Top new series in August 2022

Get set for a bumper crop of international dramas and comedy series, plus we live-stream Spanish cycling grand tour, La Vuelta. We also have seven standalone documentaries to satisfy Curious Australia.

From left: Curious Australia documentary Run Girl; Between Two Worlds; Klangor; My Brilliant Friend Source: SBS On Demand

Curious Australia

Under the banner of Curious Australia come seven half-hour standalone documentaries. SBS and NITV commissioned each story to support filmmakers from underrepresented backgrounds. Topics covered include: embarking on sex when you have a disability, First Nations musician, Jimblah, the world of Ballroom in Australia and Olympic athlete and refugee, Bendere Oboya. Read more about each of the stories here:

Films will be available at SBS On Demand as well, including with subtitles in Simplified Chinese and Arabic.

Curious Australia documentaries premiere at 8.30pm, Thursday 4 August on SBS VICELAND and NITV with We Are Sexual Beings and Black Empire. They continue weekly, in pairs, on Thursdays. The final documentary, Whatever Scares You, premieres on SBS VICELAND only on Thursday 25 August.

Click here for all the details on what’s on, when. Watch the trailer now:

Crossing Lines S1–S3

We know you love a good crime drama, and this one promises to fulfil the brief. After sustaining an injury at work, former NYPD officer Carl Hickman (William Fichtner, Entourage) has become addicted to morphine and now collects garbage at a carnival at the Netherlands. A lifeline comes when he’s recruited to the International Criminal Court’s special crime unit, based in The Hague, helping investigate border-crossing crimes. Donald Sutherland, Das Boot’s Tom Wlaschiha and Wisting’s Carrie-Anne Moss also star in this English, German and Italian crime drama.

Seasons 1–3 of Crossing Lines premiere exclusively and are now streaming at SBS On Demand.

Between Two Worlds

‘Between Two Worlds’. Source: Distributor

This German drama takes us to West Germany in the early 1950s where the post-war US military presence permeates, and a new era of individual freedom, permissiveness and capitalism is opening up. We follow Marie and Erika who determine to direct the course of their lives, while inevitable collisions with the conservative old world and the heady temptations of the new, put their friendship to the test. Elisa Schlott (Das Boot) and Franziska Brandmeier (Six Minutes to Midnight) star as Marie and Erika. Jonas Nay, Dietmar Bär and newcomer Reomy D Mpeho also star.

Six-part series Between Two Worlds premieres exclusively in Australia and is now streaming at SBS On Demand.

My Brilliant Friend

Adapted from Elena Ferrante’s Neopolitan novels, this critically acclaimed, global smash hit follows best friends Lila (Gaia Girace) and Elena (Margherita Mazzucco) as they navigate the complex social politics of 1950s Neapolitan suburbia. My Brilliant Friend brings the books magically to life, with all the charm and intelligence you’d expect. Its sparkling performances chart a complex female friendship. In Italian with English subtitles.

Seasons 1–3 of My Brilliant Friend are now streaming at SBS On Demand.

The Dry

From the producers of Normal People and Conversations with Friends comes this darkly funny and irreverent Irish comedy drama. When 35-year-old Shiv (Roisin Gallagher) arrives home for her grandmother’s funeral, no one expects her to stay. She’s six months sober, and her presence back in Dublin forces her whole family to confront their demons. Who wants to do that?! This moving 8-part series also stars Siobhán Cullen, Pom Boyd and Oscar nominee Ciarán Hinds.

The Dry premieres exclusively in Australia and is now streaming at SBS On Demand.

The Stranger

‘The Stranger’. Source: Distributor

From the UK comes this intriguing drama in which Adam Price (Richard Armitage, Berlin Station) is confronted by a stranger who shares with him some shattering allegations about his wife and soulmate, Corinne, a teacher at the local school. Deeply unsettled, Adam begins investigating Corinne and finds himself caught up with a world darker than he ever could’ve anticipated coming into contact with. Jennifer Saunders and Siobhan Finneran also star.

The Stranger premieres at 9.25pm on SBS, Wednesday 17 August. Episodes air weekly, and will be available at SBS On Demand for only a short time (28 days) after they go to air.

