More screens, more Australian content, less dependence on US studio output and a
game-changing realignment of the technological goalposts promise a fiercely
competitive year in Australian television in 2014.
With analog television a thing of the past, the digital landscape equalises the ”big five”, pay TV and the newer, smaller digital channels, as well as new online players.
But the big money is still sunk into content for flagship channels on free-to-air and pay TV.
Herewith, our guide to what’s in store this year.
SIX OF THE BEST
Australia: The Story of Us (Seven)
A documentary series as a marquee program is an ambitious idea for a commercial network, particularly one that has defined itself in the past as a smart player of a safe game. Australia: The Story of Us, billed as ”more than 40,000 years in the making”, comes from the production company Essential Media.
The Code (ABC)
A ”contemporary [political] thriller stretching from the spectacular red desert of Australia’s outback to the cool corridors of power” from Playmaker Media, the company behind House Husbands and Love Child. The Code boasts an outstanding cast: Adam Garcia, David Wenham, Lucy Lawless, Aden Young, Dan Wyllie, Aaron Pedersen and Paul Tassone.
The Face Australia (FOX8)
The third version of this format, fronted by supermodel Naomi Campbell who, with model mentors Cheyenne Tozzi and Nicole Trunfio, searches for a young model who will become ”the face”. While the genre is well known – notably via another Foxtel series, Australia’s Next Top Model – The Face dials up the drama.
Living with the Enemy (SBS)
Production company Shine Australia pushes into SBS’s Go Back To Where You Came From space with Living with the Enemy, a provocative six-part series which explores ”the faultlines of social cohesion” by taking two people with diametrically opposed views and immersing them in each other’s lives.
Party Tricks (Ten)
Producers John Edwards and Imogen Banks have packaged a star vehicle for their muse Asher Keddie, who stars in another Ten drama, Offspring. Here Keddie and Rodger Corser play colleagues who once had a love affair. It’s a six-part series based on a ”cat-and-mouse game which culminates in an election-night finale”.
Schapelle (Nine)
A telemovie from Fremantle Media based on the arrest, trial and conviction of Schapelle Corby in Bali in 2004 and 2005, which, even before its broadcast, has divided the audience and galvanised Schapelle supporters into a campaign against the project. It stars Krew Boylan, Jacinta Stapleton, Denise Roberts and Colin Friels.
Michael Idato – SMH – January 2, 2014