Loveday Writing

I’m carrying on my annual tradition with this blog post – buying the Previews edition of TV Week and blogging about what shows look good to watch this year (and that I’ll possibly review).

The first new show that I came across in the edition was Dog Park, a comedy that will air on the ABC. The edition described it as a comedy that “capitalises on canine connection by introducing Beattie, a fluffy escape artist whose disappearance leads to an unexpected series of events.”

Another ABC comedy that looks promising is Ground Up starring Sam Pang, who will portray football administrator, Hugh, who “is sent to Tasmania to start up a new AFL club. He just needs to get public support for building a billion-dollar stadium – and find a coach, players and an inoffensive mascot.”

On the drama front, ABC will be airing Dustfall, starring Anna Torv as Detective Tig Pollard. Dustfall has been described as a “dark, disturbing drama exploring gender-based violence, based on the book by Vikki Petraitis.”

Another ABC drama that looks promising is Treasure & Dirt which focuses on detective Ivan Lucic being sent to an isolated South Australian town where “cults and millionaires do as they please, the law is barely acknowledged, and the crime he’s trying to crack might be the tip of a very strange iceberg.”

Stan also has some promising shows coming out this year.

The F Ward is a drama that focuses on the F Ward at an underfunded and understaffed Pines Hospital, where doctors are sent if they make mistakes.

The Walsh Sisters is inspired by the best-selling novels of Marian Keyes and is a comedy drama that follows “a loving but deeply dysfunctional Irish family of five sisters and their long-suffering parents.”

The Killings: Parrish Station, is a drama set across two timelines – 1987 and 2024 – where detective, Georgia Cooke, investigates the brutal murder of four scientists at a remote base.

Going back to the ABC, Bad Company, is a comedy that “follows Margie, the volatile artistic director of the Argyle, a once well-respected iconic theatre company that’s now crumbling into dilapidation and on the brink of bankruptcy. Margie is to blame and high-flying corporate executive, Julia, is brought in to try and fix Margie’s mess.”

Shakedown, is a four-part drama that tells the stories of the real-life victims, activists, and lawyers caught up in the Robodebt scandal.

Lastly, over at SBS, The Chaplain is a new eight-part drama set inside a bustling international airport and was inspired by a real-life encounter. Co-creator, Jude Troy, told TV Week that “after accidentally leaving her handbag in an Uber and being unable to board her flight, she met Melbourne Airport’s chaplain, and that he shared with her stories of ‘humanity’ and ‘connection’ from the airport.”

I’m looking forward to watching and (hopefully) reviewing these news shows when they eventually air.