As summer advances and the mercury starts to climb to levels that are simply unmanageable, really, our thoughts turn to dreams of escape. Ideally, you want to take a vacation: point yourself at a spot on the map where the weather is chillier, or one where the tropical heat is coupled with beaches and drinks garnished with tiny little paper umbrellas. But when travel is not on the cards, you can always escape into the screen. With that in mind, here’s a selection of SBS on Demand titles that’ll either cool you down or heat you up, whichever your preference is.
Bouddi Wild Swim and Salt Joy
Kick things off with a double feature of short Australian documentaries. Bouddi Wild Swim follows a mixed bag of swiimers as they prepare for the titular watery marathon, a 23-kilometer paddle from Terrigal to Umina Beach along New South Wales Central Coast. A perfect follow up, Salt Joy introduces us to the Bold & Beautiful swim club of Manly, New South Wales, exploring how the informal groups’ shared love of the ocean fosters a sense of community and connection, and bolsters mental health.
Both documentaries are currently steaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Bouddi Wild Swim
documentary • 2023
documentary • 2023
Stream free On Demand
Salt Joy
program • documentary
PG
program • documentary
PG
The Head
This chilly Antarctica-set international co-production kicks off when Johan Berg (Alexandre Willaume), the summer commander of a remote research station, arrives to relieve the winter crew who have been staying there for six sunless months, only to discover the facility in disarray and the staff all dead or missing, except for Dr Maggie Mitchell (Katharine O'Donnelly), who attempts to recall the horrific events of the winter. Could brilliant ecologist Dr Arthur Wilde (John Lynch) be responsible? That’s what we’re here to find out. And with season 3 hitting SBS on Demand on December 26, that’s three seasons worth of chilly thrills to keep you occupied.
The Head is streaming at SBS On Demand. Season three arrives with two episodes at 7.01 pm on Thursday December 26, with fast-tracked weekly episodes following from 2 January.
Stream free On Demand
The Head
series • mystery • Danish
MA15+
series • mystery • Danish
MA15+
Dead Mountain: The Dyatlov Pass Incident
Based on one of the most infamous unsolved mass deaths in history, this one-season Russian thriller draws on declassified documents to present its take on the still unexplained deaths of nine experienced hikers in the Ural mountains in 1959. KGB Major Oleg Kostin (Pyotr Fyodorov) is our dogged detective tasked with investigating the inexplicable deaths, teaming up with local medical examiner Katya Shumanova (Mariya Lugovaya) to unravel a mystery that the Soviet state apparatus may very well wish to remain unsolved. A chiller in several senses of the word, this is a superb political thriller.
Dead Mountain: The Dyatlov Pass Incident is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Dead Mountain: The Dyatlov Pass Incident
series • docudrama • Russian
MA15+
series • docudrama • Russian
MA15+
Pagan Peak
This German-language series, inspired by the Danish/Swedish series The Bridge (also , as it happens) adds a dusting of folk horror to the Nordic Noir model as two cops, German Ellie (Julia Jentsch) and Austrian Gedeon (Nicholas Ofczarek), team up to track down a serial killer who hides his identity behind a Krampus mask – how seasonal! From that inciting event we get three chilling seasons of sleuthing, each centering on a crime that draws from the darker end of Germanic folklore.
All three seasons of Pagan Peak are streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Pagan Peak
series • thriller • German
MA15+
series • thriller • German
MA15+
A League of Their Own Road Trip: Southeast Asia
Can’t travel? Do it from your armchair. Spinning off from the long-running British sports panel show A League of Their Own, this travelogue/game show sees host Romesh Ranganathan and team captains Jamie Redknapp and Micah Richards head off to Southeast Asia, keen for adventure after a couple of years in pandemic lockdown. What unfolds is a series of fun challenges in some deliciously exotic locales. And if you’re in the mood for more far-flung adventures, the latest season, A League of Their Own: Mexican Road Trip, has just started streaming.
