AustLit

Twenty-four years after toddler Carys Howell goes missing in Wales, Matilda Grey's mother Janice commits suicide in front of her. Finding a box of clippings about Carys's disappearance, Matilda travels to the village of Penllynith, hoping to get to the bottom of the mysteries of the missing child and her mother's suicide. But the locals hostile, except Australian Nick Dean, who has inherited a mansion nearby, and dark forces are stirring.

'When tech-nerd and sci-fi fanatic Luke (Kamil Ellis) arrives for his first day at Bremin High all appears to be tiresomely ordinary, but what he doesn't know is that Bremin is located at the convergence of magical ley lines and that someone has been awaiting his arrival to put together a new gang of Nowhere Boys. Three other Nowhere Boys have already been identified; 'bad boy' Heath (Joe Klocek) high achiever and soccer star, Nicco (Luca Sardelis) and musical theatre geek Jesse (Jordie Race-Coldrey).

'Coinciding with Luke's arrival, the people of Bremin start disappearing. Doubly peculiar is that, not only are they disappearing, but they're being wiped from everyone's memory and only the Nowhere Boys have noticed! Eventually Luke, Heath, Nicco and Jesse discover they are the last four people in the world. They find themselves thrust together in an eerily empty wasteland, forced to figure out how to save the town.' (Production summary)

A small Australian town faces the return of the beloved dead – some recently deceased, and some long gone.

Janet King is an Australian television drama series which first aired on ABC1 in 2014. It was created as a spin-off from the 2011 legal drama Crownies.

Series 1:

'An 8-hour legal/political thriller that is a spin-off of Crownies featuring Marta Dusseldorp reprising her role of Crown Prosecutor Janet King. The series will look at the dilemmas of a contemporary woman who returns to work after a year's maternity leave and is flung into a shocking prosecution that involves layers of intrigue played out at the highest levels of power. Janet King's case leads her through some astounding twists and revelations that impact on her life on every level.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 7/4/2014)

Series 2:

With gun crime in the suburbs causing great concern, the state government establishes a Royal Commission to look into the problem following the death of Todd Wilson and appoints Janet King to head it. Give the power to become investigators, King and her team are allowed to raid premises, interrogate persons of interest and have police seconded to them. King believes that solving Wilson's murder might uncover what's fuelling the violence.

Series 3:

Janet confronts a hornet’s nest of illegal gambling, organised crime and money laundering while tracking the tragic death of a young sports star. What begins as a spot betting investigation soon unmasks elite professional sportsmen and women and their connection to the shadowy underbelly of performance enhancing drugs, match fixing, kickbacks and, ultimately, murder.

Source: ABCTV (http://about.abc.net.au/abc-in-2017/drama-lovers/). (Sighted: 04/11/2016)

'Gail Lang tries to understand her husband's lingering adolescent obsession with Strawberry Alison, a girl with a large red birthmark on her face. Going through a box of Vic's memorabilia, Gail begins to wonder whether she too was just some "damaged goods" that her husband wanted to rescue.'

Source: The Turning website (http://www.theturningmovie.com.au/#!/damaged_goods/). (Sighted: 6/12/2013)

'The Time of Our Lives follows the lives of the Tivolli clan, a typical extended Australian family, set in a moody inner city Melbourne.

'In their thirties and forties, contemporary life is filled with kids, career advancement, home ownership and the variations of love: settling in with the one you love; still trying to find the one you love; getting away from the one you used to love.' (Source: ABC TV website)

Devils Dust is a two-part telemovie that deals with asbestos victim Bernie Banton and his courageous fight against James Hardie Industries.

