Let’s be honest with ourselves, Australian TV is a little underrepresented. It’s not entirely our fault, flick on the bog-standard free-to-air TV and you’re more than likely going to be met with some variation of a knock-off reality TV show, a panel show filmed on a cheap set, or a Harvey Norman ad. It’s tough to find good, quality Aussie-made content unless it’s via word of mouth, or you specifically go out of your way to do so. And that’s the tricky part, there is so much great TV out there, it’s almost a deluge.
In recent years, there have been some absolutely stellar new series that showcase some immense local talent. These series, I’d argue, can go head to head with some great shows coming out of the UK and America.
That’s where we come in. We recently launched our very own channel, PEDESTRIAN TELEVISION on 9Now, featuring some great cult classics and Aussie-made content that might have slipped your radar. If you’ve been itching for some great Aussie content, you can catch them for free on PEDESTRIAN TELEVISION or stream on demand.
If Aussie TV is something you’re keen to check out, here are some of our favourites that we suggest you check out. .
Rostered On
Rostered On is an independent Australian comedy show based around the day-to-day struggles of working for a faceless retail corporation called Electroworld.
It parodies a familiar experience for most of us, as we remember the strangest people we might have met during our time in retail and near-apocalyptic events like stocktake.
The series comes from the minds of Slap Bang, a comedy YouTube channel that’s created a variety of other great series like One Room Renovations, Flats, and more. If you’ve been itching for some great Aussie comedy that doesn’t feature grown men putting towels on their heads and making low-effort jokes about women, I cannot stress enough, that this is a great place to start. Because you, and Australia, deserve better than that.
You can stream Rostered On and other Slap Bang series for free on PEDESTRIAN TELEVISION or stream on demand.
Deadloch
Inspired by the hit UK series Broadchurch, Deadloch is a similar noir comedy series featuring an all-star Aussie female cast.
The show follows investigators Dulcie Collins and Eddie Recliffe as they investigate a string of murders surrounding the Deadloch Winter Festival, held in an obscure town in Tasmania. As the two pursue their investigations, and more murders are revealed, secrets about the town slowly reveal themselves.
Colin From Accounts
One of the surprise sleeper hits of last year, Colin From Accounts is a sweet comedic series that has reached an international audience, with Imelda Staunton, David Tennant and Jason Isaacs revealing themselves to be fans.
After a car accident, Ashley and Gordon, both funny and very damaged people (also single, don’t worry, that comes up), co-parent an injured dog they name Colin. Across the show, the two begin to reveal their various traumas and scars to each other and begin to help each other heal.
Heartbreak High
If you’ve been looking for some saucy high school drama that’s filled with teen angst, a killer playlist of indie music that you’ll want to annoy people with, and characters you can splice to Taylor Swift‘s “Cruel Summer” or The 1975’s “About You”, look no further than Heartbreak High. There’s a lack of solid series that genuinely depict what it’s like growing up right now, especially a representation of an Australian experience, however, Heartbreak High fixes that problem, giving us our very own version of Sex Education.
It takes place in a typical high school after an incendiary mural exposes everyone’s secret hook-ups at Hartley High. Amerie, the creator of the mural, grapples with the messy fallout as she is (deservedly) shunned by her cohort for violating their privacy.
Touch
From the creators of The Formal, Touch is an Australian independent web series exploring queer identities and relationships.
The series follows star touch footy player Cameron (Diana Popovska) as she discovers that her girlfriend Leah (Kairavi Desai) — who is also a teammate on their champion touch footy team The Cassowaries — cheated on her with another member of their team. Vowing revenge, Cameron decides to ditch her winning team and join The Galahs. The Galahs, however, can’t remember the last time they won a game.
Mr Inbetween
If anyone says Australian TV can’t nail a dramatic crime show, throw a Blu-ray copy of this in their face and run away laughing like Skeletor.
Mr Inbetween is about Raymond Shoesmith, a hitman-for-hire trying to balance his family life alongside his criminal activities. The show follows Ray trying to be the best dad he can for his daughter Brittany, while co-parenting with his ex-wife Jacinta and being the caretaker to his terminally ill brother Bruce. This life is frequently interrupted when his boss Freddy orders Ray to take on lucrative criminal jobs, ranging from kidnapping, murder and theft, which Ray executes without question.
The series is Australia’s answer to a show like Barry or The Sopranos, and it executes it so well.
Fisk
If you’ve been looking for a dramatic comedy about divorce, grief, and the highs and lows of working as a lawyer, look no further than Fisk.
The show follows Helen Tudor-Fisk, played by Kitty Flannigan, who is forced to take a job at a neglected suburban law firm following a humiliating divorce, alongside a career implosion.
The series stars a variety of other Aussie stars like Julia Zemiro, Aaron Chen, and Marty Sheargold.
If you’re keen to keep that search going for great Aussie content, suss out PEDESTRIAN TELEVISION to find some great homegrown talent.