Adolescence, The Pitt, The Studio, Pluribus, Andor and more

Welcome to Derry (HBO Max)

You can keep your long-overdue finale to Stranger Things – Welcome To Derry, a prequel to Stephen King’s horror classic is the real deal. Within the first 10 minutes of this lavishly produced spin-off, there’s an insane body-horror sequence the likes of which I (a seasoned horror buff) have never seen. It’s quite the opener, and sets the tone for this the origin story of Pennywise, the character surely responsible for most cases of coulrophobia (fear of clowns) post-1986. King fans enjoyed a real treat, too, with more than the usual number of King “universe” Easter eggs.

Amandaland (Stan)

Another spin-off, this is a vehicle for the hilarious/ghastly Amanda (Lucy Punch), the posh, overbearing alpha mum from Sharon Horgan’s series Motherland. The BAFTA-winning comedy was a biting portrayal of middle-class parenting, in which the mums rarely interacted with their offspring or even their partners. Amandaland takes place a couple of years later, focusing on Amanda. Freshly divorced, she’s had to close her “lifestyle” store, move to the suburbs and – the horror – send her kids to a state school. She finds herself begrudgingly befriending Anne (the brilliant Philippa Dunne) and the series is almost a bizarre love story between the pair while also focusing on the dysfunctional relationship between Amanda and her mother, Felicity, played by Joanna Lumley – in a feat of genius casting.

Mystery Road: Origin (ABC)

Three years since the first instalment of this prequel series following the younger incarnation of Detective Jay Swan (Mark Coles Smith), this season moves away from the red dirt of the outback. Jay and Mary (Tuuli Narkle) have moved to Mary’s mother’s Country, a fading timber town, shaded by the region’s towering karri trees. They’re now carers for Mary’s young niece Anya, and Mary, now pregnant, is working as a nurse at the local hospital. Jay, of course, is the new detective in town and the local cop isn’t happy. Always brilliant, Robyn Malcolm plays the rough, jaded cop helping keep a town’s dark secrets – which Jay, of course, will uncover. This season features an entirely First Nations writing team and while it’s a different direction from the neo-Western vibe of the first season, it’s no less cinematic.

MEG WATSON’S TOP PICKS

The Pitt (HBO Max)

It won best drama at the Emmys for a reason. This bracing series, set over 15 real-time episodes in a fictional Pittsburgh emergency department, was a word-of-mouth hit at the very start of the year. Fans of ER were the first tune in, curious about a new show made by some key creatives of that ’90 and 2000s classic (including star Noah Wyle). Then it got real-life doctors hooked, impressed by the surprising accuracy of the medicine on screen and the specific challenges and general overwhelm faced by staff. The show is not an easy watch. But its rolling success has proven the continued worth of old formats like the medical drama, and how effective it can be when you let audiences get to know characters – especially ones who feel rooted in the real world – for more than six episodes at a time.

The Rehearsal (HBO Max)

Between this and Tim Robinson’s insane office supply thriller The Chair Company, comedy freaks like me were well-fed this year. But Nathan Fielder literally soared above his competition in the second instalment of this deadpan and absurd doco-comedy. In a season focused on preventing fatal airline disasters (historically a difficult subject to mine for laughs), Fielder produced some of the funniest television I’ve seen in years including a fake reality singing competition, an intervention into several pilots’ romantic lives and a re-creation of the entire life of Captain Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger. I’ll never listen to Evanescence’s 2003 hit Bring Me To Life in the same way again.

The Studio (Apple TV)

Seth Rogen and longtime writing partner Evan Goldberg struck the perfect balance of absurdity and sincerity in this pointy, stylish and cameo-stacked Hollywood satire. And, with 13 Emmys under its belt and a second season on the way, The Studio could truly go anywhere next. A bottle episode with James Cameron on board the Titanic? Sure. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande getting in a fist fight behind the scenes at a viral press junket? That’d be fun. An Uncut Gems-style re-enactment of the Netflix-Warner Bros deal which some critics are saying could kill cinema? Let’s do it!

Optics (ABC)

Is this Australia’s answer to The Studio? A smart, fresh and pacy satire of the crisis PR industry, I think this new comedy from The Feed’s Jenna Owen and Vic Zerbst and The Chaser‘s Charles Firth was the most exciting Australian show of the year. The trio bounced off each other so well, deepening the Gen Z v Gen X generational warfare first explored in their viral Contact Tracys sketch during COVID lockdowns, while also expertly skewering the world around them. Disgraced footy players and she-EOs (Grey’s Anatomy’s Kate Walsh) were up for mockery alongside airlines and phone companies in the grips of very familiar scandals. We haven’t heard anything about a second season as yet, and it would be a scandal worthy of the show itself if the series – exactly what the ABC should be making to attract younger audiences – was dropped after just six episodes.

KARL QUINN’S TOP PICKS

Adolescence (Netflix)

There are many things that made this four-part British drama about a high school murder one of the standout shows of the year: the one-shot structure; the incredible performances, including from Owen Cooper, then aged 14, as the young killer; the unflinching way it tackles a range of issues from toxic masculinity to internet culture to schoolyard bullying to conflicts around parenting and policing. It was craft and substance in perfect harmony, and it resonated massively. One of the most-watched shows of the year on Netflix, and almost certainly the most talked-about, it not only won a swag of awards (including six Emmys), it was also raised and praised in British parliament and as a result made available in classrooms in the UK for free as part of a strategy to combat the rise of the manosphere. Now, that’s impact.

