The Victim
One Halloween, father and husband Craig Myers (James Harkness) is brutally attacked in what looks to be a case of mistaken identity. An online post has accused him of being the notorious child killer previously known as Eddie J Turner. The prime suspect is Anna Dean, whose son was murdered 15 years prior. The emotionally charged court case that follows calls into question the traditional labels of victim and accused. Set in Scotland, this gripping 4-part drama stars Boardwalk Empire’s Kelly Macdonald and John Hannah and is from writer/creator Rob Williams (Killing Eve).
The Unusual Suspects
We love a good caper, and a heist caper is even better. When self-made businesswoman Roxanne Waters’ $16 million necklace goes missing, the ensuing police investigation exposes cracks in the sparkling façade of Eastern Sydney. With the stakes higher than ever, the masterminds can either turn on each other, or discover a friendship worth more than any diamond. With a brilliant cast including Miranda Otto, Susie Porter, Aina Dumlao, Michelle Vergara Moore, Peter O’Brien, Matt Day and Toby Leonard Moore, this show is the first on Australian television with Filipino characters in lead roles.
The Unusual Suspects is now streaming . It is available with , , , , and subtitles.
Guilt
Let’s head back to Scotland for another 4-part crime thriller, but with added laughs. Max (Mark Bonnar) is wealthy and likes to show it. His brother Jake (Jamie Sives) scrapes a living running a record shop. When they accidentally run over and kill an old man driving home one night, they cover their tracks instead of coming forward. Neighbours’ suspicions about the man’s death lead to the escalation of the brothers’ guilt as their lives begin to unravel. This contemporary crime thriller is imbued with black humour and plot twists that keep us guessing how it’s all going to pan out.
Chad
Chad follows a 14-year-old pubescent Persian boy as he navigates his first year of high school on a mission to become popular. Chad’s friendships and sanity are pushed to the limits as he uses every tactic at his disposal to befriend the cool kids, while enduring his mother’s new dating life and reconciling with his cultural identity. Teenage Chad is played by Nasim Pedrad, who you may recognise from Saturday Night Live. She is also creator, writer, executive producer and showrunner.
Iggy & Ace
In this SBS Digital Original drama series, Iggy (Sara West) and Ace (Josh Virgona) are best mates. They live, work and play together, but alcohol plays too big a role in their lives. When Ace decides to get sober, Iggy feels rejected, and defensive at the idea that she too may have a problem. Fall in love with Iggy and Ace in this excellent Australian offering, from writer Ab Morrison. Roz Hammond (The Heights, Mad As Hell) also stars. Each of the 6 episodes is 10 minutes long.
Iggy & Ace is now streaming . Episodes are also available with subtitles in , , , and .
Wonderland
If you just feel like getting swept up in a romance, then this 6-part French series is for you. Jérémy (Pierre Deladonchamps) is 33 and lives a rather lonely life in Paris, never quite feeling as though he belongs. But through the Wonderland bar, he finds a way to travel back to 1960s Biarritz to meet Alice (Olga Kurylenko), a woman he falls in love with the instant he sees a photograph of her on the wall of the bar. In his travels back in time, the more he discovers about Alice, the more mystery he finds, changing their lives forever.
La Garçonne
When Louise (Laura Smet) witnesses the murder of a family friend, and is then framed for it by state agents, she figures the best hiding place is in the police force. Only, we’re in Paris in the 1920s, so to gain entry, she assumes the identity of her twin brother, Antoine. Alongside Roman (Gregory Fitoussi), a maverick journalist, she’s drawn into the underbelly of high society while investigating the disappearance of several young models posing for the painters of Montparnasse where she learns some unsavoury truths about people she thought she knew well. This 6-part drama was France 2’s biggest hit of 2020, and vividly brings the Roaring Twenties to life.
Good Grief
Sisters Ellie and Gwen (played by real-life sisters and writers of the show, Eve and Grace Palmer), end up with their grandfather’s funeral home after he dies, along with the three eccentric employees who are not keen on their new bosses. While Ellie is eager to uphold their grandfather’s legacy and spend more time with her sister, Gwen is busting to get out of New Zealand to go DJ in Bali. By staring death in the face everyday, they begin to confront the realities of their own life, and what they want to make of it. They will eventually discover that, while at times confronting, being able to help families cope with loss is also a heart-warming opportunity.
Creamerie
What’s that? You’d like more New Zealand comedy? Then look no further than this dark comedy which has been touted as the “” (The Handmaid’s Tale season 4 is also currently streaming at ).
In the not too distant future, a viral plague has swept the earth. In a matter of weeks, it decimated 99% of men. The 1% were sent to The Facility but didn’t survive. Creamerie picks up eight years after the near mass extinction. In a new world order designed by women, health care is free, education is free and carbon emissions are down. But there’s something sinister happening in this utopia. Meanwhile on an organic dairy farm in rural New Zealand, run by Alex (Ally Xue), Jamie (JJ Fong) and Pip (Perlina Lau) a wild woman is seen running across the road. She is discovered to have a magnificent beard and a disturbing growth between her legs. On closer inspection, the woman is a man (Jay Ryan). Didn’t all the men die?
Ku’Damm 56 & 59 & 63
What happens when the daughter of a prestigious dance school proprietor discovers American rock 'n' roll? You get the wonderfully stylish German mini-series Ku’Damm 56. Caterina Schöllack (Claudia Michelsen) runs Berlin dance school Gallant and wants nothing more than to see her three daughters married and secure. Two seem happy to follow their mother’s wishes, but Monika (Sonja Gerhardt) rejects the given path and discovers rock 'n' roll. The women of this generation were searching for a new identity, and were inspired by the burgeoning demand for equal rights.
In the second series Ku’Damm 59 it is three years later and we are back with Caterina and her now very different daughters, who are searching for their identity on the brink of a new era of female empowerment. The latest season Ku’Damm 63 continues the Schöllack family history along with the social pressures and romantic dramas, marriages, affairs, homosexuality, power, powerlessness, fashion, design and lifestyle of the 1960s, rock 'n' roll and the Grand Prix d’Eurovision de la Chanson.
Ku’Damm 56, Ku’Damm 59 and Ku’Damm 63 feature 3 episodes each and all are now streaming at . Start with Ku’Damm 56:
Or jump to the latest season Ku’Damm 63:
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