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Screen Australia: Top Drama, Docos of 2021.

ABC topped Drama & Documentary titles in 2021 according to Screen Australia.

Screen Australia has released data on 2021’s top Drama (ie. Scripted) and Documentary titles.

This follows a particularly challenging year in the face of the pandemic, with sudden lockdowns, COVID-safe ways of working and additional COVID-related costs.

“The calibre of the local television shows hitting our screens in 2021 was outstanding, including The Newsreader which took home five AACTA Awards and Fisk which not only reached the top-viewed free-to-air drama, but was awarded Best Series in the Comedies Competition at Series Mania. Our television continues to sell and engage with international audiences; some of our top performing drama’s this past year were children’s series 100% Wolf: Legend of the Moonstone and Kangaroo Beach and mini-series RFDS, The Newsreader and The Unusual Suspects,” CEO Graeme Mason said.

Six of the top 10 Australian adult TV dramas in 2021 were broadcast on ABC, with commercial broadcasters Seven and Nine also represented in the 10 most popular shows.

Top 10 Australian Adult TV Drama Series on Free To Air

Position Title Episodes Broadcaster Ratings^
1 Fisk * 6 ABC 1,394,000
2 RFDS * 8 Seven 1,027,000
3 Home and Away series 34 240 Seven 976,000
4 The Newsreader * 6 ABC 904,000
5 Harrow series 3 10 ABC 834,000
6 Rosehaven series 5 8 ABC 829,000
7 Jack Irish series 3 4 ABC 814,000
8 Doctor Doctor series 5 8 Nine 751,000
9 Amazing Grace * 8 Nine 704,000
10 Total Control series 2 * 6 ABC 696,000

*Screen Australia funded.

^ average audience, metro + regional 28 day.

“Australian children’s television also continues to make waves around the world. First Day won an International Emmy Award, Dive Club reached the top 10 most watched list on Netflix in multiple territories, and of course we can’t forget Bluey, which delighted families with its third season and remains the highest rated program in the history of ABC Kids.”

Following the Bluey Series 3 premiere in November last year, it has achieved a total average audience of 5.17 million in 2021 across all broadcasts and ABC iview. After being available for just over a month, Bluey Series 3 achieved a VPM average audience of 2.34 million on ABC iview in 2021, making it the top-rated new series to launch last year.

In documentary, local series remain popular, with the bulk of content commissioned by the public broadcasters.

“We’re thrilled to see so many impactful documentaries over the past year, with bold and original storytelling capturing social issues, contemporary Australian culture and natural history. It was great to see the wonderful international reception to the second season of heart-warming series Love on the Spectrum. In 2021 we saw more Australian documentaries hitting streaming platforms including Unheard on Amazon Prime and Puff: The Wonders of the Reef on Netflix.”

Due to complexities in the definition of documentary (Ed: ie. excluding Reality TV), only the top 10 Screen Australia-funded documentaries on free-to-air television are included below.

Position Title Episodes Broadcaster Ratings^
1 Quoll Farm 1 ABC 935,000
2 Love on the Spectrum series 2 5 ABC 817,000
3 Nurses eps 1 – 7 7 Seven 718,000
4 Finding the Archibald 3 ABC 664,000
5 David Attenborough’s Life in Colour 3 Nine 544,000
6 My Name is Gulpilil 1 ABC 504,000
7 Birdsville or Bust (Part of Untold Australia) 1 SBS 494,000
8 Books that Made us 3 ABC 473,000
9 Australia’s Health Revolution with Dr Michael Mosley 3 SBS 458,000
10 Going Country 2 ABC 454,000

^ average audience, metro + regional 28 day.

Mason said, “2022 is shaping up to be an exciting year, both in production and also the fantastic releases across various platforms. I would encourage the sector to continue thinking about how they can take that same collaborative, resilient and adaptable spirit they’ve demonstrated throughout two years of this pandemic, and bring it into the year ahead. We know it’s tough as we head into a third year, and we will continue to look at how we can best support the industry to deal with the various challenges.”

You can read more here.

4 Responses

      1. Unfortunately, reality tv has sucked up all of the commercial television’s $$. A shame that Seven thinks that RFDS is too expensive to make.

        It also shows that long gone are the days when Dramas were 20+ episodes long per season – mainly on Seven (aka Blue Heelers, All Saints, Packed to the Rafters and Winners & Losers)

        1. It just baffles me how they couldn’t make a profit off it. They had government handouts to help pay for it, a Pom in the lead role which should have helped with international sales deals and a pre existing audience from the original show- across multiple global markets. Either the final product was so crap no one wanted it (but viewers loved it) or the sales teams are shite

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