The best shows to binge-watch this summer
From crime dramas to Hollywood smash-hits, here’s a list of shows to catch up on this summer that will knock you for six.
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While 2019 brought many shows that viewers (and stars) would like to forget — the ill-fated reboot of the Today Show, Seven’s dating disaster The Super Switch and Rove’s short-lived return to the small screen – there were also numerous hits that are worth revisiting.
Here’s a list of shows to binge-watch this summer that will knock you for six.
CHERNOBYL
Where to find it: Foxtel on Demand.
What you’re up for: Five episodes
Why watch it: This gripping dramatisation of the 1986 nuclear disaster at the
Chernobyl power plant has turned the abandoned site into a weirdly popular new
tourist hotspot. The series details the events that led up to the explosion, as well as
the aftermath, with powerful performances from Emily Watson, Jared Harris and
Stellan Skarsgard
TOTAL CONTROL
Where to find it: ABC iView
What you’re up for: Six episodes
Why watch it: Two of the very best in the business – Deborah Mailman and Rachel
Griffiths – go head-to-head as an initially naive new Senator and her politically astute
PM. Newcomer Harry Richardson also puts in a scene-stealing performance as an
ambitious member of the new Senator’s staff.
FLEABAG
Where to find it: Amazon Prime
What you’re up for: Two six-episode seasons.
Why watch it: This was the show and the star (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) that had
everyone abuzz in 2019. Waller-Bridge was the creative force behind Killing Eve, but
in Fleabag she not only works her magic behind the camera but in front of it. Over
the course of two six-part seasons, she plays Fleabag, an emotionally self-
destructive cafe-owner searching for love in all the wrong places. Sadly, there will be
no more Fleabag. Unlike so many TV shows which overstay their welcome, Waller-
Bridge had the good sense to quit while ahead and leave viewers wanting more.
WENTWORTH
Where to find it: Foxtel on Demand
What you’re up for: 10 episodes, but there are also six previous seasons to enjoy.
Why watch it: Thank goodness this prison drama got a stay of execution as it’s really
upped the ante with the shocking plot twists going into season seven. It’s little
wonder that some of Australia’s finest actresses have lined up to do time on
Wentworth. Here, women — of all ages, shapes and sizes — are given the opportunity
to really showcase their acting chops in ways that a stint on Ramsay St or Summer
Bay would never afford them. This series picks up after The Freak (Pamela Rabe)
was buried alive by Will and by season’s end there will be even more blood spilled
on the prison floor.
THE HUNTING
Where to find it: SBS on Demand
What you’re up for: Four episodes
Why watch it: Any parent of young children will wake up in a cold sweat after
watching this compelling series about the modern world of sexting and online
pornography. It captures the gulf between tech-savvy teenagers who have a “take
pics or it didn’t happen” approach to life and their parents, raised long before it
became commonplace to take and send naked photographs. Kavitha Anandasivam
delivers a heartbreaking performance as Amandip, a sensible student who decides
to bow to convention and send a boy she likes a topless photo, sending both their
lives into a tailspin.
OLD PEOPLE’S HOME FOR FOUR YEAR OLDS
Where to find it: ABC iView
What you’re up for: Five episodes
Why watch it: This show is best summed up with one word: heartwarming. From the
makers of feel-good TV shows like Gogglebox and MasterChef Australia, Old
People’s Home for Four Year Olds follows what happens when a group of children
undertake their kindergarten sessions in a Sydney nursing home. Spoiler alert:
spending time with these enthusiastic and loving little people brings improved health
and happiness to lonely residents. Watching how much the kids and the adults
blossom, one can only hope that this program is eventually rolled out in nursing
homes around the country.
UNBELIEVABLE
Where to find it: Netflix
What you’re up for: Eight episodes
Why watch it: The most unbelievable thing about this compelling story of Marie Adler
—a rape victim who recants her story when the police and her foster-mother doubt
her contradicting versions of the assault — is that it is all based on a true story. Two
policewomen discover that an increasingly violent sexual predator is on the loose.
Toni Collette plays no-nonsense detective Grace Rasmussen while Karen Duvall is
the God-fearing Merritt Weaver. Be warned, this is harrowing viewing.
SUCCESSION
Where to find it: Foxtel on Demand
What you’re up for: Two 10-episode seasons
Why watch it: A self-absorbed mogul refuses to give up the helm of his empire to his
spoiled adult children, despite his failing health. The fictitious and uber-powerful Roy
family flit about by helicopter, wear designer clothes and plot to stab each other in
the back over dinner in their plush New York apartment. Watch out for Australia’s
Sarah Snook as the daughter who watches with mild bemusement as her brothers
(played with gusto by Macaulay Culkin’s little brother Kieran and a brilliantly snide
Jeremy Strong) fight for power.
THE CRY
Where to find it: ABC iView
What you’re up for: Four episodes
Why watch it: When a baby goes missing from the back seat of his parents’ car
during a family holiday to Australia it sends shockwaves through the local community
and casts the eye of suspicion over all who knew him. Told in a fractured timeline,
the mystery slowly unfolds over the course of the series with every episode
delivering a new twist. British actress Jenna Coleman delivers a beautiful
performance as the guilt-racked and grieving mother while Ewan Leslie is fabulous
as her manipulative and controlling husband, Alistair.
FIVE BEDROOMS
Where to find it: 10Play
What you’re up for: Eight episodes
Why watch it: This was the show that filled the void left by Offspring (when it left our
screens the first time around). Five Bedrooms has the winning formula of drama,
comedy and – most importantly — actor Kat Stewart and screenwriter Michael
Lucas. Stewart plays one of five people who drunkenly commit to buying a house
together. As the mismatched housemates adjust to living under one roof, surprising
romances bloom and friendships are forged.
MORNING WARS
Where to find it: Apple TV
What you’re up for: 10 episodes
Why watch it: It was billed as Jennifer Aniston’s TV comeback. Not to mention yet
another notch on Reese Witherspoon’s belt as a producer who tells strong stories
about women. But the standout performances in this tale of an American brekkie
show thrown into turmoil when one of its hosts is accused of sexual harassment,
actually come from Steve Carrell and Billy Crudup. Carrell is excellent as the self-
righteous, disgraced host, Mitch, while Crudup is the right blend of charm and smarm
in his performance as an ambitious exec.
Originally published as The best shows to binge-watch this summer