AustLit

'Ioan Gruffudd stars as brilliant forensic pathologist Dr Daniel Harrow in this major new 10-part Australian crime drama. He investigates the apparent suicide of a young woman whose grieving father suspects she was murdered.' (Production summary)

'Four years after six Australians on a yachting holiday came to the aid of an asylum seeker boat, a tragic series of events return to haunt them.'

Source: Screen Australia.

'When he is knocked off his pedestal and on to the Impaired Registrants Program, prodigal Sydney surgeon and party boy Hugh Knight must return to his family home in rural Whyhope where he might learn to swallow his pride and mend his ways – or not.'

Source: Production blurb.

'After Detective Gary Hyde's best mate is killed in a seemingly random attack, he vows to bring the killers to justice. With his new partner Claire McKenzie, they uncover a criminal network which threaten their life and the lives of their loved ones.

'While investigating, the police and immigration officials uncover a network of potential terrorists. The enemies of national security are hiding in plain sight and the race is on to hunt them down before the next atrocity.' (Production summary)

Jack Irish becomes entangled in a missing persons case, which leads to a false accusation of murder, and a mystery that stretches to a remote village in the Philippines.

'A murder mystery series, Mr & Mrs Murder follows Nicole and Charlie, a married couple who run an extreme cleaning business, specialising in crime scenes. Armed with wit, smarts and the invisibility that cleaning brings, the duo solve the crimes the cops can't in a murder mystery with a smile.'

(Source: Australian Television in Production website)

'During the final episode of Dance Academy, it's judgment day. The Third Years sit before the Company panel and learn their fate — whether they'll be offered a professional contract with the National Ballet Company or not.

'Meanwhile, one of the gang is transported on a very different journey.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 8/4/2014)

A co-Australian and German television series, Dance Academy revolves around Tara Webster, a young woman who has grown up on property in outback Australia all the while dreaming of becoming a dancer. When she makes it into the National Academy of Dance, Tara realises that her life is about to change forever. As the series progresses, she also comes to realise that she is not alone in this journey.

'Spirited is a romantic look at life and love after death with a rock 'n' roll twist. From the producers of Love My Way, Spirited is a blackly funny exploration of love, death and life seen through the lives of a group of people who are extreme, complicated and unique. The eight episode, escapist and romantic drama series will take richly drawn characters through situations and storylines that are anything but predictable. This is a show with a lightness of touch and yet it also encompasses the absurdity of modern dentistry, explores the curious world of parenting, celebrates the punk aesthetic and depicts a unique vision of the spirit world' (Spirited 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.

This British/Australian co-production comedy/adventure series spins off the character of the robotic dog K9 from the British television series Doctor Who. Because the programme is not a BBC production, it cannot make direct references to Doctor Who. Similarly, K9 was radically redesigned for this show, because although Bob Baker (creator of K9 and co-creator of the original character) owns the character rights to K9, the BBC owns the rights to the original character design.

The concept for K9 was developed by Australian writers Shane Krause and Shayne Armstrong, who also serve as primary writers for the programme. Other Australian writers involved in the show include Queensland-based writer Jim Noble and comedian Ian McFadyen.

The programme is filmed and produced in Brisbane, Australia, but set in near-future London.

'CANAL ROAD is a medical and legal advisory centre where the lives of inner-city professionals and their patients entwine in a story of mystery and medical intrigue. At the heart of the series are the tragic deaths of the wife and son of psychiatrist Spencer McKay, who is confronted by the killer of his loved ones and sets out on a journey of revenge which will implicate friends, workmates and his darkest demons.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 3/5/2013)

Alexandra Wilson is a normal girl living in an average suburb. She can sing brilliantly (she's a songwriter at heart). She's funny and driven. Alex's band is her life, and her band-mates, expressive Amanda Tucci and realist JB Deekes, are her closest friends. There's also Marcus, their lead guitarist: he's a year older, and, well, rather attractive. Alex has two grounded parents, Anita and Jim, and one very centre-stage younger sister, Zoe. Life is very normal. But ...

