What to watch this week: Aussie bestseller gets the local treatment; Alone Australia tougher than ever

Best-selling Aussie author Liane Moriarty finally gets a homegrown TV adaptation with The Last Anniversary, while the crazy-brave survivalists are back for more pain in Alone Australia.

We’ve sifted through the latest offerings from TV and streaming platforms to find the best shows you should be watching this week.

Teresa Palmer in the dramedy The Last Anniversary.

THE LAST ANNIVERSARY

THURSDAY, BINGE

After adaptations of Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall were relocated to the US, this gorgeous-looking, homegrown, six-part comedy-drama is the first time one of Aussie author Liane Moriarty’s books has been both shot and set in her homeland. It’s a good thing too, the stunning and almost ethereal scenery around Sydney’s Hawkesbury River very much feels like a character in the multi-layered mystery that slowly unravels. Teresa Palmer plays orphaned journalist Sophie Honeywell, who is increasingly feeling down about the nightmares of dating and a ticking biological clock as she nears 40 when she inherits a house on Scribbly Gum Island from Connie, the spirited grandmother of an ex-boyfriend. Initially confused, having only met and bonded with its former owner briefly, she senses the chance of a new beginning, but on arriving at the spectacular property, she discovers that Connie’s other oddball relatives are predictably miffed and suspicious – and her presence sets in motion a sequence of events that will dredge up long-hidden secrets from their unconventional family tree.

Bushman Muzza in the third season of Alone Australia.

ALONE AUSTRALIA

WEDNESDAY, 7.30PM, SBS

The reality TV show that makes Survivor look like a leisurely Sunday picnic in the park is back with another 10 hardy souls who have nothing but their wits, hunting and foraging skills, mental strength and a few meagre possessions in their quest to outlast each other for a $250,000 prize. After switching to New Zealand last season, the action has returned to gloomy, frigid Tasmania, which looks as beautiful – and miserable – as ever as the contestants try to stay warm, dry and fed. Among this season’s crop is bushman Muzza, the oldest contestant yet at 63, ecologist Tom, whose resilience partly stems from being born with one hand, and deaf disability services officer Ceilidh, who is determined to make her late father proud. And keep an eye out for professional trapper Shay, who says he’s caught about 100,000 possums since leaving school at 16 and isn’t afraid to chow down on a bowl of worms to stay in the game.

Usman Khawaja will be a key player for Queensland in the Sheffield Shield final. Picture: Steve Bell/Getty Images

SHEFFIELD SHIELD FINAL

WEDNESDAY, 10.15AM, KAYO

It’s been slim pickings on the cricket field for South Australia in recent decades, with only a couple of short-form titles since it last took out the Sheffield Shield in 1996. Nevertheless, with home state advantage, South Australia will go into this week’s decider a slight favourite against a Queensland team that has won the country’s premier domestic first-class competition eight times in the same period. Whatever the result, it’s a stunning turnaround for both teams, which occupied the bottom two places last season. All eyes will be on veteran opener Usman Khawaja after his spat with Queensland’s head of cricket at the weekend, but if he and his Test teammate and skipper Marnus Labuschagne fire, the team will take some beating.

Seth Rogen in the Hollywood satire, The Studio, on Apple TV+.

THE STUDIO

WEDNESDAY, APPLE TV+

Seth Rogen’s biting new comedy, created with his long-time friend and creative partner Evan Goldberg, is clearly driven by both his love for and frustration with the entertainment industry that made him a star as an actor and a major player as a writer and producer. He plays Matt Remick, who is appointed head of the fictional Continental Studios when his mentor Amy (Catherine O’Hara) is brutally fired, and is immediately faced with the never-ending dance between art and commerce that drives Hollywood, especially in an era where movies themselves are under threat. Katherine Hahn is hilarious as a PR guru – as is Bryan Cranston as the grubby studio owner – and an impressive roster of talent including Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Charlize Theron and Sarah Polley pitch in to play elevated versions of themselves.

Comedian Mel Buttle hosts The Gala to kick of this year’s Melbourne International Comedy Festival. Picture: Supplied

MICF 2025: THE GALA

WEDNESDAY, 9PM, ABC

The Gala that kicks off the Melbourne International Comedy Festival each year is not only a chance to support the fabulous cause that is Oxfam, but also an excellent sampler of some of the hottest comedians plying their trade right now, many of whom are also touring nationally. Hosted by former Great Australian Bake Off mainstay and Taskmaster Australia contestant Mel Buttle, it will feature (hopefully) side-splitting sets from Ray O’Leary, Geraldine Hickey, Melanie Bracewell, Sammy J, Tommy Little, Luke McGregor, Urzila Carlson and many more. And next Wednesday, at the same time, tune in for even more hilarity with the two-hour All Stars Super Show, hosted by Michael Hing.