'Recounts the incredible tale of British-Australian drug smuggler David McMillan, the only man ever to escape from Bangkok's Klong Prem prison — The Bangkok Hilton. Extremely intelligent and charming, McMillan came from a privileged background but chose a life of crime, which earned him a spot on Interpol's Top Ten Most Wanted list. His partner in crime was also the love of his life — Clelia Vigano. Together McMillan and Vigano were an unstoppable force — or so they thought.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive record

'As a man approaching the end of his life, Manolis hates what the slap is doing to his family. His wife is full of even more vitriol, Hector and Aisha are being torn apart by their split loyalties, and Aisha, still furious with Harry, will have nothing to do with the family. When he notices Hector still harbouring resentment towards Harry after the court case, he tries to reach out to him, but Hector rejects his efforts. Hector, as always, is consumed with his own problems. He's getting anonymous text messages calling him a rapist.

'Sandi pleads with Manolis to talk to Aisha, but even he is not sure he can turn her around. Manolis is further dismayed by the selfishness of his family, when Hector appears indifferent to the news that his godfather has died, and seems put out by Manolis' insistence that he attend the funeral. Manolis reminds him that it is a mark of respect, and important that he attend with Aisha and the children, but only Hector turns up.

'At the funeral, Manolis runs into his old friend, Thanasis, who brags about leaving his sick wife, and his new sex life with a much younger Filipina. Manolis is shocked, but secretly envious that Thanasis has put his own happiness first. His envy turns to irritation though after one too many jibes from Thanasis, and he lashes out, humiliating himself. Hector extricates him from the melee, and they stop for a drink on the way home. Hector confesses his affair to Manolis. Manolis shrugs and tells him to get a divorce; isn't that what everyone else does? But this is not the advice Hector seeks. Manolis then reveals his own secret. Koula was in love with someone else when they married, but Manolis stuck by her because they had a baby on the way. He put family first and is now regretting it. Hector is shocked.

'Manolis decides to meet with Aisha, to try to put an end to the familial disharmony. He implores her to forgive, to come to Greece with the family, but with Harry coming to, Aisha will not be swayed, and he loses it with her. Regretful, he returns home to Koula, feeling feeble and powerless. But to his surprise, Koula is delighted by his taking action, and the ice between them thaws.'

Source: ABC website, http://www.abc.net.au/tv/theslap/
Sighted: 24/11/2011

'The cops were bent and the crims were cool. And together they ran the most exciting street in Australia. Strippers, gamblers, gunmen, dealers, bouncers, bagmen - they all came to the Golden Mile.

'A smart and sexy young Kim Hollingsworth, smiling teenage Kings Cross identity Johnny Ibrahim, the Bayeh Brothers, Trevor Haken, Chook Fowler ... the Golden Mile was their playground, and they played like there was no tomorrow.

'Then, in 1995, 'tomorrow' came and the Wood Royal Commission cleaned out the Black Empire within the NSW Police. But it left behind a mess that took years of mayhem to bring under control.

'Underbelly: The Golden Mile is the story of the excesses of the empire, the collapse of the empire, the chaos that followed, and the ultimate victory of strong and honest police ... seen through the eyes of some of the most sexy, charming, corrupt and deadly people of the time.'

Source: Publisher's website.

Two girls from opposite sides of the world are forced to learn to live together on a snake farm in a remote and possibly mystical area of the Australian outback. Though superficially the program is a 'clash of cultures' narrative in which the British Skye and the Australian Tiger have to come to terms with one another and with their life on the snake farm, it incorporates such fantastic elements as the breeding of brand new species of snakes, snakes suddenly growing to enormous size, and teenage werewolves.

'Things are returning to normal for George Freeman; he survived a shooting, his casinos are back in operation and his fiancée — the well-bred, incandescent Georgina — is the blonde icing on the cake.

'Down in Melbourne, the Coronial inquest into the Wilsons' deaths kicks off. Bob Trimbole and Brian Alexander both avoid testifying on the grounds of avoiding self-incrimination, but lawyer John Aston — whose legal practicing certificate is contingent on him being of good character — can't weasel out that easy.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 8/3/2013)

Series One of East West 101 focuses on two men whose destinies are irrevocably intertwined. Malik is driven by a hunger for justice. He was twelve when a masked gunman held up the family shop. Malik refused to hand over the money and his father was subsequently shot and injured. He later joined the police force and has been looking for the shadowy figure who pulled the trigger. When he finally finds him, Malik's belief in the justice system is challenged by a powerful desire for revenge. As he hunts down the truth, it is revealed that one of his colleagues, Crowley, had a part to play in the original investigation. Crowley is a man whose vision has been blighted by pain and prejudice. His son, Paul, was found dead of an overdose on drugs sold to him by a Lebanese dealer. When the drug dealer who sold Paul the heroin is found murdered, Internal Affairs come asking questions.

