Celeste Wright (Nicole Kidman), a former corporate lawyer with a seemingly perfect marriage to a younger man (Alexander Skarsgård); and Jane Chapman (Shailene Woodley), a single mum with a dark past, whom Madeline and Celeste take under their wing. Intercut with interrogation-room insights of other parents and school staff – who offer up a Greek chorus of gossip on the town’s allegiances and rivalries, particularly revolving around Madeline and her nemesis, tech-exec career mum Renata Klein (Laura Dern) – the story unspools over seven tense yet subversively funny episodes, revealing how each of the women had something to hide leading up to that one fateful night. Also starring Adam Scott, James Tupper and Jeffrey Nordling.
Big Little Lies is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée (Wild) and written by David E. Kelley (Ally McBeal). Executive Producer’s include Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Bruna Papandrea, Per Saari, David E. Kelley, Jean-Marc Vallée and Gregg Fienberg.
Following the 8.30pm encore broadcast on showcase Big Little Lies will be available to watch when you want, on demand, via Foxtel Anytime on internet connected iQ boxes. You can also stream the series on demand on Foxtel Play or Foxtel Go. Foxtel Go is included with all Foxtel residential and Foxtel Play subscriptions at no extra cost.
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###Beware the Slenderman
Sunday 26 February AEDT at 8.30pm
Chilling new HBO documentary
On Sunday, February 26 at 8.30pm AEDT, a chilling new HBO documentary Beware the Slenderman will premiere on Foxtel’s showcase.
The exclusive two-hour special looks at the infamous case of two Wisconsin girls who lured their classmate in to the woods and stabbed her 19 times, in order to appease a fictional Internet legend called ‘Slenderman’.
Directed and produced by Academy Award®-nominated filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky (The Final Inch), Beware the Slenderman delves deep in to this shocking crime, examining how an urban myth could take root in impressionable young minds, with dire consquences.
On May 31, 2014 in Waukesha, Wisconsin, a 911 call reported a chilling crime – a girl had been stabbed and left by the side of the road near the woods. The victim, Payton “Bella” Leutner had been brutally stabbed and left for dead. The suspects were her friends Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier. All three were 12 years old.
In separate interrogation rooms, Morgan and Anissa both explained to detectives they were compelled to kill their friend in order to become proxies of Slenderman, a fictional tall man in a black suit with a featureless white face, who first appeared on the Internet as part of a 2009 Photoshop contest and quickly became an online legend. Morgan and Anissa believed he was real and would hurt their families unless they killed Bella.
Due to the premeditated nature of the crime, the two girls were charged as adults with attempted first-degree murder and have spent more than two years incarcerated, their trial date still pending. Morgan and Anissa’s saga has now become part of the Slenderman Internet myth.
Covering all sides of the unusual ongoing case, this extraordinary documentary draws on an eerie array of Slenderman-inspired art, games and self-produced videos, all culled from the Internet, along with feature interviews with psychologists and folklorists, courtroom testimony, interrogation room footage and unprecedented access to the two girls’ families.
Following the 8.30pm broadcast on showcase, Beware the Slenderman will be available to watch when you want, on demand, via Foxtel Anytime on internet connected iQ boxes. You can also stream the documentary on demand on Foxtel Play or Foxtel Go. Foxtel Go is included in all residential and Foxtel play subscriptions at no extra cost.
###Becoming Warren Buffett
HBO’s definitive portrait of one of the world’s richest men and greatest philanthropists
Sunday 5 March at 8.30pmn
On Sunday, March 5 at 8.30pm AEDT, a fascinating new HBO documentary Becoming Warren Buffett will premiere on Foxtel’s showcase.
This exclusive, feature-length production traces the remarkable life of a truly unique billionaire, Warren Buffett, who despite being one of the world’s richest men lives a humble life in his hometown of Omaha, Nebraska.
Now 86 years-old and with a net worth of over $60 billion, the legendary investor still lives in a modest home and continues to drive himself to the office every morning to manage Berkshire Hathaway, the fifth largest public company in the world.
