Aussie Drama’s summer feast

The year is drawing to a close, but suddenly Aussies are being treated to a slew of new and returning local dramas.

For much of 2021 Free to Air TV held off local drama (there were months with little outside of ABC) but new titles are dropping from today, albeit mostly on Subscription TV.

Love Me December 26 Binge / 8:30pm Dec. 27 FOX Showcase

The Mathiesons, Clara (30s), Glen (60s) and Aaron (20s), find themselves at an emotional crossroads following an unexpected event that changes their lives forever. In an era when the world is driven by conflict, Love Me is a call to the heart – a funny, sophisticated, heartfelt exploration of love in all its forms. More significantly, it’s a timely reminder that we’re all as inadequate and remarkable as each other. Clara (Bojana Novakovic), who uses her sharp wit and self-deprecation to hide from the reality that she is now approaching 40, and beginning to fear that her successful career might have come at the expense of her own family . Her doting father, Glen (Hugo Weaving), see-sawing between hope and despair, as he opens his eyes to new intimacies like love and romance in his older age, and then there’s little brother Aaron (William Lodder) – facing a crisis of identity as he navigates love in his early 20s whilst trying to come to terms with the challenges that life presents.

Bump, Season 2 December 26 Stan
When it comes to special brands of chaos, the Chalmers-Davis and Hernandez families are the gifts that keep on giving, and while Oly (Nathalie Morris) and Santi (Carlos Sanson Jr) continue to get to know each other, they discover just how much families can mess you up. Meanwhile, Angie (Claudia Karvan) ​​and Dom (Angus Sampson) continue to deal with the fallout of their separation and the complicated new relationships and dramas they have found themselves immersed in. With life still freshly turned upside down, Oly and Santi have to make some big decisions as they juggle a work-life balance that includes high school and baby J, while building for their own future.

The PM’s Daughter 5:30pm Saturday January 1 ABC ME
Catalina Parkes Peìrez (Cassandra Helmot) is like any other teenager who wants to have her voice heard. There’s just one complication: her mother, Isabel, (Claire Fearon) is the Prime Minister of Australia. Cat has always been someone who stands up for what she believes in, but her mum’s new job is putting a serious dent in her freedom to be who she wants to be. How can Cat make her voice heard when there’s so much pressure to support her mum and be “the perfect daughter”? As if all that weren’t enough, a series of stunts have started playing out across the national Capital, clearly aimed at sabotaging the Prime Minister. When blame falls on Cat’s activist heroes, Action Uprising, Cat decides to dig into unmasking an alternative group, the Agitators, who are really behind the stunts. Luckily for Cat, she has two new friends, Sadie (Natalie English) and Ollie (Jagayap), to help her.

Five Bedrooms, Season 3 Saturday January 1 Paramount+
Back for another big season are your favourite friends; Liz (Kat Stewart), Ben (Stephen Peacocke), Heather (Doris Younane), Harry (Roy Joseph), Ainsley (Katie Robertson) and Simmo (Johnny Carr). This season, they navigate their way through the perils and pleasures of not only co-housing, but turning said house into a bed and breakfast. Plus, there are now two couples living under one roof, a garden-variety blindside betrayal, a brave new sexual journey, an unexpected parenting proposal, plus one-and-a-half unexpected marriage proposals.

The Tourist Sunday January 2 Stan
The Tourist sees Jamie Dornan star as a British man (‘The Man’) who finds himself in the glowing red heart of the Australian outback, being pursued by a vast tank truck trying to drive him off the road. An epic cat and mouse chase unfolds and The Man later wakes in hospital, hurt, but somehow alive – except he has no idea who he is. With merciless figures from his past pursuing him, The Man’s search for answers propels him through the vast and unforgiving outback. Full of shocking, surprising, funny and brutal turns, The Tourist is set in a world populated by enigmatic characters, with off-beat comedy punctuating high-stakes action. At its heart, however, is a story of self-discovery with a ticking timebomb underneath: as The Man starts to uncover the mystery of who he was, he’s also forced to ask who he is now – and fast. Will he unlock the secrets of his identity before those who are trying to kill him catch up with him?

Wolf Like Me Thursday January 13 Stan
Everyone brings their own set of baggage to a new relationship and Gary (Josh Gad) and Mary (Isla Fisher) are no different. When Mary’s universe suddenly collides with Gary and his 11-year-old daughter, Emma (Ariel Donoghue), all the signs tell her they’re meant to be in each other’s lives. But, as their connection deepens, Mary and Gary grow more and more terrified their respective baggage will tear them apart.

Gold Wednesday January 26 Stan
Set against the backdrop of a vast, unique and unforgiving landscape, Gold is a taut thriller about greed and the lengths people will go to secure themselves a fortune.When two drifters travelling through the desert stumble across the biggest gold nugget ever found, the dream of immense wealth and greed takes hold. They hatch a plan to protect and excavate their bounty with one man leaving to secure the necessary equipment to pull it out of the earth. The other man remains and must endure harsh desert elements, preying wild dogs and mysterious intruders, whilst battling the sinking suspicion that he has been abandoned to his own fate.