In Season Two, East West 101 expands to seven episodes as the Major Crime Squad investigate crime and murder in all quarters of multicultural Sydney. But overarching all is the quest for Detective Zane Malik to find the truth behind a car bomb attack which kills two men. The Major Crime Squad form a joint task force with the NSO (National Security Organisation) to deal with the crime. There is paranoia in the city and fallout on the Muslim community. Malik knows that in order to stop the circle of hate, he must solve the crime. Was the bomb really an act of extremists, as the media suggest, or a sophisticated killing by a career criminal? Malik doggedly pursues the truth until he, too, becomes a target. Inspector Patricia Wright questions his motives but her vision is clouded by personal issues that she wants to keep hidden from the squad. Crime has touched her own family.

Season Three : The Hero's Journey. 'In [this] third season of East West 101, the Major Crime Squad investigates a 36 million dollar robbery in Australia and its connections to the murder of 17 people in Afghanistan. Is the robbery to fund an act of terror by military trained radicals, or the work of sophisticated criminals? For Detective Zane Malik the case has savage personal and professional ramifications. Malik is obstructed in his quest to find those responsible by the interference of newcomer Detective Neil Travis. Travis has fought in Iraq and his attitude and approach to the investigation cause conflict with Malik. In the hunt for an elusive foe, ultimately both men are forced to confront what makes a man a hero, or a coward...'

(Source: East West 101, SBS website)

A six-part crime series focusing on the character Carla Cametti, a determined private detective. While she has the looks and street smarts to get what she wants, she also has a personal life that's rife with danger, from a family riddled with gangsters to her volatile relationship with Detective Luciano Gandolfi, a policeman seconded to curb Melbourne's burgeoning gangland activity.

'A generation before Alphonse Gangitano and Carl Williams achieved notoriety, an even bigger crime wave rocked the country. Heroin hit the nation like a tsunami. Drug money flooded the underworld and with the new money came a breed of hard men and beautiful women. Two names stood above all others — blazing across the underworld and changing the face of organised crime in Australia forever — 'Aussie' Bob Trimbole and Terry Clark.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 8/7/2013)

'... a contemporary action drama series set in a critical incident police unit, providing an insider's view of police under pressure. Our heroes are a mobile squad trained to be smarter, tactically superior and technologically advantaged.'

Source: Australian Television website, www.australiantelevision.net (sighted 08/09/2009)

'They came from worlds apart to live together to find love on Wog Street. Miki Mavros, a 26-year-old Greek, alternative arty type, is on a serious losing streak and has to retreat back home to Wog Street. There she meets Doctor Joe, a 25 year old Maori with a straight girlfriend and a yuppie dream. Miki and Joe are living proof that opposites attract. Will Miki answer the call of the road or will she be able to commit to the love she gradually discovers in the old neighbourhood?'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 11/10/2012)

'The story of Australia's first and greatest home grown super star, whose show In Melbourne Tonight was made in Channel Nine's GTV studios in the 1950s and '60s.'

Source: Australian Film Commission website, http://afc.gov.au/default.aspx
Sighted: 21/05/2007

After stumbling on a secret super-computer, clumsy pizza delivery boy Scooter transforms himself into Secret Agent X-19, undertaking a double life of international intrigue.

The program draws its inspiration from straightforward spy films, such as the James Bond franchise, as well as their parodic counterparts, such as Get Smart, from which Scooter: Secret Agent draws its comedic tone. Simultaneously, the program makes extensive use of both stuntwork (including wire work) and special effects in order to provide Scooter with a a range of science-fiction gadgets.