But more surprising than his humble existence is Buffett’s unparalleled philanthropic work, culminating in 2006 when he announced that most of his fortune would be given to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Directed by Emmy® Award-winner Teddy Kunhart and told primarily in Buffett’s own words with unprecedented access to his day-to-day personal life, Becoming Warren Buffett tells the story of how an ambitious, numbers-obsessed boy from Nebraska became one of the richest men in the world.
The story follows Buffett’s ascent from first-time investor to business maven, delving in to the highs and lows of his career and personal life, from becoming a father of three and the world’s richest businessman, to weathering the Salomon Brothers treasury bond trading scandal, to the loss of his wife and first love, Susie.
Featuring never-before-released home videos, family photographs, archival footage and interviews with family and friends, the documentary sheds new light on a man who has helped shape the way many people view capitalism and, more recently, philanthropy.
Becoming Warren Buffett is a co-production of HBO and Kunhardt Films. Kunhardt Films’ HBO credits include the Emmy®-nominated Nixon by Nixon: In His Own Words, the Emmy®-nominated Gloria: In Her Own Words, the Emmy®-winning, Teddy: In His Own Words and this year’s Emmy®-winning Jim: The James Foley Story.
February on showcase
Foxtel’s premium showcase channel boasts a star studded line up of dramas launching this month, including Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and Shailene Woodley in the event series Big Little Lies and Rihanna checking in for the final season of Bates Motel.
There are more major international premieres with the final season of Girls, the comedy debut Crashing and starting this weekend Nashville S5 and Black Sails S4.
Foxtel’s short-form original drama Let’s Talk About joins the showcase line-up this month, starting with its first season airing Sundays nights, while the full first season and the new second season will be available from February 19 to stream in full on Foxtel Play.
Sunday February 12
Nashville Season 5 starts at 7.30pm
Set against the backdrop of the city’s music scene the series follows Rayna Jaymes and Juliette Barnes as they navigate their paths as artists and individuals. Surrounding them, and often complicating their lives, are their family, friends and, in some cases, lovers, as well as the up-and-coming performers and songwriters trying to get ahead in the business. As the season opens Rayna and Deacon are facing a new normal with Maddie back at home and Highway 65 struggling financially. Shocking news about Juliette creates a wave of emptions throughout Nashville. Stars Connie Britton, Hayden Panettiere, Claire Bowen and Charles Esten.
Black Sails Season 4 starts at 9.30pm
Hundreds of British soldiers lie dead in a forest, the Royal Navy sails back to England in retreat, the West Indies are now a war zone, and the shores of New Providence Island have never been bloodier. With the help of Eleanor Guthrie, Woodes Rogers transforms Nassau into a fortress without walls, as Captain Flint amasses a fleet of unprecedented strength, hoping to strike the final blow against civilisation and reshape the world forever. Meanwhile, from within the island an insurgency builds, fuelled by the legend of its exiled leader, whose name keeps grown men awake at night… the one they call “Long Live John Silver.” But as Flint, Silver and their allies are about to learn, the closer civilisation comes to defeat, the more desperately and destructively it will fight back. Oaths will be shattered, fortunes will change hands, and amidst the chaos, only one thing remains certain: it has never been more dangerous to be a pirate. Stars Toby Stephens, Hannah New and Luke Arnold. This is the final season of Black Sails.
Wednesday February 15
Girls Season 6 starts at 8.30pm – Express from the US
Created by and starring Lena Dunham, the show is a comic look at the assorted humiliations and rare triumphs of a group of girls in their mid-20s. The cast also includes Jemima Kirke, Allison Williams, Zosia Mamet, Adam Driver, Alex Karpovsky, Andrew Rannells and Ebon Moss-Bachrach. This is final season of this acclaimed series.
Sunday February 19
Let’s Talk About is new to showcase with Season 1 airing Sundays after Nashville and continuing straight through with the new second season starting on showcase April 30. Also, from February 19, both of the 10 episode seasons will be available on Foxtel Play to stream in full.
Season one begins with Ben (Richard Davies) broke and Claire (Matilda Brown – creator and star) up the duff. The second season follows their next rollercoaster chapter when daughter Lily is welcomed into the world. Series regulars Bryan Brown and Lisa Hensley return as Claire’s uncensored but well-meaning parents joined by Sam Neill, Damian Walshe-Howling, Steve Le Marquand, Andrea Demetriades and Chloe Boreham.