Suspect

Suspect is the star-studded English-language remake of Denmark’s Face To Face (now streaming at SBS On Demand).

When veteran detective Danny Frater (James Nesbitt, Bloodlands, also now streaming) attends a mortuary for a routine ID check, he’s devastated to discover the corpse of his estranged daughter Christina. Refusing to accept it’s suicide, Danny sets out on a dangerous, agonising mission to uncover what really happened, and get even. Joely Richardson (Nip/Tuck), Richard E. Grant (Withnail & I), Ioan Gruffudd (Fantastic Four), Sacha Dhawan (Line Of Duty), Anne-Marie Duff (The Salisbury Poisonings, also now streaming) and Antonia Thomas (The Good Doctor) also star. With this set-up and that cast, how can you go wrong?

Suspect premieres exclusively in Australia with double episodes airing weekly at 9.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand, from Thursday 18 August.

UFOs S2

Think Wellington Paranormal meets The X-Files, and you’ll get this quirky French comedy set in 1978. UFOs returns for more oddness from the tiny team tasked with keeping an eye on saucers flying around France, headed by Didier Mathure (Melvil Poupaud, Summer of 85), a space engineer who’s loosened his loyalty to rationality after witnessing a UFO for himself, but still convinced of his own intellectual superiority, certainly among the misfits he oversees – Marcel (Michel Vuillermoz, Angels in America), Rémy (Quentin Dolmair, Godard Mon Amour) and Véra (Daphné Patakia, Benedetta).

Season 2 of UFOs lands at SBS On Demand on Thursday 18 August. Head straight in:

Or catch up with season 1:  

La Vuelta

The European summer of cycling continues with Spanish tour, La Vuelta. Catch all 21 stages live on SBS. Head to SBS Sport for all the daily highlights and news, so you don’t miss a moment.

La Vuelta live streams on SBS and SBS On Demand from Friday 19 August.

Source: SBS On Demand

The Porter

‘The Porter’. Source: Distributor

Inspired by events from 1920s North America, this Canadian series follows a group of railway workers who formed the world’s first Black union. Set primarily in Montreal, Chicago and Detroit, The Porter depicts the Black community in St Antoine, Montreal, then known as the ‘Harlem of the North.’ Young and gifted, the workers are thrown together, north and south of the colour line. In the post-war atmosphere of anything being possible, if change isn’t coming for them, they’ve resolved to come for it.

Aml Ameen, who plays Martin Luther King Jr in the upcoming Rustin, stars alongside Ronnie Rowe (Star Trek: Discovery), Mouna Traoré (Murdoch Mysteries) and Loren Lott (The Young and the Restless).

The Porter premieres exclusively in Australia, airing weekly at 8.30pm on NITV from Thursday 25 August. The full season is now streaming at SBS On Demand.

The Wall

One for fans of crime drama, The Wall centres on the investigations of experienced detective Céline Trudeau (Isabel Richer, Les Invincibles). In season 1, we’re in a mining town in northeast Quebec where Trudeau investigates the murder of a young dancer. In the second season, she’s searching for who’s responsible for burying an engineer, who caused the deadly collapse of an overpass, in a cement bath at the Chateau Frontenac. This Canadian series is in French with English subtitles.

Seasons 1 and 2 of The Wall are now streaming at SBS On Demand.

 

Klangor

‘Klangor’. Photo by Robert Palka. Source: Distributor

From Poland comes this crime drama which kicks off with the escape of a psychotic prisoner, Emil (Konrad Eleryk, Furioza). By the time police find him, he’s wreaked havoc for two families. Rafal (Arkadiusz Jakubik, The King of Warsaw), the prison psychologist, is desperately searching for his teenage daughter Gabi (Matylda Giegzno, The Disappearance), who has disappeared without a trace after going on a date with her boyfriend Ariel. But then Ariel’s body is found in the river: Gabi becomes the prime suspect. Rafal desperately searches for Gabi, believing she’s still alive, while his marriage takes a slide and the distance between him and his other daughter grows wider.

Klangor premieres exclusively in Australia and is now streaming at SBS On Demand.