Imogen Reid and Ellen Pompeo in the stranger than fiction Good American Family.

GOOD AMERICAN FAMILY

NEW EPISODES WEDNESDAYS, DISNEY+

Gray’s Anatomy star Ellen Pompeo shows off a very different side in a hard-to-categorise, six-part series that fits squarely into the truth-is-stranger-than-fiction basket. Based on a true story that is still playing out through the courts and the media, Pompeo plays Christine Barnett, one half of an American couple who adopt Natalia Grace, under the assumption she is a seven-year-old girl with dwarfism from Ukraine. From the very get-go there are red flags galore with the dodgy agency working out of a strip mall that won’t let Barnett speak to Natalia Grace’s previous family and hit her up for earlier medical bills. But as the crime drama shifts back and forth in time between different families, each with wildly different versions of events, audience allegiances shift and it becomes harder and harder to know who to believe.

Staz Nair plays DCI Harry Virdee in the UK crime drama Virdee on SBS.

VIRDEE

THURSDAY, 9.35PM, SBS

Nobody does gritty crime thrillers quite like the Brits and this new six-part series is a worthy addition to the well-worn and enduringly popular genre. Adapted by AA Dhand from his own crime novels, it stars Staz Nair (Game Of Thrones, Rebel Moon) as DCI Harry Virdee, a Bradford detective who is on the hunt for a killer targeting the grim northern city’s Asian community. In the opening episode, suave but tough-as-nails Virdee shows he’s prepared to go to extreme measures to track down a missing boy, including conspiring with his brother-in-law, who runs one of the city’s main drug gangs. The action is great but it often takes a surprisingly emotional turn when Virdee tries to reconcile with his estranged Sikh family, after his narrow-minded father cast him out for marrying a Muslim.

Soweto Gospel Choir spread pure joy on this week’s Compass.

COMPASS: THE DJ AND THE GOSPEL CHOIR

SUNDAY, 6.30PM, ABC

Under his stage name of Groove Terminator, DJ/producer Simon Lewicki was nominated for four ARIA awards for his electronica bangers in the late ’90s. More than two decades later, he scored another nomination for his History Of House album, a collaboration with the Soweto Gospel Choir. This documentary spotlights how the unlikely meeting of minds and styles came about after Lewicki saw the South African vocal ensemble perform at the Sydney Opera House in 2019 and thought they could work together to spread freedom and joy by blending their very different sounds. The footage of the anti-apartheid Soweto Riots that helped birth the choir is still shocking, but hearing them sing their protest and spiritual songs, alongside dancefloor fillers from the House era (and the Bluey theme!,) is a pure joy.

Kylie Minogue plays herself in the Netflix comedy-mystery The Residence. Picture: Erin Simkin/Netflix

THE RESIDENCE

NETFLIX

Come for the murder mystery and black comedy and stay for the ongoing Australian references in this eight-episode series from Shondaland, the powerhouse production company behind Grey’s Anatomy and Bridgerton. Orange is the New Black’s Uzo Aduba plays Cordelia Cupp, widely hailed as the world’s greatest detective, who is summoned to the White House after the abrasive and demanding Chief Usher, AB Wynter (man of the moment Giancarlo Esposito), is found dead in the middle of a State Dinner with the Australian Prime Minister and his entourage. Cue plenty of Down Under gags, with Julian McMahon (son of actual former PM Billy McMahon) swearily embracing his role as the country’s leader Stephen Roos, and Kylie Minogue playing herself, as Cupp quizzes the myriad suspects to find the killer in their midst.

George Miller and Virginia Trioli in the Outback for the return of Creative Types.

CREATIVE TYPES

TUESDAY, 8.30PM, ABC

The second season opener of journalist and presenter Virginia Trioli’s documentary series on creative Australians is a must watch for Mad Max fans and lovers of Australian film more broadly. Her first guest is Oscar-winning director George Miller – the doctor turned film visionary who created the iconic character of Max Rockatansky more than 45 years ago and over five subsequent films has built an extraordinary post-Apocalyptic universe that’s home to some of the best action movies ever made. Trioli heads to Broken Hill, where two of the films were shot, to talk to Miller about his inspirations, creative process, casting choices and experiences in Hollywood, while collaborators including Chris Hemsworth and Tilda Swinton pay tribute to his feverish imagination and meticulous preparation over Zoom.

Originally published as What to watch this week: Aussie bestseller gets the local treatment; Alone Australia tougher than ever