2010
Borgen
The definitive fly-on-the-wall drama of government intrigue, from the producers of The Killing. Critics continue to rave about this portrait of Denmark's first female PM, and the compromises that come with the top job. Sidse Babett Knudsen is unforgettable as Birgitte Nyborg, fresh from scoring her party a landslide victory through her idealism and tenacious work ethic. Will she be able to be a successful and professional top politician and stay true to herself at the same time?
Seasons 1 to 3 are available
2011
The Bridge
When a body is discovered on a bridge between Denmark and Sweden, the two countries have to work together in order to catch the culprit. Ths is the killer premise for all Nordic Noir fans, not least because the geographical setting DOUBLES the Nordic-ness. The original and the best (but the remakes aren't bad either, actually, and you can see for yourself when they go live at SBS On Demand on 25 December. Merry Christmas...?!)
Seasons 1 to 4 are available to stream
Homeland
Eight years after its premiere, Homeland is still one of the best and most relevant shows on TV. The story of a complicated and conflicted ex-CIA agent, it alarmingly, and increasingly, mirrors real-world events.
New season comng soon to SBS and On Demand: Fast-tracked from February 10
Claire Danes as Carrie Mathison in 'Homeland'. Source: Showtime
Go Back To Where You Came From
It's bold and risky and Go Back To Where You Came From took Australia by storm in 2011, when SBS took six everyday people on a reverse refugee journey. They experienced things first-hand: perilous sea journeys, immigration raids, and life in refugee camps. But we didn't stop there, because debate still rages: In the latest season, we took well-known Australians and raised the risk level by the broadcasting their experiences in real-time.
New Girl
It's one of the funniest American sitcoms of the decade, and definitely funnier than Friends. A fun, breezy sitcom about people who don’t really know where they're going, but it's fun to hang out with them. It begins with bubbly thirty-ish teacher Jess (Zooey Deschanel) moving in with three guys after her bad breakup: shiftless bartender and would-be writer Nick (Jake Johnson), seemingly sleazy Entourage-style man on the make Schmidt (Max Greenfield), and Coach (Damon Wayans Jr.) who left after one single solitary episode to be replaced by former Latvian basketball star Winston (Lamorne Morris). ()
2012
8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown
Take a world-record-holding quiz show, throw in Britain’s funniest folks, and watch the words, numbers and hilarity follow: that’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. A mash-up of game show Countdown and comedy panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats, it pits two pairs of comedians against each other as they work their way through a series of word and number puzzles.
8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown is available to
2013
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
It's the show that was saved from cancellation by its hordes of fans, and it's coming back to our screens: Season 7 will be fast-tracked to SBS and On Demand from February 7. In a rollercoaster ride for its loyal fans, the show has gone from being axed by Fox after its fifth season to being picked up within 48 hours by NBC to now bringing us a seventh season.
Source: Distributor
Broadchurch
In 2013, this British series took the world by storm. Many of its cast members have gone on to extraordinary success, including Olivia Colman, who won a BAFTA for her part as DS Ellie Miller (and an Oscar for her role in The Favourite), Jodie Whittaker, who became the first female Dr Who, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge soon went on to create the phenomenal Fleabag.
Broadchurch begins with the murder of 11-year-old Danny Latimer in the small Dorset town of the series’ name. DI Alec Hardy (former Dr Who David Tennant) is put in charge of the case as townspeople, including Danny’s father Mark (Andrew Buchan), are investigated. The second season follows the trial of the accused, and the third sees Miller and Hardy attempt to move forward carrying the scars of the case.
Seasons 1 to 3 of Broadchurch are streaming at SBS On Demand
Vikings
What a time we've had with Ragnar (spoiler, RIP), Boneless, and their brutal buddies. And it's not over yet! Vikings is back with its latest season, season 6A, only on SBS and On Demand. Let's get up tp speed: Emerging the victor in the battle with his brother, the tyrannical Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen), Bjorn Ironside (Alexander Ludwig) is now a hero to the people. But as the new leader of Kattegat, Bjorn faces dilemmas galore and struggles to fill his late father’s shoes as king. Meanwhile, Ivar, eager to cut ties with his past, is seen travelling along The Silk Road. Eventually ending up in Russia, Ivar meets his match in the merciless Prince Oleg (Danila Kozlovsky), a ruthless and unpredictable ruler. Oh, Vikings, as always, this season provides so much to get stuck into.
