Glued to the screen.
We are presently, as we’re constantly informed, experiencing a golden age of television, the advent of which was heralded with The Sopranos and continues apace with Fargo, Mr Robot and Netflix originals such as Orange is the New Black and Narcos.
For a long time, it seemed Australia wasn’t really a part of this renaissance. We had twee family dramas that inevitably starred Rebecca Gibney (no offense to Gibney, Halifax FP was my jam) or Asher Keddie (again, Love My Way? Brilliant), or “gritty” crime shows like the Underbelly franchise.
There were moments of brilliance (see Love My Way and Halifax FP, above), but generally, Australian shows just couldn’t really cut it with international productions.
Now, though, it seems like we’re catching up. There are some good things happening in Australian TV. Some very good things.
Here, our top five shows to watch right now. Or, you know, when you’ve got time.
The Beautiful Lie
This six-part series is a modern adaption of the classic Leo Tolstoy novel Anna Karenina set in Melbourne. From the beginning of the first episode, we know that soon, Anna Ivin (Karenina in the book, played Sarah Snook) will die. It’s not a spoiler — the character tells us herself.
Top Comments
Utopia and Gruen are my favourites. Chaser Media Circus is okay as well. Gruen I found by Channel hopping some years ago and still find it interesting. Am sick of all the US dramas which are copies of each other but do like some british dramas which luckily are on the ABC ad free. Not really a commercial TV watcher.
Utopia is one of the best TV shows ever, congrats to Rob Sitch & the rest of the excellent cast, & the story lines are all most believable too! The Principal is very gritty & good too.