A League of Their Own Road Trip: Southeast Asia is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
A League of Their Own Road Trip: Southeast Asia
series • comedy
M
series • comedy
M
A League of Their Own: Mexican Road Trip is also streaming.
Stream free On Demand
A League of Their Own: Mexican Road Trip
series • adventure
M
series • adventure
M
Alone: Frozen
Taking the challenge of the cult favourite survival/reality series to the next level, Alone: Frozen takes half a dozen veterans of earlier seasons and drops them on the icy coast of Labrador, Canada, a foreboding locale whose hostile climate make it one of, if not the, most dangerous locations the series has ever visited. Perfect for those who are sick of both the oppressive summer heat and the social obligations of the silly season.
Alone: Frozen is streaming at SBS On Demand (and you can find more Alone from around the word in SBS On Demand's ).
Stream free On Demand
Alone: Frozen
series • adventure
M
series • adventure
M
Piste Noir
Setting its scene in the picturesque French Alps, this crime thriller could be mistaken for Scandi Noir at first glance. When a mysterious fire results in the death of an itinerant worker at a luxurious ski resort, young gendarme Émilie Karras (Constance Labbé) and seasoned local cop Loïc Servoz (Thibault de Montalembert) catch the case. Karras has roots in the area she’d rather not return to, but it soon eventuates that her family may be involved. Add in a lot of moneyed interests who’d prefer a murder not disrupt the ski season, and you’ve got a recipe for a taut and atmospheric gallic thriller.
Piste Noir is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Piste Noire
series • crime • French
M
series • crime • French
M
Shackleton's Endurance: The Lost Ice Ship Found
One of the greatest true tales of exploration and survival is the subject of this documentary narrated by Laurence Fishburne. In 1914, explorer Ernest Shackleton miraculously managed to keep every single member of his Antarctic expedition alive when things when disastrously wrong, but at the cost of his ship, Endurance. Here we delve into both the expedition itself, and archaeological efforts to locate the sunken wreck. You know it’s too hot when a waylaid Antarctic mission starts to look inviting.
Shackleton's Endurance: The Lost Ice Ship Found is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Shackleton's Endurance: The Lost Ice Ship Found
program • documentary • 2022
PG
program • documentary • 2022
PG
Snow
Another German-Austrian co-production, this six-part series finds something rotten in the village of… well, Rotten – that’s the inviting name of the hometown that dad Matthi (Robert Stadlober) returns to with his doctor wife, Lucia (Brigitte Hobmeier), and kids Jonas (Paolo Di Sapia) and Alma (a superbly unsettling Laeni Geiseler). But when the youngsters uncover a body, it points to a 40-year-old murder and the picturesque little village starts looking a lot more ominous. Snow is a mystery that vibes like a dark fairytale – perfect late-night fodder for a hot summer evening.
Snow is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Snow
series • miniseries • German
M
series • miniseries • German
M
Flowers Over the Inferno
Italian detective Teresa Battaglia (Elena Sofia Ricci) is our hero in this six-part murder mystery based on the novel of the same name by Ilaria Tuti. We’re once again in the Alps (a dangerous location judging by the rest of this list), where the gruesomely mutilated body of a ski resort designer has been found. It’s only the first corpse to turn up, and the string of killings threatens the local tourism economy, with authorities hoping for a quick and quiet resolution. But hard-nosed Teresa, who’s never met an authority figure she couldn’t upset, isn’t going to let that interfere with her investigation – besides, she’s got her own health issues to deal with. Darkly funny, horrific, and centering on a tough, idiosyncratic female cop, Flowers Over the Inferno feels like a darker riff on Fargo – and if that sounds like your thing, you’ll be happy to know a second season is underway.
Flowers Over the Inferno is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Flowers Over The Inferno
series • Crime drama • Italian
M
series • Crime drama • Italian
M
MORE SUMMER VIEWING
Best movies to watch this summer