Severance (Apple TV)

In the second season of Apple’s workplace comedy-drama-mystery, the questions piled up quickly. Will Mark (Adam Scott) succeed in reuniting his work self and his domestic consciousness, or will he die trying? Will he choose his wife Gemma (Dichen Lachman), now that he has proof she’s not dead, or will he stay true to Helly (Britt Lower)? And how much can he trust Helly anyway? We got some answers by the season’s end, but it’s clear creator Dan Erickson and producer-director Ben Stiller are far more interested in building an intricate, layered, bewildering puzzle than they are in solving it, and for now, at least, that’s just fine. The mythology just keeps getting richer, the twists more mind-bending, the weirdness weirder. I can’t wait for more.

Alien: Earth (Disney+)

I fell in love with Alien the moment I saw it in the cinema back in 1979, and despite some ups and downs, the franchise remains a compelling hybrid of sci-fi, horror, social commentary and action. In Alien: Earth, the first TV series (after seven films, excluding the Alien/Predator crossovers), we got something we’ve never really had before: an up-close look at the biology of the terrifying creature at the heart of it all, the xenomorph. That would be reason enough to watch, but there are plenty of others. Chief among them is the performance of Sydney Chandler as Wendy, a hybrid human-android with the embedded consciousness of a terminally ill child. All up, the show does a remarkable feat of breathing new life into a long-established universe.

Adults (Disney+)

This sharehouse comedy set in Queens, New York, is an absolute delight. It manages to simultaneously embrace and mock the performative concerns of zillennials without ever stooping to cheap shots. Think the attitude of Search Party, the chaos of The Young Ones and the “we’re all in it together” ethos of Friends, and you’ve just about got the vibe.

LOUISE RUGENDYKE’S TOP PICKS

The Paper (Binge)

OK, I admit to a personal bias towards this delightful comedy about a small Midwestern newspaper struggling to remain relevant. Starring Domhnall Gleeson as Ned Sampson, the idealistic editor of the Toledo Truth Teller, The Paper grabbed headlines for being a spin-off of the US Office, but at its heart it was a love letter to journalism. It showed that stories don’t need to be big, headline-grabbers to make a difference and that there is value in community. Importantly – and before I get too soppy – The Paper was also funny. Really funny. Gleeson was a great counterpoint to the OTT antics of flamboyant managing editor Esmeralda Grand (played by a glorious Sabrina Impacciatore, last seen in season two of The White Lotus), while Tim Key almost stole the show as the obsequious manager Ken Davies. I’ve watched it twice and yep, I’ll go back for a third helping before season two.

The Newsreader (ABC)

There were few shows I anticipated more this year than The Newsreader. The third season of the Australian drama was a masterclass in acting, writing, direction and production. Wrapping up the story of Helen Norville (Anna Torv) and Dale Jennings (Sam Reid) – two desperately unhappy, yet very talented journalists who just want to be accepted for who they are – was not easy, but the series gave the one-time News At Six co-hosts the ending they deserved. As Helen, Torv was brittle, fierce and brilliant throughout, but it was Dale’s watch-through-your-fingers breakdown at the news desk that will stick with me (especially knowing it was done in one take). How The Newsreader did not win best drama, or any acting awards, at this year’s Logies is no reflection on the show, and more of a reflection of the deficiencies of our biggest TV awards.

The Narrow Road to the Deep North (Amazon Prime Video)

Australia has a rich and deep history of war films and TV series. From Vietnam to Gallipoli and Anzac Girls, we have found great value in telling our stories in times of conflict. The Narrow Road to the Deep North, set mainly in the harrowing confines of a WWII POW camp on the Death Railway in Burma, is perhaps the most beautiful and harrowing of those I have seen, with a tender performance from Jacob Elordi at its centre. Directed by Justin Kurzel and adapted by Shaun Grant from Richard Flanagan’s 2014 Booker Prize-winning novel, the five-part series is just as much a love story as it is one of war. It is also, distressingly in parts, incredibly graphic in its violence but never gratuitously. The horror is always human, which is what makes it all the more devastating.

Slow Horses (Apple TV)

There may have been some low-key grumblings that this fifth season about a bunch of MI5 rejects was a little light, but that is to underestimate the power of Jackson Lamb and his shambolic sidekicks. Yes, this season did not deliver the big action set pieces of seasons two and three, but you’ve got to give these guys a break. Just because it was, er, slower, doesn’t mean it skipped a beat. Supporting characters such as Roddy Ho (Australia’s Christopher Chung) and First Desk Claude Whelan (James Callis) were allowed to obnoxiously step up, while River (Jack Lowden) seemingly stepped back to recalibrate after discovering his father was an ex-CIA assassin. In the middle of it all, of course, is Gary Oldman as Jackson Lamb. No one farts on screen better than him, and in a year that included Celia Imrie letting one rip on the UK’s Celebrity Traitors, that’s saying something.

Hacks (Stan)

Where some shows start to wobble in their third or fourth season, Hacks just keeps getting better and better. While the show was occasionally more biting and nasty – some of the fights between Jean Smart’s Deborah Vance and Hannah Einbinder’s Ava Daniels were skin-crawlingly vicious – it also proved to be alarmingly prescient about the fragility of late-night TV. Much like her real-life counterpart Jimmy Kimmel, who was suspended by US broadcaster ABC for making comments about the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, Vance was under pressure from her network to censor an interview. Sure, it’s a little bit apples and oranges, but it’s also not a million miles from what goes on in real life. Extra shout-outs also go to Julianne Nicholson’s unhinged “Dance Mom” and the show’s co-creator, Paul W. Downs, whose Jimmy is the unsung hero of the whole damn thing.

*Stan is owned by Nine, the publisher of this masthead.

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