There is nothing better on a cold winter’s night than curling up on your couch with an awesome TV show and a bottle of red wine. Don’t fight me on this.
And while everyone is going on about Orange Is The New Black and UnREAL (both very worthy), there is actually a huge bundle of Australian-made TV shows on at the moment. You’d be silly not to feast on them.
We’ve put together a selection of five extraordinary Aussie shows you can watch right now. Yep, there’s your frosty season sorted.
1. Barracuda
This is the latest of Chris Tsiolkas' novels to be adapted for the small screen and it is eye candy CENTRAL.
In other words, if you loved The Slap, you will L-O-V-E this.
Set in 1996, Barracuda provocatively explores our national obsession with sporting heroes by diving us into the lives of fiercely competitive, high school swimmers.
Danny, the main character, is a working class teenager driven to become a champion in a territory usually reserved for the privileged.
What ensues is an intense clash of cultures and a fascinating look at the pressures placed on young, male athletes.
And have we mentioned the eye candy? (Don't worry, the actors are all 18+. Happy days.)
The four-part series airs Thursdays at 9.30pm on ABC1 and is available on iview.
2. The Kettering Incident
This Tasmanian gothic murder mystery has been billed as Australia’s answer to Broadchurch or Top of the Lake meets Twin Peaks or X-Files. And that's enough to get any normal person ultra excited
The show follows the story of a young doctor, Anna Macy, who left the Tassie town of Kettering when she was 14 after her best friend disappeared in the bush where they were playing.
She returns 15 years later, and another girl disappears in identical circumstances.
Anna of course then finds herself linked to both cases. Rumours swirl around Kettering about Anna murdering both girls or alien abductions. She is forced to delve into her past on a quest to uncover truths about herself and her otherworldly home town.
The eight-part series stars Elizabeth Debicki and Matthew Le Nevez, and it's shot entirely in Tassie's spooky landscapes.
And if you need any more convincing, it only began airing last week but already it has picked up a major international award, the Special Jury Prize, at the Series Mania Festival in Paris. So there you have it.
It's on Foxtel's Showcase on Mondays at 8.30pm and on Foxtel Go.
3. Cleverman
We couldn't love this action drama any more. It is outstanding. And the fact it was renewed for a second series before it even began airing says a lot.
The show follows a young indigenous man who discovers he has supernatural powers, and it's inspired by real stories from the indigenous Dreamtime passed down between generations.
The sci-fi thriller, set in a dystopian X-Men-style future, has a cast that is 80 per cent indigenous, and that's something absolutely worth getting behind.
Rosie Waterland and Laura Brodnik talk on The Binge podcast about why Cleverman is the most important Australian TV show of the year.
And politically, there is a powerful message. The show follows a mythological race, the Hairypeople, who must battle for survival in a human-dominated world that wants to destroy them.
The show is led by rising star Hunter Page-Lochard alongside the likes of Iain Glen from Game of Thrones and Deborah Mailma.
Cleverman aired its last episode of the season last week but it's available on ABC's iview for another week or so. So our advice? Have a binge-watching sesh under your doona STAT.
4. Offspring
If you are a regular Mamamia reader, you are all over our obsession with the beautifully dysfunctional Proudman family.
This sixth season arguably took off with a rocky start but three episodes in and we are SOLD.
The ladies of Offspring -- Nina, Billie, Zara, Geraldine and Cherie -- appear to be back to their usual feisty, clever, complex, funny selves.
We may have jumped a couple of years since season five, but the drama is as comforting and complicated as ever. And adding to the chaos, we've got a new love interest and an expanding family. And HOT SEX.
Thank you to the folks at Ten for bringing back the Proudmans. Our Wednesday nights have improved tenfold.
The show airs Wednesdays on Channel 10 at 8.30pm or you can catch up on Tenplay.
5. Secret City
OK, so, the goings-on of Canberra IRL are currently less than inspiring: Malcolm Turnbull has only just cinched a majority government after an eight-week election campaign that nearly killed us. Oh and the number of female MPs is at its lowest level in 20 years.
But we promise Secret City is a wonderful, fictional alternative.
The political thriller is set in Canberra and inspired by the novels The Marmalade Files and The Mandarin Code by political journalists Chris Uhlmann and Steve Lewis.
It follows the story of a press gallery journalist amid rising tensions between China and the US. She fights to uncover the truth of interlocked conspiracies that could threaten her career, her life and endangers the freedom of all Australians.
Yes, it sounds complicated, but you've just got to jump in and embrace this gripping storyline that feels way too real.
There's a stellar cast to go with it, including Anna Torv, Jacki Weaver, Dan Wyllie and Alex Dimitriades,
The last episode of the six-part series aired on July 3 on Showcase but all episodes can be streamed on Foxtel Go.
Top Comments
My son is a swimmer so from the perspective of knowledge about the sport, Barracuda is utterly TERRIBLE. I only lasted 18 minutes. I'll give you the issues from the first 18 minutes: No one trains alone (like in the opening sequence, gym is classed as "dry land" and done with a squad), no one trains with a school (they train with a club), squads NEVER are composed of 5 kids, all swimmers know EVERYONE. Kids are constantly at swimming meets, results are available on an app and the results database so the premise that the kids don't know the "new kid" is absurd. The "new kid" would NEVER get a swimming scholarship if he wasn't a finalist at states AND the states finals are called "STATES" not state finals. Mums NEVER hang around at training - they might meet up at swim meets but NEVER at training sessions. NO ONE would "improve 1 second" in a swim training session (with the most ridiculous coaching advice I've ever seen to a swimmer who is supposed to be amazing) as improvements are measured at proper swim meets, the five boys who "raced" didn't even do a warm up (they were dry). Should I go on???? LAZY script writing about a sport which would have been EASY to fact check. TERRIBLE....
On the other hand, Offspring gives a totally realistic perspective of what it's like to be a doctor. ;)
They had an app for results in 1996?
My son is in squad. And I'm Usually at training!
Watching a 16 year old???? More like watching a younger child surely?? My son would die if I watched each training session!!