Alone Denmark
First there was the TV documentary series, then we welcomed the last month. Now the Danes try their hand at surviving in harsh landscapes and harsher weather, all Alone. Filmed in northern Norway, the ten participants set out to survive the longest, cut off from each other as well as the world as they know it. How will they fare in the face of extreme isolation, hunger and the wild wind and cold?
Sextortion
In a narrative so wicked and twisted, dark and quirky, it only could’ve come out of New Zealand (albeit, co-writer Kyan Krumdieck was born in the USA), a conservative Christian politician must deal with being extorted by his dominatrix after incriminating footage is leaked to the public just months out from an election. This political dramedy also brings an endearing side – so NZ. With six episodes of only 20 minutes each, Sextortion is an easy as well as hugely entertaining watch. Kent Briggs and Thomas Sainsbury wrote the show along with Krumdieck while Sainsbury stars as the polly. ( fans will recognise Sainsbury as Constable Parker.)
Face To Face
Like season 1 of this Danish show, already at SBS On Demand, the thrilling second season also covers one intense 24-hour period. In season 1, policeman Bjørn is torn apart when the death he is investigating ends up being that of his own daughter. He refuses to believe it was suicide, leading him on the hunt to find her killer.
Season 2 focuses on Bjørn’s grief stricken ex-wife, psychologist Susanne. During a session, her client reveals he is a hitman planning to kill a young woman that same night. With the police refusing to intervene until a crime has been committed, Susanne sets out alone to stop the murder going ahead. The fast pace and high stakes make for one helluva ride. Leave it to the Danish to make a good and taut edge-of-your-seat thriller.
Season 2 of Face To Face premieres exclusively in Australia and is now streaming . (Season 1 is available as well.)
Crisis Unit
From Switzerland comes this thrilling drama set in stricken modern-day Yemen. When the president of a Swiss humanitarian agency is murdered, Geneva acts quickly to replace him. Thrust into the role is young law professor Suzanne. She will need immense fortitude to survive much less withstand the role, with over a dozen other members of the organisation kidnapped. Suzanne is determined to free the hostages, forging unlikely alliances and making dangerous discoveries along the way.
Featuring several languages including French, this show unusually highlights the complexity of aid work and a country little seen on our screens.
Nasdrovia
When two successful Spanish lawyers with a passion for Russian culture pack in their careers and open their own restaurant, they have an odd situation on their hands when it becomes a favourite of the local Russian mafia. This comedy also brings the thrills with the dangerous clientele providing hairy moments. With its oddball premise and intercultural exchanges, Nasdrovia could not be more up our alley.
Why Women Kill
Season 2 of this hugely popular show brings a whole new cast and storyline. Set in 1949 Los Angeles, it is centred around Alma, an outsider desperate to join an exclusive garden club, and club leader and local femme fatale, Lana. An exploration of the themes of beauty, the way women treat one another, and the lengths they’re willing to go to get what they want, this is signature Marc Cherry and salaciously entertaining. Get all the goss here on who’s who:
Dark Woods
Tragically based on a true story from the 1980s, German series Dark Woods follows Thomas (Mattias Brandt, Babylon Berlin) who investigates the disappearance of his sister, Barbara. He ends up searching for over thirty years, and uncovers a series of murders along the way. Covering two timelines, this compelling series is from award-winning writer Stefan Kolditz (Generation War).
Letterkenny
Canada delivers more of this quirky ode to small-town life and the delineations of folks within it. We’re up to season 7 of this popular comedy series, which follows siblings Wayne and Katy as they run a small farm and produce stand with Wayne’s mates Daryl and Squirrely Dan. Katy’s also got a polyamorous thing going with ice hockey players and best friends, Jonesy and Reilly. praises Letterkenny for being “very, very funny, even if you don’t always know why.” Yes, indeed.
Season 7 of Letterkenny premieres exclusively in Australia from Thursday 20 January. ( are also streaming.)
4 Walls
From South Africa and in the Afrikaans language, 4 Walls (also known as original title 4 Mure) is set in the same hotel room over five episodes. Exploring a different genre each episode, Marcelina, the charming but at times irritating cleaner, is our guide through this unique black comedy. She also guides a string of diverse hotel guests through personal struggles, romance, horrors and even a time warp. This one is unlike anything you have seen before.
Sorry For Your Loss
Emmy-nominee Elizabeth Olsen (WandaVision) stars as young widow Leigh who is struggling after her husband’s unexpected death. Her grief upends everything, transforming every one of her relationships including with her sister Jules (Kelly Marie Tran, The Rise of Skywalker) and mother Amy (Janet McTeer, Ozark). Praised by as “so fully formed, so funny and candid and wrenching right from the start, that you almost question the emotional propriety of it all,” the series is an exploration of how much we really know someone and how grief demands to find a home in our physical body.
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