Monday February 20
Big Little Lies same time as US at 1pm and a primetime encore at 8.30pm – Express from the US
A subversive, dark comedic drama, Big Little Lies tells the tale of three mothers of first-graders whose apparently perfect lives unravel to the point of murder. This event series is based on the book of the same name by best-selling Australian author Liane Moriarty and stars Kidman, Witherspoon, Woodley, Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgard.
Tuesday February 21
Bates Motel Season 5 starts at 9.30pm – Express from the US
The haunting fifth and final season of the critically acclaimed drama, from writers and executive producers Kerry Ehrin and Carlton Cuse begins two years after the death of Norma. Emmy-nominated actress Vera Farmiga returns for double duty as executive producer while also reprising her role as ‘Mother’ who is very much alive and well but only in the twisted, complicated mind of ‘Norman Bates’ played by Freddie Highmore. New faces, including Rihanna as Marion Crane (the character Janet Leigh played in Albert Hitchcock’s movie Psycho), find their way to the Bates Motel to further complicate Norman’s life and threaten to unearth his dark secrets.
Wednesday February 22
Crashing Season 1 starts at 9.00pm – Express from the US
Created by and starring Pete Holmes, the series follows a stand-up comic who discovers that his wife is unfaithful, leading him to re-evaluate his life amidst the New York City comedy scene. Artie Lange, Lauren Lapkus and T.J. Miller also star.
Ongoing drama highlights in February - The Exorcist
The Exorcist, starring Geena Davis, Alfonso Herrera and Ben Daniels, is building towards a stunning finale with just two episodes left to premiere on Sunday, February 12 and 19, at 8.30pm.
All times are AEDT.
You can tell the above release was written by a twenty something. Who the hell is Albert Hitchcock?
##foxtel lands two of the most anticipated new US dramas of the year
FEUD: Bette and Joan starts 12 March
Shots Fired starts 10 April
Foxtel is proud to announce the acquisition of the two most highly anticipated new US drama series of 2017, having secured the Australian television rights to the latest project from prolific television producer Ryan Murphy,
FEUD: Bette and Joan starring Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon, and the racially charged event drama Shots Fired, starring Sanaa Lathan, Stephan James, Helen Hunt, Richard Dreyfuss and Stephen Moyer. Both dramas come from Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution.
FEUD: Bette and Joan
FEUD: Bette and Joan, the new anthology television series from American Horror Story producer Murphy, will premiere March 12, Sundays at 8.30pm on showcase.
The eight episode drama tells the story of the legendary rivalry between Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) and Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) during their collaboration on the thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and well after the cameras stopped rolling. The series explores how the two women endured ageism, sexism, and misogyny while struggling to hang on to success and fame in the twilight of their careers.
In addition to Academy Award®-winners Lange and Sarandon, the cast includes Alfred Molina as the film’s director Robert Aldrich, Stanley Tucci as studio titan Jack Warner, Judy Davis as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper, Jackie Hoffman as Crawford’s housekeeper Mamacita, and Alison Wright as Aldrich’s assistant Pauline. Notable guest stars include Dominic Burgess as Crawford and Davis’ co-star Victor Buono, Catherine Zeta-Jones as film star Olivia de Havilland, Sarah Paulson as Geraldine Page, Kathy Bates as Joan Blondell and Kiernan Shipka as B.D., Bette Davis’ daughter. Ryan Murphy serves as executive producer along with executive producers Dede Gardner of Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment, Tim Minear and Alexis Martin Woodall. The series is produced by Fox 21 Television Studios.
Foxtel’s FOX Classics channel will set the stage for the series with multiple screenings of the 1962 film Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? on Sunday, March 5 at 8.30pm and Tuesday, March 14 at 8.35pm.
Shots Fired
Shots Fired examines the dangerous aftermath of two racially charged shootings in a small Southern US town, providing an explosive autopsy of the criminal justice system. The 10 episode drama will premiere April 10, Mondays at 8.30pm on showcase, moving in to the timeslot the week following the conclusion of Big Little Lies.