Since birth, Alex has caused a succession of strange, somewhat magical events. Fortunately, she's been able to conceal, ignore, or deny them all. But then Kuru, a young man dressed in exotic robes, and Anala, a decorated adult elephant who has a tendency to vanish now and again, arrive on Alex's doorstep. Kuru explains that Alex is actually Princess Liliuokalani Parasha Khaled Persphone Amanirenas of Manjipoor.

Alex is not so sure about that! But the magical effects she seems to cause have recently blossomed. It's scary. Alex asks Kuru and Anala to leave, but they won't go anywhere. They are under the royal command of Omar, Chief Advisor to the former Queen Nefari, to bring the princess home to rule.

Manjipoor is an exotic, mystical kingdom that exists very close to our world--but not in it. The nation was born six hundred years ago when 'gifted' people (sorcerers, oracles, and witches) fled persecution and created their own territory, and later, for their protection, moved it to a parallel location by magical means!

Kuru's mission is made easier when Alex's parents accept him as an 'exchange student' and he is invited to stay at their home. He does his best to fit in at Alex's school. Alex keeps her identity as a princess a secret from everybody but Amanda and JB, but it's an ongoing problem concealing a wilful, sometimes-invisible elephant in her backyard.

Omar's recent revelation of the existence of Manjipoor's secret princess shocks and threatens Vashan, the last royal relative in a conflicted and dying dynasty, who fully expected to rule. Aided by his skilful servant Diva, Vashan acts--first subtly, then overtly--to prevent his cousin Alex from claiming her inheritance.

Back in 'The Old World'--our world--Kuru's persistence with Alex starts to have an effect. Alex begins to practise and accept her magic--and it often goes awry. It's not easy being a teenager with magical powers! Alex uses her magic to rectify some very teenage-related issues, as well as to bend the occasional rule, but she draws the line at using magic in her music or for the band. They've got to prove they're good enough without it!

Following an encounter in Manjipoor where Alex learns some of the history of her real mother, Queen Nefari, and is introduced first hand to Vashan's enmity, she awakens to the strong qualities developing inside her and the need for her in Manjipoor as a princess.

Simultaneously, Alex, Amanda, Marcus, and JB improve as a band. They get gigs, and Alex's confidence as a singer increases. Alex finds the pull between both worlds conflicting. When Vashan becomes increasingly bold in his endeavours to undermine and overtake Alex, his actions precipitate a series of stunning revelations affecting the lives of Alex, Kuru, Anala, and Omar and the future of Manjipoor. Alex finds she must make a choice about where her real destiny lies ...

Source: Jonathan M Shiff Productions website, http://www.jonathan-m-shiff.com.au/
Sighted: 15/12/2009

'... 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)

Fat Cow is a small and dying town. Desperate to keep the town alive, motel proprietor Cassie Brown claims that an '80s pop legend recently died in the town's motel, hoping to draw tourists to the location. When the story is punctured by visiting journalist Jack Green, he and Cassie combine forces to keep Fat Cow alive and solve a succession of mysteries on the way.

Fat Cow Motel was an interactive, multi-platform series. Each episode ended on a cliffhanger, and viewers were invited to solve the mystery at the official website before the resolution aired on the next week's episode.

'The detectives of the Kingsway Major Crime Squad fight to preserve their Pacific Paradise. Crime knows no boundaries—from the Miami-like streets of Sylvania Waters, all dark glass and pontoons, to the towering cranes on the Container Wharves of Botany Bay, bordered by the white beaches and blue water between Monterey and Hungry Point. This is our world. It's tough. It's beautiful. Dangerous. A contradiction.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 12/6/2013)

'About a group of 20-somethings living in the urban environs of St Kilda. They have yet to make it, but know it's just a matter of time.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 28/11/2013)

'Based on the stories of Paul Jennings, DRIVEN CRAZY follows the adventures of the Bourke family as they travel around Australia in their old Chevy wagon.'

Source: Screen Australia.