ABC upfronts: 2021 programming includes a significant move for Q+A

Monday nights won’t be the same in 2021 with the ABC making a significant change to its flagship current affairs series and a prime time slot.

ABC is moving its flagship current affairs program Q+A from its Monday perch to Thursday nights with a prime time slot of 8.30pm.

The headline-generating panel discussion series will shift along with Foreign Correspondent, it was announced during ABC’s upfronts, a preview of its 2021 programming.

Q+A has already undergone a makeover of sorts this year with new host Hamish Macdonald and a revamped set. Next year will be Q+A’s 14th year on air.

“It’s so exciting to have Q+A moving to prime time,” Q+A executive producer Erin Vincent said. “It means more Australians can engage in the big conversations we are having, and we really look forward to hearing the different perspectives that will bring.

“This move acknowledges the importance of the Q+A format and the voice it gives everyday Australians.”

Australian Story will return to Monday nights while Four Corners will stay put.

Hamish Macdonald is coming off his first year of hosting Q+A.

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Returning favourites include Total Control, Harrow, Jack Irish, Frayed, Superwog, Spicks And Specks, Tomorrow Night, Love On The Spectrum, Old People’s Home For 4 Year Olds, Anh’s Brush With Fame, Gruen, Hard Quiz, Sammy J, Mad As Hell, The Set, The Weekly, You Can’t Ask That, Insiders, Media Watch, Planet America, The Drum, Back Roads, Gardening Australia, Landline, Offsiders, Catalyst, Compass and 7.30.

Here are some of the new series highlights for 2021.

Wakefield: An eight-part drama series set in a hospital in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney, it explores the line between “sanity and madness”. The story about mental illness is centred on a psychological nurse (Rudi Dharmalingam) who feels his own grip on reality slipping. Also stars Mandy McElhinney, Harriet Dyer and Ryan Corr.

The Newsreader: Set in the mid-1980s in a commercial newsroom, it’s about a young reporter (Sam Reid) and a “difficult” star newsreader (Anna Torv) who are paired together to see if the unconventional choice will work while covering stories including the AIDS crisis, Challenger explosion and Halley’s comet.

Fires: This six-part anthology series will explore the megafires that blighted the Australian landscape, destroying homes and animal habitats. The series will tell the stories of the people who survived the killer fire season and the aftermath.

Muster Dogs: This four-part series follows five graziers around Australia who are each given a Kelpie puppy from the same litter. They must raise them to be a muster dog and we get to follow along as each doggo hits (or misses) key milestones

Erik Thomson is on a redemption path in Aftertaste.

Aftertaste: Hot tempers and kitchens seem to go hand-in-hand but Easton West (Erik Thomson) is almost out of second chances. After a disastrous opening night in a glitzy Shanghai restaurant, he returns, cap in hand, to his family home in the Adelaide Hills. The comedy also stars Rachel Griffiths.

All My Friends Are Racist: A short-form web series exclusive to iview, it follows two young besties, described as an overachieving careerist and an emerging narcissist. Life is sweet but when it’s discovered that they have condemned their friends and colleagues as racists, they become social pariahs. The road back is a hard one.

Fisk: Kitty Flanagan wrote, co-directed and stars in this six-part comedy series about solicitor Helen Tudor-Fisk who lands at a shabby suburban law office when her marriage breaks down and she loses her glamorous high-end job. Now her days are filled with low-rent wills and probate, bereaved relatives, family feuds and emotional clients.

Preppers: Nakkiah Lui stars as a young Aboriginal woman who finds herself in a community of doomsday preppers when her life falls apart. With pandemics, economic catastrophe, climate change and alien invasions potentially on the cards, what’s not to fear?

Why Are You Like This? It’s all grey area in this six-part series about three young people trying to navigate their 20s in Melbourne. They have their own moral code, but is it enough in an increasingly complex world full of social landmines?

Here Out West: A movie consisting of interconnected short stories that reveal the beating heart of Western Sydney and the people who call it home. Here Out West’s instigating event is the kidnapping of a baby from hospital by a grandmother. The film is a showcase for Australia’s diverse writing and directing talent including Ana Kokkinos and Leah Purcell.

Here Out West is a feature film made up of interconnected short stories.

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Back To Nature: Aaron Pedersen and author Holly Ringland host this nature series about the Australian landscape. The show was filmed in stunning locations including the ancient Gondwana rainforests, Kosciuszko National Park, the Macedon Ranges and the Bay of Fires.

Australian Book Series: Claudia Karvan will host this not-as-yet named series over three episodes, in which she will explore Australian literature, from classics to bestsellers. Karvan will look at what our written word reveals about Australian identity.

Brazen Hussies: A one-off documentary about the Australian Women’s Liberation Movement and the lasting impact of a generation of female activists who demanded more. Narrated by Sigrid Thornton, it will feature freshly uncovered archival footage, photographs, memorabilia and personal accounts.

Going Country: City girl Justine Clarke takes a road trip away from the coast to explore the lively scene of Australian country music in this two-part series directed by Kriv Stenders.

Designing a Legacy: Tim Ross meets Australian families whose architectural ambitions have shaped their lives, and the impact of design on our daily lives.

Laura’s Choice: Laura Henkel, 90, is “outspoken and feisty” and she wants to be in control of how she goes. This two-part series follows Laura’s journey to end her life in a story that explores radical approaches to dying, a topic few of us are willing to confront.

The As Yet Unnamed Democracy Project: Comedian, writer and filmmaker Christiaan van Vuuren probes whether Australian democracy is as safe and sound as we think it is, or have we allowed our complacency to give way to stealthy parties who seek to undermine the institution.

Christiaan van Vuuren will look at whether Australian democracy is as strong as we think.

Firestarter : The Story Of Bangarra: To mark the 30th anniversary of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, this one-off film charts the group’s growth to the admired cultural institution it is today, while looking at how issues such as intergenerational trauma, grief and loss has shaped its evolution.

My Name Is Gulpilil: Australian actor David Gulpilil is facing lung cancer and his own mortality. In what is likely to be his final major film, the renowned artist stares down death and talks directly to the audience.

Women In parliament: In the 100 years since a woman was first elected to parliament, there is still a great gender imbalance in our nation’s corridors of power, in both numbers and experiences. Annabel Crabb gathers some of our most influential female leaders – including Penny Wong, Julia Gillard, Julie Bishop and Quentin Bryce – to share what happens in those rooms.

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