Vikings season 6A episodes air weekly at 9.30pm on Wednesdays. You’ll have 30 days to catch up on episodes at , as they each land there after broadcast.
2014
You’re The Worst
It's the best. A modern look at love and happiness told through the eyes of two people who haven't been very successful with either. It's the story of Gretchen and Jimmy, fear, heartbreak, romance, sex, food, Los Angeles, Sunday Funday, friendship and the fact that sometimes the worst people make the best partners. Boy meets girl. Girl doesn't care much for boy, but boy doesn't claim to be all that much into girl either. But, they totally are into each other and so they hook up (and again and again). Neither one wants a relationship. Except they are more than happy to fall into a relationship. It sounds like every romantic comedy you've seen from the last 30 years. Except, you haven't really seen this show before. Caustic, witty, and wonderfully relatable, this is the rom com that has been described as Bojack Horseman meets Fleabag. ()
Five seasons of You're the Worst are available to stream
Fargo
It's the TV show that was inspired by the movie, . And it's great. Each season chrinocles a standalone story of deception. intrigue and murder in and around chilly minnesota. We have a fourth season on the way, arriving at SBS in 2020 (exact date TBA).
READ MORE
Meet the cast of 'Fargo' season 4
Great heck almighty, Fargo is coming back in 2020! Source: SBS
First Contact
An unforgettable documentary intended to reconnect the nation, First Contact takes a group of six non-Indigenous people, from different walks of life and with strong and varied opinions, and immerses them into Aboriginal Australia for the first time, revealing all the beauty, hope, culture, history, tradition and tragedy of our First Australians.
2015
The Last Man on Earth
Phil Miller (Will Forte) is the last man on Earth, and he got the attitude and the personal hygiene that comes with such a predicament. And the beard. Having spent several years driving around north America to find fellow occupants of the earth, he's called off the search, and, resigned to an eternity alone, he stays put in Arizona, with a view to seeing out what's left of humanity's days getting drunk and wrecking things. Welcome to The Last Man on Earth, created by and starring Saturday Night Live's Will Forte. Being the last man on earth offers no shortage of surprises, and across four seasons, Forte manages to draw laughs and drama out of Phil's catastrophe.
Season 1 - 4 of The Last Man on Earth are available to
Trapped
We love us some Nordic Noir here at SBS, and Trapped is one for the ages. A ferry is approaching a small Icelandic town in a deep fjord in the east, a dead body is found. Without a head, limbs and legs, this is more just a torso. Unrecogniseable. No one knows who the body belongs to. Meanwhile the weather is getting worse. To be able to leave town you have to drive over a heath. It’s now impassable because the snow is closing off the town from the rest of the world. As sheriff Andri Ólafsson is waiting for the forensics to arrive from the city, he has come to the conclusion this was murder, a recent one – and the killer is most likely either on the ferry or someone still in town – someone who can’t go anywhere.
Seasons 1 and 2 of Trapped are available to stream
Struggle Street
In the four years since SBS first aired Struggle Street, the country remains at crisis point. Now, more than . Poverty and hardship are getting worse, and who live outside Australia’s capital cities, . Seasons 2 and 3 of landmark series Struggle Street puts faces in front of the statistics to shine a light amd explore the sconomic, social and intergenerational streuggles of Australia's disadvantaged.
Seasons 2 and 3 are available to stream
The Bureau
It's one of the best series to come out of France in a long time, and is often described as the French answer to Homeland. The Bureau offers an inside view of the DGSE, the French external security agency, and focuses on those training agents to go into deep cover.
Seasons 1 - 4 of The Bureau are available to stream
2016
The Young Pope
Things got wild in Academy Award-winner Paolo Sorrentino's saga about the sinful goings on in the heart of the Catholic Church. Jude Law and Diane Keaton star in the tale of pontiff Pius XIII / Lenny Belardo, the first American Pope in history. Young and charming, his election might seem the result of a simple and effective media strategy by the College of Cardinals. But, as we know, appearances can be deceptive. Especially in the place and among the people who have chosen the great mystery of God as the guiding light of their existence. Turns out, the most mysterious and contradictory figure of all turns out to be Pius XIII himself. Shrewd and naïve, old-fashioned and very modern, doubtful and resolute, ironic, pedantic, hurt and ruthless, Pius XIII tries to walk the long path of human loneliness to find a God for mankind. But also for himself.
