Foxtel offers binge option for Picnic at Hanging Rock

In a first for Foxtel, all six episodes Picnic at Hanging Rock will be available for subscribers to stream when the series launches on Sunday May 6th.

It marks the first time a local drama on Foxtel can be binge-watched at launch, with all episodes available to Drama subscribers at On Demand. Weekly episodes will also continue every Sunday night on Showcase.

Brian Walsh, Foxtel’s Executive Director of Television, said: “Picnic At Hanging Rock has generated incredible buzz since we commenced production over a year ago. Now that the telecast is imminent, we are delighted to announce that Foxtel subscribers will be able to watch the series in its entirety from May 6. This is the first time that we will drop all episodes at once for a Foxtel Original Series. We think it’s a great message. We are putting customers first and giving them the choice to watch it either weekly, on a Sunday night, or all at once and anytime it suits them. It really is gifting the scheduling to the viewer and letting them decide what suits. This is the way the world is watching drama.

“Foxtel is incredibly proud of this ground-breaking event series and we’re sure viewers will embrace the brilliant performances and superbly crafted six episodes that re-imagines an iconic Australian story.”

Picnic at Hanging Rock has received international and local critical acclaim ahead of its world premiere on Foxtel – it was celebrated at the Berlin Film Festival where it opened the TV Section, and will soon screen at the coveted Tribeca Film Festival in Manhattan, NY.

Hollywood Reporter: “Hats off to the creators of this glossy six-part TV adaptation —this new version, by contrast, is a simmering nightmare drenched in lush colour, energetically shot with a propensity for psychologically unsettling Dutch angles, and powered by a surging contemporary score.”

Variety : “Not Your Grandfather’s – or Grandmother’s – ‘Picnic at Hanging Rock’ TV reworking of the Australian literary and film classic strives for “sophisticated storytelling.”

News.com.au: “From the dazzling, colour-saturated first frame this original, world-class production is quite literally, gold. This remarkable six-part TV drama takes extraordinary risks — from experimental camera angles and a soaring soundtrack, to costumes and cinematic styling that, at times, takes the viewer down the rabbit hole, Alice In Wonderland style… it delivers on all of its promise.”

Picnic at Hanging Rock is a FremantleMedia Australia production made with key production investment from Screen Australia. The series was shot in Victoria, Australia with the significant assistance of the Victorian Government through Film Victoria and has already garnered global attention with Amazon Prime Video in the US, BBC for the UK, Canal+ in France and SKY New Zealand’s premium entertainment channel SoHo, all set to premiere this year.

A re-imagining Joan Lindsay’s iconic novel, stars acclaimed British actress Natalie Dormer along with Australian rising stars including Lily Sullivan, Samara Weaving, Madeleine Madden and Ruby Rees, whose debut screen performances will be seen by audiences throughout the world.

Picnic at Hanging Rock is a FremantleMedia Australia production for Foxtel. Executive producers are FremantleMedia Australia’s Jo Porter and Anthony Ellis and Foxtel’s Penny Win, script producer and establishing writer is Beatrix Christian, Writer Alice Addison, producer Brett Popplewell, directors are Larysa Kondracki, Michael Rymer and Amanda Brotchie. FremantleMedia International is distributing the series worldwide.

Sunday May 6 at 8.30pm on Showcase.