The Tailings
In a remote West Coast Tasmanian town, teenager Jas (Tegan Stimson) undertakes a maverick investigation after her father Brendan, mysteriously dies. Her community are quick to dismiss the death as an accident, however refusing to believe this, Jas comes into conflict with new young teacher Ruby (Mabel Li), who has just arrived in town and comes carrying her own past trauma. Unexpectedly, Jas and Ruby built a mutual trust as they confront the layers of their grief and ultimately uncover the truth behind Brendan’s death.
Comprising 6 x 10-minute episodes the series was filmed on Tasmania’s West Coast last year.
The Tailings is an SBS Digital Original and is now streaming at (also available subtitled in five different languages including , , , and ).
Robbie Hood
This original short form series is brought to you by Dylan River and Kodie Bedford, who have taken that well-known character from English folklore and given it an Indigenous Australian point of view and placed him right in the middle of modern-day Alice Springs. Robbie Hood is only 13, but already he's famous in Alice. Famous for being a precocious little misfit with a heart of gold who does the right thing, even when it's a little bit wrong. With characters and scenarios instantly recognisable to the folklore tale, but with an Aussie country town twist, this show is fun children's entertainment that has an authentic spirit. Adults will love it, too.
Australia in Colour
We loved season 1 of Australia In Colour. Now, narrator Hugo Weaving guides us through season 2. Presenting our nation’s history, a unique collection of cinematic moments are brought to life for the first time in stunning colour. Reflecting on our country’s character, attitudes, politics and struggle to value our Indigenous and multicultural past, Australia In Colour offers a chance to relive history from a fresh perspective.
Australia in Colour season 1 & 2 are now streaming at (also available with , , , and subtitles). Stream the first episode of season 2:
The Hunting
This timely 2019 miniseries tackles themes of misogyny, online exploitation, sexuality and sexualisation. The Hunting intimately and dramatically imagines the lives of four teenagers, their teachers and their families throughout the lead-up, revelation and aftermath of a nude teen photo scandal. When two high school teachers discover students are sharing explicit photos of their underage friends and peers online, the revelation has unbearable consequences for their students and their families. The series uses this singular event as a way of exploring some of the most pressing issues of our time and offering a vital portrait of contemporary, multicultural Australia.
The Hunting is now streaming at (also available with and subtitles).
Deep Water
The drama unfolds when Detective Tori Lustigman relocates from the country to her childhood suburb of Bondi with her teenage son Will, to put the past firmly behind her and start life over. Partnered with Detective Nick Manning, they're assigned to investigate the brutal murder of a young man whose mutilated corpse is found in an apartment. Is this murder a domestic, a robbery gone wrong or something far more sinister?
This 2016 four-part, fictional crime drama set in contemporary Bondi, is inspired by true events of the 1980s and '90s where 80 murders, 30 unsolved cases and thousands of assaults had one thing in common. The victims were all young homosexual men.
Deep Water features an all-star cast including Yael Stone, Noah Taylor, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor and Danielle Cormack.
Also available:
- Feature-length documentary , presenting first-hand accounts of Sydney's hate crime murders of over 30 gay men, in the '80s and '90s
- SBS cross-platform online investigation, , and
Hungry Ghosts
When a tomb in Vietnam is accidentally opened on the eve of the , a vengeful spirit is unleashed, bringing the dead with him. As these spirits wreak havoc across Melbourne’s Vietnamese-Australian community, reclaiming lost loves and exacting revenge, young woman May Le (Catherine Van-Davies) must rediscover her true heritage and accept her destiny to help bring balance to a community still traumatised by war.
is now available at SBS On Demand (also streaming with , and subtitles).
Addicted Australia
Around struggle with a substance use problem or addiction each year, but only one in four seek help. is an inspiring documentary that puts a spotlight on Australia’s addiction crisis in a deeply personal way. In a television first, the four-part series follows ten Australians as they battle addiction and take part in a unique six-month treatment program. Addicted Australia shows the challenges faced by people with addiction issues, the highs and lows of the treatment journey, and the effects on their families and friends.
Addicted Australia is now streaming at (also available with and subtitles).
Safe Harbour
The 2018 four-part drama Safe Harbour is a bold psychological thriller that left viewers asking "who cut the rope?" On a yachting holiday from Darwin to Indonesia, five Australians come across a broken-down fishing boat, full of desperate asylum seekers. The Australians decide to help, towing the refugees, but when they wake the next morning the fishing boat is gone.
