Anyone else feel like a broken record this year saying, "I can't believe it's [*insert month here*]"? Same. We can't believe it's already June, which means it's time to see what new TV series audiences have been loving at SBS On Demand. If you've missed them, be sure to add them to your watchlist!
The Handmaid's Tale
It's been a long wait, but wow, has it been worth it: The Handmaid's Tale season 4 launched in a blaze of glory, and audiences cannot get enough of June Osborne. It is already one of the most watched series at SBS On Demand for this year. If you haven't plunged into the new season yet, there's a Handmaid's Tale refresher to get you ready for season 4 . You can catch new episodes of season 4 on SBS and SBS On Demand (find links to the latest episodes, plus latest show news and more on the Handmaid's Tale program page ) and then join the hosts of the as they talk it all over after every episode.
Watch The Handmaid's Tale weekly at 9.30pm Thursdays on SBS. New episodes will also be available to stream weekly at 7PM Wednesdays . SBS Australia's award-winning Handmaid's Tale companion podcast, , is also back! You can on your preferred podcast platform now. Watch the first episode of season 4 here (also available with and subtitles):
Mr Mercedes
Based on Stephen King's bestselling novel and adapted by David E. Kelley, Mr Mercedes stars Brendan Gleeson as retired police detective Bill Hodges. Two years after retiring Hodges is still haunted by his last case, a massacre that left 16 people dead. The killer was dubbed 'Mr Mercedes' and when he begins to receive a series of lurid letters and emails, from the supposed killer taunting him, Hodges is forced to undertake a private and potentially felonious crusade to bring the killer to justice before he strikes again. Brendan Gleeson + Stephen King = a winning cat-and-mouse thriller that audiences haven't been able to get enough of.
Limetown
What happened to the people of Limetown? That's the 15-year-old mystery American Public Radio journalist Lia Haddock (Jessica Biel) is trying to uncover. Based on the hit number one podcast in the US, this tale of mystery and suspense garnered comparisons to everything from The X-Files to Wayward Pines to that other hit podcast, Serial. We follow Haddock as she unravels the mystery behind the disappearance of over 300 people at a neuroscience research facility in Tennessee. But what happened in the past is far from over...
Deadwater Fell
Starring Cush Jumbo (The Good Fight) and David Tennant (Doctor Who, ), this four-part crime drama is set in the fictional Scottish town of Kirkdarroch and follows two families in the aftermath of a horrific crime. One night the community is drawn to Tom's (Tennant) home in the forest by the flicker of flames and the smell of smoke. Amid the confusion Tom's wife Kate (Anne Madeley) and their three children are found dead while Tom is rushed to hospital. As the fingers of suspicion point first to Tom, then to others as more details of that night emerge, Jess (Jumbo) becomes desperate to understand what could have caused such a tragedy, and what secrets lie at the root of this terrible act. Featuring an all-star cast and as gripping as Broadchurch it's no wonder this made the most watched list.
Shadowplay
Berlin, summer of 1946, the city is in chaos in the immediate aftermath of WWII: there are no laws, and everyone is either a criminal or a survivor. When American cop Max McLaughlin (Taylor Kitsch, Waco, Friday Night Lights) arrives to help create a police force and take down the Al Capone of Berlin, Dr Werner 'Englemacher' Gladow, he is also on a private mission to track down his missing brother, who's been killing former Nazis in hiding.
This series is from creator Måns Mårlind and co-director Björn Stein, both of and pedigree. They know what SBS On Demand audiences want to watch.
Shadowplay is now streaming at (also available with and subtitles).
Vienna Blood
Step into 1900s Vienna, a hot bed of philosophy, science and art, where cultures and ideas collide in the city's grand cafes and opera houses. Max Liebermann (Matthew Beard) is a brilliant young English student of famed psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud. When Max comes into contact with Oskar Rheinhardt, a Detective Inspector struggling with a strange case, he agrees to help him investigate a series of unusual and disturbing murders. Max's extraordinary skills of perception and forensics, and his deep understanding of human behaviour and deviance, lead them to solving some of Vienna's most mysterious and deadly cases.
Atlantic Crossing
Starring SBS On Demand favourite Sofia Helin (Saga Noren from ) and Kyle MacLachlan, this period drama takes us to Washington, D.C. in 1940 where Crown Princess Märtha and her children are living at the White House as political refugees from Nazi-occupied Norway. Her presence there influences how President Roosevelt views the unfolding tragedy in Europe. What begins as a friendship turns into affection and turmoil when Märtha courageously speaks out against the Nazis, eventually changing the course of the war. This compelling series features both Norwegian and English languages.
See What You Made Me Do
Australians have responded in droves to this vital examination of the nation's domestic abuse epidemic. Investigative journalist Jess Hill draws upon themes explored in her award-winning book of the same name, to ignite crucial conversations about domestic abuse and unpack the strategies that can work to make perpetrators accountable, and protect those most at risk. Travelling across and outside Australia, Jess explores radical innovations which could make a seismic difference to curbing this crisis in our homes.
Thin Ice
It's not an SBS On Demand list without a bit of Nordic Noir, we love it and so do you. So it's no surprise the new series Thin Ice made our most watched list. The attack of a Swedish oil research vessel and the kidnapping of its crew lead intelligence officer, Liv, to the small village of Tasiilaq to investigate. There, she discovers rising tensions among local officials, on the brink of signing a treaty to prevent harmful oil drilling in the Arctic. Phone and internet connections to the town have been cut, and witnesses are being killed, all, it seems, to prevent the treaty from being signed. Featuring Swedish and Danish languages, this series boasts a brilliant cast including Lena Endre (Kingsman: The Golden Circle, ), Alexander Karim (, ), Iben Dorner, Angunnguaq Larsen, Nicolas Bro (), Nukâka Coster-Waldau () and Bianca Kronlöf (Underdog) as Liv.
Romulus
When Vikings ended we were looking for a series to fill that historical action hole in our heart, and Romulus did just that. This Italian series (spoken completely in ancient Latin) is a dramatic and gritty retelling of the ancient myth about the founding of Rome. But this is not the story you've heard before about two brothers, Romulus and Remus and the she-wolf who saves them.
"This is a story about tribes," (). "We don't actually get to see Rome in season 1. What we see are these almost primitive men and women, terrorised by nature and gods. We follow the stories of three or four characters, all outcasts for one reason or another, and how they survive and take their destinies into their own hands.
"This is done with a realistic ambition to do something that is powerful narratively but has a very realistic approach to the storytelling."
There's many more TV series that landed in 2021 that were so close to making the list – shout out to , and – plus classic series that returned like and . Be sure to explore these and much more at .
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