Australia’s SBS unveils high-end docs and drama originals to mark 50th anniversary
Australia’s multicultural public broadcaster SBS will mark its 50th anniversary in 2025 with a programming slate of high-end documentaries and three new original digital drama series.
James Taylor
The three Australian dramas, developed through the Digital Originals initiative with funding body Screen Australia, feature new screen producing talent.
Warm Props, produced by Jodie Bell for Ramu Productions, and Pasifika New Zealanders-led series Moni, from Pelesasa Pics, are both set in Western Sydney. Moonbird is a Tasmanian coproduction from the first Tasmanian Aboriginal screen production company, Kutikina Productions, and Sheoak Films.
Documentaries have received the biggest investment from SBS, with Australian socio-cultural history featured strongly in two commissions from Blackfella Films. The Idea of Australia is hosted by actress Rachel Griffiths while Australia: An Unofficial History will be fronted by actress Jackie Weaver and delves into the radical political change era of the 1970s.
The slate also includes the previously announced hybrid factual drama Robodebt (working title), from producer CJZ, which explores the story behind the government scandal.
A joint commission from SBS and NITV, docuseries 2.6 Seconds examines race relations through the death of indigenous teenager Kumanjayi Walker, who was shot three times by a police officer at close range in his home community of Yuendumu in the Northern Territory.
A spin-off from SBS’s successful Great Australian Walks series, Mint Pictures’ Great Australian Road Trips pairs actors and comedians on road trips to reveal untold Australian stories one pit stop at a time.
A cornerstone of SBS’s locally commissioned programming is survivalist series Alone Australia, an ITV Studios Australia production, which returns for a third season. The show sees 10 adventurers dropped into the unforgiving landscape of Tasmania, with the last person standing taking home a cash prize.
Enduring genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are? is returning for its 16th season, while journalist Marc Fennell presents a new documentary series, The Secret DNA of Us, which charts the results of DNA tests from four Australian towns to reveal hidden personal and public histories. The series is produced by Eureka Productions.
Food programming remains central to the SBS offering, with new series from Australian chefs Marion Grasby, Matt Moran and Nornie Bero showing across SBS and SBS Food.
In international drama, SBS has confirmed new seasons of The Handmaid’s Tale, Rogue Heroes and Blue Lights, and the television adaptation of the book and film Smilla’s Sense of Snow. The network has also acquired Playing Nice, based on the JP Delaney book of the same name.
First Nations’ channel NITV delivers original Australian show Big Backyard Quiz returning as a series and is launching NITV Muy Ngulayg, a dedicated hub for First Nations content on SBS On Demand.
SBS managing director James Taylor said: “We will continue to lead the way in being a media network for all Australians, through storytelling that explores and reflects contemporary Australia, through digital innovation and through our commitment to sustainability.”