When an African-American Sheriff’s deputy kills an unarmed white college student, a small town in North Carolina is turned upside-down. Before the town has a chance to grapple with this tragedy, the neglected murder of an African-American teen is brought to light, opening wounds that threaten to tear the community apart.
Leading the Department of Justice’s inquiry into these shootings is seasoned investigator Ashe Akino (Sanaa Lathan) and a young Special Prosecutor Preston Terry (Stephan James), both of whom are African-American. As they start to peel back the layers of both cases, they suspect a cover-up which may involve some of the state’s most powerful people, including fiercely political North Carolina Governor Patricia Eamons (guest star Academy®, Emmy® and Golden Globe® Award-winning actress Helen Hunt). She’s in a tough re-election fight, and the recent shootings in her state are making it even tougher. Meanwhile, real estate mogul and owner of a privatized prison Arlen Cox (Academy® and Golden Globe® Award-winning actor Richard Dreyfuss), is pulled into the volatile debate over policing in the town, and Lt. Calvert Breeland (Stephen Moyer), a seasoned veteran in the Sheriff’s Department, gets caught in the middle of the investigation.
As Ashe and Preston navigate the media attention, public debate and social unrest that come with such volatile cases, Shots Fired tackles the racial divide from every seat in the house.
Shots Fired is produced by 20th Century Fox Television, in association with Imagine Television and Undisputed Cinema. The series is created and executive-produced by Gina Prince-Bythewood and Reggie Rock Bythewood. Brian Grazer and Francie Calfo also serve as executive producers.
The first episode of Big Little Lies can now be seen for free on the Foxtel website for the next 30 days. Foxtel is hoping more people sample it and then subscribe to continue watching the show.
I’m really enjoying ‘Big Little Lies’ on Showcase so far. I’m also reading the book ,I want to find out how the story ends,who was murdered ,before the TV series ends
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###The Leftovers - Season Three
From Thursday 20 April at 8.30pm AEST
Foxtel and HBO are proud to present the third and final season of the Peabody Award-winning series The Leftovers, the journey of one family’s desperate efforts to cope with the long-term aftermath of “The Departure” – in which 140 million people vanished from the face of the earth. The cause of that incredible event remains unknown, and there is no indication that those who are gone will ever be seen or heard from again.
From Damon Lindelof, co-creator of the hit series Lost, and based on characters introduced in the bestselling 2011 novel by Tom Perrotta (a co-creator and EP), this one-hour HBO drama series focuses on erstwhile residents of a New York town trying to make sense of a global event dubbed “The Departure,” in which two percent of the world’s population were “taken” (i.e. vanished), while others were left behind.
Taking place four years after events in Season 2 and nearly seven years since “The Departure”, The Leftovers finds the Garvey and Murphy families – who met, clashed and bonded last season in the “Miracle” town of Jarden, Texas – coming together as they desperately grasp for systems of belief to help better explain that which defies explanation. Their world is crackling with the energy of something big about to happen: a corresponding bookend to the sudden departure that sent them all spinning years earlier, bringing their final journey Down Under for an improbable, and thrilling, series climax.
One of the most inventive, unpredictable drama series on television, The Leftovers Season 3 was filmed on location in Texas and Australia. Creator Damon Lindelof said, “Australia is the end of the world geographically and our show is about the end-of-the-world emotionally. And there’s also something about Australian cinema – it’s primal, ancient and spiritual – that felt like it fit The Leftovers, whether it’s Mad Max movies, Walkabout, Wake in Fright, or Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock.”
Cast regulars include Justin Theroux (Mulholland Drive), Carrie Coon (Critics Choice Award winner for this role), Amy Brenneman (Judging Amy), Kevin Carroll (Paid in Full), Christopher Eccleston (Doctor Who), Scott Glenn (The Silence of the Lambs), Regina King (American Crime), Jovan Adepo (Fences), Janel Moloney (The West Wing), Margaret Qualley (The Nice Guys), Liv Tyler (The Lord of the Rings) and Chris Zylka (The Amazing Spider-Man). Joining the cast is Lindsay Duncan (Birdman) as Grace, an Australian ally of Kevin Sr.
The Leftovers Season 3 begins April 20, Thursdays at 8.30pm AEST, on Foxtel’s showcase or on Foxtel’s streaming service Foxtel Play.
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