Small Town Secrets
In 1986, Denise Pflum, a promising young athlete, left her home in rural Indiana to look for her purse, and was never seen again. In this three-part series, we tag along as Detective Stacy Reese takes a fresh look at the case. It was bungled from the start; even though two of Denise’s cousins, and her ex, have confessed to killing her, they were never properly questioned, much less arrested. Three decades on, Detective Reese is determined to solve the case. “Denise matters to me.”
Three-part series Small Town Secrets premiered at 10.15pm, Saturday 2 April on SBS VICELAND. Episodes air weekly. Episodes will also be available at SBS On Demand:
Alone: The Beast
If you’re a fan of the survival series , you’ll recognise some of what's happening in this spin-off: an extreme environment, and a battle to survive. But this time, in possibly the most brutal survival challenge to make it to television, in each episode three different participants will need to work together as they try to survive with no tools, weapons or modern amenities. They’ll need to draw not only on their experience of wilderness survival, but also their social skills and stamina, to make it through their 30 days together, with their main source of food and tools just one freshly killed beast, ranging from a musk ox to an alligator. [Be warned, this series contains scenes of butchery.]
The men and women come from many backgrounds; some are experienced hunters, others bring skills in military survival training and emergency medicine. One was in previous seasons of Alone; another is a brother of a previous winner. The harsh landscape will throw many challenges at all of them.
Six-part series Alone: The Beast premieres at 8.30pm, Tuesday 5 April on SBS VICELAND, with double episodes airing weekly. The full series is now streaming .
Question Team
Richard Ayoade has left (more on that below) to head up this brand-new British game show with a twist. Instead of posing prepared questions, Ayoade asks each of his three guests to lead a round, based on their personal interests. Nobody knows what the other guest has prepared, so they’re as much the audience as we are. Episode 1 sees Bob Mortimer’s round inspired by his favourite DIY superstore, Kerry Godliman focus on camping and Thanyia Moore puts on a pop music quiz unlike any other. We are here for this!
Question Team premieres exclusively in Australia at SBS VICELAND at 8.30pm, Monday 11 April. Episodes stream after going to air.
Devoured
In an unexpected coupling, US series Devoured combines true crime with the culinary world. When a successful pizza restaurant’s secret family recipe is stolen, the mafia dishes up their own version of justice. We meet ‘The Codfather’ whose fishy business practices were his downfall. A Texan ice cream brand refused to pull their product off the shelves even when they knew it was contaminated, resulting in the death of four people, and thieves somehow made off with hundreds of beehives in California. The remarkable stories in this series remind us how often fact is stranger than fiction.
Six-part series Devoured premieres at 9.25pm, Saturday 16 April on SBS VICELAND. Episodes air weekly. The full series is now streaming .
The Gig Is Up
The gig economy is worth over US$5 trillion, and growing. But who are the workers who keep it all going? Propelled by the promise of a flexible independent lifestyle, a global workforce pieces together a livelihood task by task online, for such companies as Uber, Amazon and Deliveroo. But their reality is very different than what they’d hoped for. Conditions are often dangerous, pay can change without notice and work can dry up in an instant after one bad rating. Says Canadian director Shannon Walsh, “The magic of tech I was being sold wasn’t magic at all.”
The Gig Is Up premieres at 8.30pm, Sunday 17 April on SBS VICELAND, and is now streaming at SBS On Demand.
Underground Worlds
Returning for season 2, Underground Worlds, a UK docu-series, explores some of the world’s most extraordinary underground structures, both natural and man-made. Spectacular photography and expert commentary bring these hidden treasures to life. This season, we’ll visit the largest and most glorious cave networks to be discovered, traverse lost tunnels and delve into mothballed military bunkers. Each episode uncovers three unique subterranean worlds.
Season 2 of Underground Worlds premieres at 7.35pm, Saturday 23 April on SBS VICELAND, airing weekly. Episodes will stream for 30 days after they go to air.
Travel Man
Season 10 of Travel Man introduces new host, English comedian Joe Lycett, who brings his warmth and enthusiasm to the role. (Richard Ayoade now heads up new game show, Question Team; see above.) This ode to the mini-break takes us to Lithuania with Sarah Milican, Bilbao with James Acaster, Cyprus with Mo Gilligan and Antwerp with BAFTA-winner Katherine Parkinson (The IT Crowd), and to many more destinations as the season progresses. What hasn’t changed are the quirky tours the comedians take part in, including a ‘teat to table’ halloumi-making workshop and learning how to polish a diamond.
Season 10 of Travel Man premieres at 8.30pm, Tuesday 26 April on SBS VICELAND. Double episodes air weekly. Stream seasons 1–10 episodes . Here’s season 10, episode 1 in Basque country:
Greatest Hits of the 80s
Strap in to go behind the scenes of 12 hit songs from the 1980s, including George Michael’s ‘Careless Whisper’, which he wrote on a bus as a teen, Ultravox’s ‘Vienna’, Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s ‘Relax’, Whitney Houston’s ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)’, Prince’s biggest UK hit, ‘1999’ and the Eurythmics’ ‘Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)’. Nostalgic, much? This two-parter will have you bopping round the room in no time!
Two-part series Greatest Hits of the 80s airs at 8.30pm on Saturday 30 April and Saturday 7 May on SBS VICELAND. Here is episode 1, streaming till 6 June:
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