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ABC1: 2011 slate

Adam Hills, Chris Lilley, Judith Lucy, Frank Woodley, Asher Keddie, Laurence Leung, Adam Richard, John Safran, John Clarke -all on ABC1 in 2011.

Tis’ the season to be launching, as ABC followed Nine yesterday with the announcement of its 2011 programming.

Poh Ling Yeow cooked up a meal at ABC’s Ultimo headquarters as Kim Dalton and Channel Controllers joined with media, stars and commissioning editors last night.

Next year Adam Hills has a new talk show, Adam Hills: In Gordon St Tonight, a reference to the streetname home to the ABC’s Ripponlea Studios. “I’m really excited to be allowed to have the run of the ABC studios for a few months. It feels like Mum and Dad are leaving town and have given me the keys to the studio. I’m gonna invite a few friends around, have some good chats, play some good music, and try not to trash the place,” he says.

At the centre of ABC’s new slate is its return to Australian drama, with 34 hours of drama to be broadcast in 2011, with a further 36.5 hours going into production.

ABC has also announced ABC News Breakfast will be moving to ABC1 (simulcast with ABC News 24) with children’s programming moving to ABC2.

An iPad version of iView will also be released in December with more than 160 programs.

ABC1
DRAMA
Paper Giants: The Birth Of Cleo (working title), 2 x 2hr telemovie starring Asher Keddie and Rob Carlton star as Ita Buttrose and Kerry Packer.

The Slap, The Slap, 8 x 1hr television adaption of the multi-award winning novel.

Crownies, legal drama with 22 x 1 hr episodes commissioned from Screentime (subject to finance).

In Production:
Redfern Now, 6 x 1hr drama written, directed and produced by Indigenous Australians in collaboraton with writer Jimmy McGovern.
The Straits, a 10-part series about a crime family with a difference.
Phryne Fisher, an adaptation of the Kerry Greenwood novels about a glamorous, female detective from the 1920s.
Top Of The Lake, Jane Campion’s six-part compelling mystery series.
The Eye Of The Storm, Fred Schepsi’s first Australian film since Evil Angels starring Judy Davis, Geoffrey Rush and Charlotte Rampling.

ENTERTAINMENT / COMEDY
Adam Hills: In Gordon St Tonight, Adam Hills gets his own talk show. 12x 1hr.
Chris Lilley’s Angry Boys, 12 x 30min.
Laid, comedy from writer Marieke Hardy, 6 x 30min.
Woodley, Frank Woodley plays a loveable dad in his own series. 8 x 30min.
Lawrence Leung’s Unbelievable. 6 x 30min.
Judith Lucy’s Spiritual Journey, 6 x 30min.
Outland, 6 x 30min.

ARTS
At the Movies, 25th Anniversary of Margaret & David.
Made Up Religions: Your Census Guide, John Safran special.
Mrs Carey’s Concert, 1 x 95min.
Machete Maidens Unleashed, 1hr.
Autoluminescent from director Richard Lowenstein, 1hr.
Ben Lee: Catch My Disease, 1hr.

DOCUMENTARY
Sporting Nation, John Clarke questions whether sport should be declared Australia’s national religion. 3 x 1hr.
Chris Humfrey’s Wild Life, get up close and personal with the animal world.
Three Boys Dreaming, follow three indigenous boys chasing the AFL dream.
Outback Kids, 3 x 1hr.
Wide Open Road, 3 x 1hr.

FACTUAL
Poh’s Kitchen goes primetime.
Who’s Been Sleeping in My House? 8 x 30min.
Compass presents Life’s Big Questions, hosted by Scott Stephens.

INTERNATIONAL
The Kennedys,
Attenborough’s Last Journey,
Oliver Stone’s the Untold History of the United States,
Great Rift,
The Human Planet,
Kidnap and Ransom

Returning:
A Quiet Word with…, Art Nation, Artscape, At the Movies, Australian Story, Can We Help? Catalyst, Collectors, Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners, Gardening Australia, the Gruen Transfer, Hungry Beast, Insiders, Lateline, Lateline Business, Media Watch, Offsiders, Q & A, Spicks and Specks, The New Inventors, The 7:30 Report.

Doctor Who, Whitechapel, New Tricks, Spooks, Doc Martin, Midsomer Murders, Miss Marple, Poirot.

ABC2, ABC3 and ABC News 24 programming will follow.