Season 1 of The Young Pope is available to - and
Atlanta
Donald Glover's incredible comedy/drama is much more than an account of the everyday life of the manager of an on-the-cusp-of-making-it hip hop artist, but it's also that too. In two seasons, we watched the storyline evolve into something darker, deeper, nd weirder (Teddy Perkins, anyone?), and we can only imagine what lies in store for season three.
We can confirm that SBS Viceland and On Demand will have Atlanta season 3 -- once the very busy Donald Glover/Childish Gambino gets time to make it.
'Atlanta' star and creator Donald Glover. Source: SBS
2017
The Handmaid’s Tale
The TV adaptation of Margaret Atwood's classic dystopian novel has an uncanny ability to mirror real-world events. That's alarming, given the show's central premise is to champion the resilience of an endentured slave trying to survive within a brutal theocratic regime that now rules what was the United States. With outstanding production values and a powerhouse turn by its lead actress and executive producer Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid's Tale is the show of our times.
The Good Fight
The Good Fight started life as the spinoff of the legal and political Julianna Margulies hit The Good Wife, which ran for seven seasons, picked up Emmys and critical acclaim the whole way through. But it has evolved into a standalone hit on its own, and the whipsmart and caustic legal drama is now one of the best companion shows to the Trump administration, The Good Fight saw the word go mad and the resistance to go crazy. And we are here for season 4 when it returns to SBS and On Demand in 2020.
The stellar cast plus of 'The Good Fight'. Source: SBS
2018
Safe Harbour
It's the question that enthralled Australia: Who cut the rope? When a group of Australians out on a pleasure cruise encounter a boat full of refugees, they offer to tow them to safety. But when the boat is cut adrift overnight, it's clear not everyone is willing to play good samaritan. The fascinating premise gave way to great drama, and after its recent International Emmy win, Safe Harbour is bat at SBS On Demand for a limited time.
Safe Harbour is available to stream
Deep State
Season 1 of this espionage drama follows ex-spy Max Easton (played by Mark Strong, who also stars in Temple, another of 2019’s best) forced out of retirement by the chief of MI6 to carry out a very personal mission in Beirut. Back home in France, where he’s settled with a new young family, his wife Anna (Lynn Renee) has cause to suspect he’s not the man she thought he was. Digging into his past reveals information that puts her and their children in grave danger. In an Australian connection, four episodes of season 1 were directed by Robert Connolly. Joe Dempsie and Karima McAdams co-star.
Walton Goggins joins the cast in season 2 as operative Nathan Miller. This time, the setting is Mali, Africa, and when four US Special Forces operatives and their translator are supposedly killed in an ambush, delaying a procurement deal in Washington, Miller is torn between his family and his duty. Deep State is .
2019
Years & Years
It's one of the most talked-about shows of 2019. The world we see through the eyes of Manchester family, the Lyons, from 2019 to 2034 seems all too real to be as dystopian as this six-part series from Russell T. Davies (Queer As Folk) is billed to be. Emma Thompson stars as wealthy businesswoman Vivienne Rook, who sets her sights on politics, running on a campaign of being an ordinary person who is here to get things done. But she’s living anything but the life of everyday people, as she skyrockets to power and gets drunk on it. Sound familiar?
Shrill
One of the year's runaway hits, Shrill stars Aidy Bryant (Saturday Night Live, Girls) as Annie, a young woman who wants to change her life – but not her body – unlike everyone else around her, it seems. Annie is determined to fire up her career in journalism while juggling a demoralising boyfriend, the illness of her beloved father, and the dismissive attitude of her perfectionist boss. Along for the ride is her fangirl and best friend Fran (Lolly Adefope), always ready with a supportive word. In the lead-up to season 2’s launch, SBS VICELAND is repeating all of season one in a Shrill-a-thon on Saturday 18 January, to get you ready for the season two drop.
Or catch the entire debut season
63 Up
It's the world’s most remarkable franchise, and a labour of love for its longtime director Michael Apted, as he catches up with with (most of) the same 14 British people he has visited every seven years since 1964. The series began life as a one-off look at the class system in Britain. With each instalment, the concept has expanded wo become profound, especially as the now-63-year-old participants reflect upon their age and their legacy.
Listen to our exclusive interview with director Michael Apted
63 Up is available to stream
