SBS conjures up Hungry Ghosts
SBS On Demand’s second commission Robbie Hood
A thriller that centres on three generations of Vietnamese Australian families as they cope with the aftermath of war and a local version of BBC quiz Mastermind will screen on Australian pubcaster SBS next year.
Among other shows unveiled at the broadcaster’s Upfronts today are two ‘Slow Summer’ documentaries in the vein of The Ghan; the third and final season of Matchbox Pictures’ The Family Law; and factual shows which uncover family secrets and medical myths.
NBCUniversal’s Matchbox Pictures will produce Hungry Ghosts, a four-part drama which borrows elements of the Japanese and Korean supernatural thriller genre to explore Vietnamese-Australian families dealing with the aftermath of war.
Set in contemporary Melbourne during the Hungry Ghost festival when the Vietnamese community venerate their dead, the show’s themes include lost loves, buried secrets and how unresolved trauma can be handed down through generations until a young woman connects with her past as a way forward.
The drama slate includes Closer Productions’ previously announced The Hunt, which follows four teenagers, their friends, their families, teachers and communities before, during and after a nude photo sharing scandal.
Das Boot is adapted from Wolfgang Petersen’s film
In its first local commission since setting up a production arm in Australia, BBC Studios Australia will produce Mastermind, which will screen Monday to Friday at 18.00, with four contestants in each episode answering questions on their specialist subject as they compete for the title of Australia’s Mastermind. Filming of 85 episodes will start in Melbourne early next year. An Australian version last aired on pubcaster the ABC from 1978-1984.
Premiering in January, the Slow Summer docs include Mint Pictures’ The Indian Pacific: Australia’s Longest Train Journey and The Kimberley Cruise: Australia’s Last Great Wilderness?.
Noni Hazlehurst will host Artemis Media’s My Family Secret (working title) as each week she helps two Australians uncover their family secrets. Stigmas will be confronted as secrets around suicide, promiscuity, immigration, adoption, criminal activity, infidelity, love and war are revealed.
In Warner Bros International Television Production Australia’s (WBITPA) Medicine or Myth?, everyday Australians will put their diverse and sometimes controversial health cures and remedies to the test in front of a panel of medical experts Charlie Teo, Ginni Mansberg and Ash Haque.
The follow-up to Muslims Like Us, CJZ’s Christians Like Us will examine the sex scandals and internal conflicts over divorce and remarriage, abortion, women priests, contraception and gay marriage which have rocked churches.
Narrated by Hugo Weaving, Stranger Than Fiction Films’ Australia In Colour will use new colourisation processes to transform black and white archival footage into glorious colour to chart the nation’s history from the start of cinema in the 1900s to the heady 1960s.
Among the returning factual series are CJZ’s Marry Me, Marry My Family, Joined Up Films’ Secrets Of Our Cities, Lune Media’s Struggle Street and the 10th season of WBITPA’s Who Do You Think You Are?.
The international docs will include Dr Michael Mosley’s Trust Me, I’m a Doctor, an update of Michael Apted’s 7 Up series 63 Up, Great Australian Railway Journeys and the BBC’s Civilisations, which was shot in six continents and celebrates human ingenuity and creativity.
The Wednesday night food line-up will feature the return of Essential Media Group’s Gourmet Farmer with Matthew Evans and two SBS Originals. Ainsley’s Market Menu follows celebrity chef Ainsley Harriott’s Australian explorations, and Luke on a Train sees Luke Nguyen go back to Vietnam for a culinary journey from north to south on the Re-unification Railway
SBS On Demand’s second commission, following the drama Homecoming Queens, is Ludo Studio and Since 1788’s previously announced six-part comedy Robbie Hood, which follows Robbie, a teenage troublemaker with a heart of gold and two friends who aim to fix injustices in a remote Aboriginal community.
Among the international shows which will premiere exclusively on SBS On Demand are Das Boot, Zero, Zero, Zero, Project Blue Book and Pagan Peak.
New and returning international dramas on the main channel will include The Name of the Rose, The New Pope, McMafia, Chimerica, Butterfly, The Good Fight and The Handmaid’s Tale.