If you’d like to be in the audience of Adam Hills: In Gordon St Tonight, email your name and a daytime contact number to [email protected]

ABC2, ABC3 ABC News 24: 2011 slate

44 Responses

  1. ‘Compass presents Life’s Big Questions, hosted by Scott Stephens.’…..is this just a one off Compass….or have they replaced Geraldine on Compass?!?!?
    Like just about everything…..except Chris Lilley….I personally…do not like his brand of comedy….kinda makes me cringe,,,,,
    But a good year of viewing coming up on ch.2.

  2. I realise that some areas still don’t get digital, but once they do, is the plan that all kids programmes will be on ABC3, news and current affairs on 24, etc? I’m just not sure what the longer term plans are???

  3. It’s good to see that an Australian tv station can produce more then the standard cops doctors or family dramas and you know you will be able to see the entire series even if it doesnt appeal to the masses channel nine should take notes

  4. Very excited about that drama slate. All of the series sound interesting, and are being produced/written/directed by some top notch Australian talent.

    @GARY, I think Chris Lilley is a bit of a perfectionist and takes his time with rewrites, etcetera before he gets anywhere near actually filming his series. I’d rather he take all the time he needs to produce what he does than rush series out that are half cooked. We’ve had enough of those this year!

  5. When you say “ABC News Breakfast will be moving to ABC1 (simulcast with ABC News 24)” do you really mean “simulcast”? At the moment ABC News 24 is live around the country, and I’m hoping it will stay that way.

  6. “Hungry Beast” – really! I am more excited about that than anything else. But I also like the rest of the list, although no “Librarians” is a bit sad – but understandable given the ratings drop-off this year.

  7. Good luck Adam Hills – hope the show is a success!

    How bloody long to we have to wait for the Chris Lilley series though…seriously, if you can’t make 8 half hour episodes in three years with millions and millions of dollars then something is very very wrong!

  8. As the BBC makes it main channel HD in addition to its other BBCHD channel, our ABC still pretends it doesn’t exist.

    I’m not sure how they will be able to adapt The Slap and keep faith with the book without making it X-rated.

  9. Adam Hills: In Gordon St Tonight – Terrible Name, did they ask Channel Nine for assistance on the name?
    Morning children’s programming moving to ABC2 – Great, although should just be on ABC3
    Crownies: That’s unusually for ABC to have a season that long. Risky move.
    Woodley: Yay!
    Angry Boys: Yay!
    Asher Keddie: Ugghhh enough of her already. Cannot stand her.

  10. Under Sandra Levy’s head of drama position, she committed to 200 hours of drama in 1988/89, if my memory serves correctly. 36 is in the right direction…..

  11. David, you forget to mention that children’s programming on ABC2 will be extended to 7pm from next year. I think the change is to partly compensate for the loss of The Colbert Report and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart to Foxtel. The ABC will also be disappointed that it will not get big documentaries from the BBC (most of which are in Channel Nine’s 2011 line-up), and will have trouble filling its own schedule if some of the local productions do not work.

  12. I look forward to Phryne Fisher. Plus I look forward to more details about it. Or did I miss an article on it?

    I’ll admit there’s a lot of other shows I watch including Doctor Who and most current affairs shows. Plus Agatha Christie. I wish they’d repeat At the Movies late at night. As at 6 pm I watch the news and 10 pm Wed I watch Fringe.

    I also wish ABC News 24 would co-ordinate better with ABC1 and ABC2 i.e. start shows at 8.30 pm rather than 8 pm. Same for 9.30pm and 9 pm. I’ll never watch it in prime time if it isn’t co-ordinated with other channels. And sometimes I’d like to watch repeats like Q&A or even Labor In Power perhaps. But not if the time slot doesn’t work. Is it really that hard to find half hour shows? NB: rhetorical.

    BTW does that mean they won’t show Sherlock Holmes again? As I love it and am thankful they showed it this year. I’m sure there are plenty more shows I haven’t mentioned that I will also enjoy. Thank you for them too.

  13. this looks fantastic! much better than 2010. especially love the adam hills show – hope it succeeds and gets extended, and looking forward to new chris lilley. and the upcoming dramas actually sound good – for once something other than the standard middle of the road dramas we are usually subjected to!

  14. “…is its return to Australian drama, with 34 hours of drama to be broadcast in 2011, with a further 36.5 hours going into production.”

    So 1 hour of Drama every 5.1 days. Wow.

  15. As much as I’d like to get rid of children’s programs from ABC1, isn’t it a bit early? There are still areas of Australia without any digital TV at all, still…

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