Australian television was a joy to watch in 2017: so much to like, and five truly exceptional series in the top spots. This year’s best programming was refreshingly more eclectic and diverse than usual, from a show built on exploring the experiences of minority groups, to Indigenous Australian documentaries, a multicultural crime drama, a small town-set comedy and more.
Many square-eyed hours of preparation went into this list. The vast majority of new locally produced programs released in the last 12 months were considered, with some exceptions such as daily soaps and reality TV (aka the dirge of television). There were a couple of other holes, namely the most recent season of Offspring (I’ve got a few seasons to catch up on) and Channel Ten’s new drama, Sisters.
Here are my top 10 (well, technically 11) Australian TV shows of 2017.
10. The Warriors and Ronny Chieng: International Student
It’s a tie for 10th spot, between two comedies with very thoughtfully developed characters. The deceptively clever The Warriors follows players at an ailing football club, with a performance from first-time actor Gordon Churchill that has notes of a young David Gulpilil.
And how could I resist Ronny Chieng: International Student, the thoroughly entertaining, semi-autobiographical depiction of the titular comedian’s years at the University of Melbourne?
9. Get Krack!n
The two Kates of Australian comedy – McLennan and McCartney – followed up their beloved short-form, faux cooking program The Katering Show with an expanded half-hour satire targeting early morning breakfast television. Oscillating between lighthearted mockery and gallows humour, Get Krack!n is an outrageously funny treat from the two inimitable hosts and creators – even if the loose, sketch-like, piecemeal approach got a bit taxing towards the end.
8. Friday on My Mind
Monday morning felt particularly bad for viewers who tuned in to the first, Sunday night-aired episode of the director Matt Saville’s two-part band biopic about the Easybeats, because they knew they’d have to wait almost an entire week to see the second. It was worth it: this cracking production is a class act: finely written, directed and acted, with an exceptional performance from William Rush as the great George Young, who died in October.
7. Wanted, season two
Did you get the memo that Rebecca Gibney is a total badarse? The actor brings a zero-guff, whiplash-inducing performance as Lola in Channel Seven’s high octane on-the-run action series, which upped the ante in its second season by upgrading from zipping across Australia to travelling the globe. Paired with a younger, chalk-and-cheese personality in the timid Chelsea (Geraldine Hakewill), the two lead characters take on a blokey assortment of dodgy cops and wild criminals.
6. Horror Movie: A Low Budget a Nightmare
The writer/director Craig Anderson’s debut feature film, Red Christmas, is not for all tastes: a gnarly horror movie about an aborted foetus that returns to murder its family. But documentarian Gary Doust’s two-parter charting how Anderson cobbled together the money and energy to make it is a heartfelt and inspirational story about an underdog pursuing their dreams. Horror Movie: A Low Budget Nightmare is the most entertaining behind-the-scenes account of Australian cinema since the 2008 documentary Not Quite Hollywood.
5. You Are Here
NITV’s outstanding four-part documentaries series, from a range of Indigenous Australian film-makers, is hugely important television: the most pressing and vital suite of local TV docos since the first season of Changing Minds in 2014. Subjects include racism and the Southern Cross, literacy in Indigenous communities, preserving ancient cultural heritage and rewriting the widely accepted, Judeo-Christian-centric view of Indigenous Australian culture.
4. Blue Murder: Killer Cop
The original Blue Murder miniseries (broadcast in 1995) was a tough act to follow, featuring an early, career-defining performance from Richard Roxburgh as the famous bent cop Roger “the Dodger” Rogerson. Dodgy Rodgy’s real-life shenanigans continued as the years rolled by, providing perfect justification for Roxburgh and director Michael Jenkins to return to his story. And what a yarn: another reminder that when Australians made good crime dramas, we make really good crime dramas (see also: Animal Kingdom, Chopper, The Boys, The Interview).
3. Rosehaven, season two
Like the fictional, idyllic Tasmania town captured in its title, Rosehaven – created, written by and starring comedians Celia Pacquola and Luke McGregor – evokes a sense of reprieve; of time spent away from the hustle-bustle of city life. Playing odd-couple real estate agents, this slow-build series – helmed by returning director Jonathan Brough – has richly developed, perfectly played characters and plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Like many great comedies, there is a sense of sadness and longing at its core.
2. Sunshine
Set in the titular working class Melbourne suburb, SBS’s enthralling four-part drama follows the players of a basketball team comprised mostly of South Sudanese Australians, with a grizzled Anthony LaPaglia as the crabby coach. Sunshine is infinitely more ambitious than a buzzer-beating sports story (though it is that also), director Daina Reed and writers Matt Cameron and Elise McCredie turning what could have been a lightweight Mighty Ducks-like narrative into a powerful, multicultural crime drama.
1. You Can’t Ask That, season two
While some programs treat diversity as a box-ticking exercise, here’s one that reflects why it is so important in the first place: to reflect the breadth of human experience. If someone had told me the best Australian TV series of the last few years simply involved people reading out questions then answering them, I’d have said they were crazy.
But here we are: the second season of this simple, brilliant show from creator Kirk Docker expanded to full half hour episodes, exploring a range of minorities including centenarians, ice users, refugees and suicide attempt survivors. I’m not sure whether it is the most, or the least, politically correct show on television. Either way, You Can’t Ask That is profoundly affecting, ultimately because it highlights human similarities rather than differences.
