‘My rapist thanked me afterwards’
He escaped a career as a doctor for a life in comedy, then left his wife for a man. But it was on a trip to NZ that Adam Kay was almost brought undone.
Television
Killer instinct for true crime
Filmmaker Skye Borgman turns her forensic gaze to a case of patricide in Netflix’s I Just Killed My Dad — the extraordinary story of teenager Anthony Templet.
It’s seventh heaven for Doctor Who fans
When Sylvester McCoy was cast as the seventh Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series, Doctor Who, it came at a difficult time for the program.
Bondi Rescue star succumbs to prostate cancer
Bondi Rescue lifeguard Terry McDermott has died, with a tragic final social media post showing him singing in a hospital ward.
Small-town mystery is slow to flow
Despite an impressive cast and elegant direction, Savage River lacks the surprise factor.
Oh boy! Acting royalty swallows Trent’s universe
Trent Dalton’s debut novel, Boy Swallows Universe, is being filmed by Netflix, and they’ve cast the young hero.
Dealers’ threats halt Portman TV drama
Production has been interrupted after drug dealers threatened to shot someone unless producers handed over $US50,000.
Get into some spring streaming
Fantasy has taken charge of the small screen, but there’s still plenty of good viewing in September for fans of comedy and real-life drama.
Psychological drama in a retirement home? It’s irresistible
The follow up to acclaimed series Old People’s Home for Four Year Olds brings lonely teens and seniors into each other’s lives using a clever and mind-bogglingly difficult technique.
Taste of teen spirit proves a welcome tonic for the ages
A social experiment pairing two of the most isolated demographics together has led to genuine friendships, including 15-year-old Louis and 93-year-old Ken.
A cat-and-mouse chase into the forest
Old wounds going back almost 40 years are still festering in a village rocked by a murder in Sherwood, a series inspired by real events.
There will be blood
Director Jocelyn Moorhouse on Hollywood’s madness, making Savage River – and her obsession with realistic-looking blood.
Fantasy juggernaut premieres in Sydney
Three years after its disappointing finale, no one could accuse fans of Game of Thrones of losing interest in the fantasy juggernaut.
Alcohol is leaving ‘great big holes’ in our brains
While alcohol can be a social glue, its neurotoxic effects are frightening. This new show unpacks the science.
Spacey ordered to pay $31m for House of Cards axing
Judge rules Kevin Spacey must pay damages to the production company that fired him from the Netflix series after alleged sexual misconduct.
Marriage thrills in domestic noir
A wife comes home from a weekend away to find her house emptied of her belongings in gripping new series Our House.
‘The whole world’s gone mad’: why nostalgia is crippling us
Everything old is new again – but amid revivals for Kate Bush, Top Gun and even ABBA, experts are warning against the “toxic” side of spending too much time in the past.
Trailblazing Star Trek actress dies, aged 89
Nichelle Nichols played Lieutenant Uhura in the series and shared one of the first interracial kisses on prime-time TV.
The man who vanished into thin air
A new documentary series examines the unsolved case of DB Cooper, who 50 years ago seized a jet and escaped with the ransom money.
Goodfellas actor Paul Sorvino dead two months after co-star
A second Goodfellas actor has died in as many months, with Paul Sorvino passing aged 83 after Ray Liotta died aged 67.
Spirited drama to savour
The second series of Aftertaste brings back big-ego chef Easton West, whose patterns of behaviour are a constant challenge for his family in the Adelaide Hills
Kath & Kim to return
Australian television icons Kath and Kim will return to screens once more for the show’s 20th anniversary special, according to media reports.
Gritty but gratifying journey on the road to revelation
Aboriginal detective Jay Swan’s origin story is a bit different in style but just as good.
‘I’m not as clever as people might think I am’
Comedian Shaun Micallef meditates on Mad As Hell, his new memoir and his new quiz show for Year 11 students.
Bloodbath on the carpet
Based on a German comedy, The Cleaner sees Greg Davies star as the man who clears up human remains at crime scenes – and helps patch people’s lives back together.
Netflix ‘cashing in on Holocaust’
Netflix has been accused of exploiting the Holocaust by filming part of its popular science-fiction show Stranger Things in a notorious Lithuanian prison that once held victims of the Gestapo.
‘I only watch reality nonsense at the moment. I’m so bad’
English actor Laura Carmichael on her Downton Abbey downtime in Australia, her creepy new thriller and her guilty TV pleasure.
ABC’s carbon doco has all the right elements
Sarah Snook from Succession gives a flirty voice to carbon in this clever science documentary.
The retro brutality of ’80s bikini culture
There’s no time capsule quite like an ’80s aerobics class. Physical offers a sceptical, psychoanalytic and cringeworthy take on workout culture and the fat-phobia of the time.
The woman who changed television
British-born comedy star Carol Raye landed in Australia in 1964 and found fame in The Mavis Bramston Show before eventually becoming an ‘Australian institution’.
Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/television/page/22