Airdate: Miriam Margolyes: Australia Unmasked

Following the success of her last series, Miriam Margolyes: Almost Australian, the celebrated actor and intrepid commentator is back on the road for a new series, Miriam Margolyes: Australia Unmasked.

In this season she travels the country asking whether Australians still believe in “the Fair Go”?

This time, Miriam is heading west, beginning in Tasmania and travelling as far along the bottom of the continent, as her 80-year-old bones will take her.

Since her last Australian adventure, the world has changed irrevocably and so has Miriam. At eighty, she’s more aware of her vulnerabilities and she’s worried that the global pandemic has left many of us isolated and divided – and undermined our commitment to fairness, or what Australians, like her, call “the Fair Go”.

Despite her anxieties, Miriam is determined to rediscover Australia “behind the mask” and find out what the Fair Go means to her fellow citizens today. As she puts it: “I’m certainly not past my use by date, and I hope the Fair Go isn’t either.”

Over three episodes, Miriam’s quest will see her immerse herself in diverse lives and experiences very different from her own.

Her journey begins in Lutruwita, Tasmania, as she explores how this unique Australian ethos could have taken root in such a notoriously harsh convict settlement. Episode Two sees her arriving back on the mainland, to Melbourne Victoria, to investigate class – and the impact this has on the Fair Go. She then heads west, across the border to South Australia, to grapple with the future of the Fair Go, and what it means for the most vulnerable in society.

With her trademark humour, no-bullshit candour, honesty and insight, Miriam Margolyes takes us on an extraordinary and very personal adventure that unmasks life in Australia as we’ve never seen it before.

Series synopsis: Miriam Margolyes is back on the road, heading west along the bottom of Australia, to understand what the Fair Go means in Australia today and how it is playing out in the diverse lives of her fellow citizens.

Production credit: A Southern Pictures Production with principal production funding from Screen Australia in association with ABC and the BBC. Financed with support from Screen NSW, Series Director Helen Barrow, Series Producer Bethan Arwel-Lewis. Executive Producer Laurie Critchley. ABC Executive Producer Leo Faber. ABC Head of Factual and Culture Jennifer Collins.

8:30pm Tuesday July 19 on ABC.