New year, new shows
TV is looking good for 2018. From love-filled reality shows to fascinating biopics and hard-hitting dramas, DANIELLE McGRANE finds the best to look out for on the box this year.
From reality to real-life drama, TV in 2018 will offer all of it. Networks have taken notice of what audiences have become addicted to in recent years and have resurrected and updated the series we love while also adding some new goodies to the mix.
So here’s the thing: 2018 in a nutshell will feature love in a tropical climate, at least on TV. Sophie Monk was so refreshing as this year’s Bachelorette that she landed a gig hosting Nine’s new series Love Island. Later this year, the reality star will jet to Spain (apparently with her Bachelorette beau Stu Laun- dy by her side) to throw a heap of singles into paradise and see if romance will blossom.
The Love Island franchise has been massively popular in the UK and the Nine Network has decided to make the Australian version.
But even before Monk lands in her new idyllic hosting gig, Network Ten has been filming Bachelor In Paradise which, again, puts a heap of singles into their own tropical paradise. But they all have one thing in common: they’ve already appeared as contestants on either The
Bachelor or The Bachelorette. But don’t relax too much, it’s not all sun, sea, sand and frolics; drama on TV is going to be more hard-hitting.
The neo-Nazi thriller Romper Stomper has been given a modern-day update. The new series has been set 25 years after the events in the original film, starring Russell Crowe. The six-part series will air on Stan and brings back Jacqueline McKenzie in her role as Gabe but also features a strong cast including Offspring’s Lachy Hulme in an unrecognisable role as a blond tough-guy called Blake.
In another return for the books, a new Underbelly will air on the Nine Network this year. There are always more stories to tell and this year will see the return of the TV franchise Underbelly Files: Chopper, telling the tale in a two-part mini-series of gangster Mark “Chopper” Read.
It’s not the only series resurrection for the year. Jack Irish also comes back to the ABC for a much-anticipated season two after the success of the first season in 2016.
But the drama gets real with the ABC’s new weeknight quiz show Think Tank, hosted by comedian Paul McDermott. Three contestants will compete every night in a game of general knowledge, with eight everyday Australians on hand to either help or hinder them with their love of trivia and general knowledge.
One of the most victorious stories of the year, though, is that the successful retro series, The Doctor Blake Mysteries, has found a new home on the Seven Network after being axed by the ABC.
SBS continues to ask the hard questions. New fourpart drama Safe Harbour follows a group of Australian friends who come across a boat of asylum seekers while on a sailing holiday to Indonesia.
But sometimes it’s reality, and not the kind you get from reality TV, that can prove to be the most compelling for drama. The story of Olivia Newton-John, the Melbourne girl who topped the charts and won hearts on the big screen, will be told in a new biopic on the Seven Network, Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted To You.
With these biopics it’s all about the casting and this one couldn’t be more perfect with soap-star-turned-popstar Delta Goodrem taking on the part of Newton-John.
There will be a host of new names heading into the South African jungle for the new series of the Network Ten’s I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here!.
It’s a mixed bag of old, and new, and updated, for the year ahead on TV. The surprise hit still remains a surprise, but will be inescapable in a matter of months.