Foxtel highlights: Wednesday, August 28
Lost Worlds: Expedition Unknown Discovery Science 616, 8.30pm
Archaeologist Josh Gates (pictured) loves to get to the bottom of a mystery. Over the years we’ve seen him search for the lost tomb of Attila the Hun, investigate whether the oftenrumoured Tasmanian tiger still exists and venture into some of the most haunted places on Earth. In tonight’s one-hour special, Gates countdowns some of his favourite treasure hunts so far, which have taken him to the American Rockies, The Sudwala Caves in South Africa, Ocracoke Island off North Carolina, even the Andes in South America. If you like your documentaries with lashing of intrigue, you’ve certainly come to the right place.
60 days in Crime + Investigation 609, 9.30pm
Pinal County Detention Centre is the third deadliest jail in America: five inmates have died since 2015, and an officer was brutally stabbed 21 times. Sheriff Mark Lamb is determined to reform the jail and believes his ideas will get him the results he’s looking for. In order to do so, he’s recruited a savvy team of men and women who are about to go undercover on the inside. In tonight’s season five premiere, six ‘volunteers’ will enter the detention centre on a mission to uncover valuable intel on gangs, drugs and operational issues that plague the facility. It doesn’t get any more fly-on-the-wall than this.
The Good nazi History 608, 7.30pm
During the Holocaust, Major Karl Plagge (pictured), arrived in Vilnius, Lithuania as part of the occupation force. When he saw that the SS was hell-bent on murdering every Jewish man, woman and child, he decided to save them, rather than murder them. On the surface, he was commandant of a forced labour camp called ‘HKP’. In reality, he was sheltering hundreds of Jewish families. This one-hour documentary revisits the site of the former camp, which is now home to impoverished Lithuanians, and attempts to locate the hiding places of those that were saved, and identify the mass grave of those who were murdered. Prepare to be overwhelmed by this true story of a man who listened to his conscience, instead of his superiors.
Moonshiners: Whiskey Business Discovery Channel 612, 10.25pm
If anyone knows how to turn moonshine into a business, it’s Tim Smith (pictured right). He gave up his dodgy liquor-making ways to establish a legal brand of whiskey, bringing his family recipes out of the backwoods of Virginia and into American stores. Now he wants to pass along his expertise and help struggling distilleries turn a profit. In tonight’s series premiere, Smith steps in to help a first-time distillery owner who is drowning in novice staff. That could be the least of his worries when Smith informs him his ‘recipe’ for booze could literally blow up in his face and send his business sky high. Not ideal.
dirty Rotten Scoundrels Fox Classics 113, 8.30pm
This comedy classic centres around two con-men – Freddy Benson (Steve Martin, pictured left) and Lawrence Jamieson (Michael Caine, pictured right) – living in the south of France who make a living out of swindling rich American women out of their fortunes up and down the Riviera. When one decides to strike out on his own, a bet is made over who can take rich American heiress Janet Colgate (Glenne Headly) for $50,000 first. After much outrageous tomfoolery, the boys learn the heiress has no money at all, but not all is what it seems. This hilarious outing also stars Frances Conroy (American Horror
Story), Ian McDiarmid (Return of the Jedi) and Barbara Harris (Peggy Sue Got Married).