Five years later they meet some of the refugees again and learn the truth. Someone cut the rope between the two boats and, as a result, seven people died when the fishing boat sank. The revelation drives a wedge of mistrust between the Australians, as they grapple with protecting themselves and doing the right thing. The refugees struggle with their desire for justice and, possibly, revenge. Old secrets come to light, relationships are shattered and lives are put in danger. And one question hangs over it all – who cut the rope?
The Family Law
Based on Benjamin Law's best-selling memoir, this dramedy following everyone's favourite almost-functional Asian–Australian family has been warming audiences' hearts since it first aired in 2016. 14-year-old Benjamin is slightly self-obsessed, with aspirations to be famous despite his severe lack of talent. For the Law family, all communication can lead to misunderstanding and unlikely comedy stems from tragedy. This is a show about sabotaged expectations, growing pains, finding your place in the world, and the strange embarrassment we feel towards the people we’re supposed to love the most: our family. The Family Law delves into divorce, romance, coming of age and coming out, all while making you laugh and cry.
The Family Law seasons 1-3 are now streaming at (also available with ).
The Principal
The 2015 crime-drama miniseries The Principal is a 'whodunit' set in a multicultural school. Matt Bashir, history teacher and former Deputy at a prestigious girls’ school, is swiftly promoted to the position of Principal of Boxdale Boys High. In this notoriously difficult Sydney school, Bashir’s radical approach brings him into conflict on all fronts and leaves his personal life dangerously exposed. He works overtime to get the local community on side, promising change in his charges. But just when it seems he is making progress, a 17-year-old student is found dead on school grounds. The murder and subsequent police investigation threaten Bashir’s fledgling reforms, his support from staff and even his resolve. But he's determined to do his best for the boys of Boxdale despite his fear that students will take matters into their own hands.
The murder investigation shifts from students, gang members, local shopkeepers, parents and the teaching staff. All the while Principal Bashir is trying to implement positive reform while facing opposition at every turn.
Homecoming Queens
Created and co-written by Michelle Law and real-life bestie Chloë Reeson, Homecoming Queens is inspired by their own friendship and health experiences, with a little creative licence. Michelle Low (a fictionalised version of Law), is a children’s television presenter who returns to her hometown of Brisbane after an alopecia diagnosis shatters the façade of her perfect life. Michelle’s high school best friend, Chloë Easton (Liv Hewson) is recovering from breast cancer and determined to make up for lost time with a reverse bucket list. This funny, female-driven and heart-warming series is about upended expectations and asking what happens when you return to places, relationships, even your own body, and find nothing is quite the way you remember it.
Sunshine
The 2017 miniseries Sunshine is a high-stakes crime drama set in Melbourne's outer-west suburb of Sunshine. It is in this humble suburb that our South Sudanese protagonist Jacob Garang, a young, aspiring South Sudanese-Australian basketball player, dreams of playing in the American NBA. But his plans hang in the balance when he's drawn into a criminal investigation. Police are hunting down the perpetrator of a violent assault, which has left a teenage girl from from the affluent suburb of Templestowe in a coma fighting for her life, and a group of young men fighting for their innocence. Sunshine is a vibrant, kinetic and compelling hybrid drama that explores a world of contrasts – truth and reconstruction, past and present, hope and heartbreak – felt by those forging a new life in a foreign land.
On the Ropes
On The Ropes is a sexy, gritty drama that is fast-paced and full of heart. The 2018 miniseries follows aspiring Iraqi-Australian boxing trainer Amirah Al-Amir who has idolised her world champion father Sami her entire life. While working in the family gym in Sydney’s west alongside her two brothers, Amirah negotiates a professional debut match for her hard-nosed fighter Jess O'Connor with Sami's long-time promoter Strick. Furious that she has done this behind his back, her father threatens to cut her off. Desperate to chase her dream of transforming women's boxing, will Amirah choose her fighter or her family?
On the Ropes is now streaming at (also available with and subtitles).
East West 101
This crime-drama series which ran from 2007 to 2011 has to be one of SBS's most-loved local dramas. The series follows Muslim detective, Zane Malik (not to be confused with One Direction's Zayn Malik), who is fighting crime in a post 9/11 world. When a police officer is killed, apparently by two armed robbers 'of middle Eastern appearance', Malik uses his connections in the Arab community to track down the two youths involved. His search for the truth brings him into a head-on clash with Senior Detective Ray Crowley, who accuses him of putting his community before his job. Will Malik be able to find out the truth behind the officer's death before war erupts on the streets of Lakemba?
This might look like the battle between two strong men for dominance, but it is also a metaphor for the fear that exists between East and West as two men search for love, approval and forgiveness.
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