August brings new and returning Down Under TV series about dangerous animals, an Aussie family in a Kiwi town, and a mystery in the outback.
For updates about shows from Australia and New Zealand added to US channels and streaming services throughout the month, see the Down Under TV Viewing Guide.
NATIONAL PREMIERES
72 Dangerous Animals: Asia (Australia)
This nature documentary is the latest in the “72” franchise, which includes 72 Dangerous Animals: Australia, 72 Dangerous Places to Live, and 72 Cutest Animals.
Featuring interviews with wildlife experts and survivors of attacks, the twelve hour-long episodes in this program offer up intimate portraits of animals ranging from barracudas and giant Japanese hornets to the Wolverine — delving into their unique characteristics, habitats, how they tick, and what makes them so dangerous. “Scoreboards” are then used to rank each animal according to its deadly potential
72 Dangerous Animals: Asia, a Netflix original series, premieres in the US on Friday, August 10, exclusively on Netflix.
800 Words: Season 3, Part 2 (New Zealand/Australia)
Already renewed for a fourth season, the award-winning 800 Words follows widowed newspaper columnist George Turner (Erik Thomson, Packed to the Rafters, The Code), who up and moves with his teen-aged daughter and son from Sydney to Weld, a New Zealand coastal town full of quirky locals.
See below (under Local/Regional Premieres) for details about the first half of Season 3, and tune in to find out what the second half brings.
800 Words: Season 3, Part 2 premieres in the US and Canada on Wednesday, August 15, exclusively on Acorn TV and the Acorn TV channel on Amazon US, just one day after its world premiere in Australia. (One new episode will debut each week.)
Mystery Road (Australia)
ABC Australia’s hit new drama series stars Oscar® nominee and Emmy®, BAFTA, and Golden Globe awards winner Judy Davis (My Brilliant Career, Husbands and Wives, The Starter Wife) and Australian Film Critics Association and Film Critics Circle of Australia Awards winner Aaron Pedersen (Mystery Road films, Jack Irish, A Place to Call Home) as detectives investigating the mysterious disappearance of two young men in a remote outback town.
Pedersen plays indigenous Detective Jay Swan, who thinks the matter of the two farmhands going missing will be a simple case. But as he and his partner, tough local cop Emma James (Davis), dig deeper, their investigation gradually peels away the layers of the town, as Jay’s ability to hunt beneath the surface reveals crimes and miscarriages of justice that stretch far back into the town’s history.
A spinoff of the 2013 film of the same name and the 2016 film Goldstone, Mystery Road costars Deborah Mailman (Offspring, The Sapphires), Colin Friels (Killing Time, Water Rats), and Wayne Blair (Cleverman, Double Trouble).
The six-episode Mystery Road premieres in the US and Canada on Monday, August 20, exclusively on Acorn TV and the Acorn TV channel on Amazon US.
LOCAL/REGIONAL PREMIERES
800 Words: Season 3, Part 1 (NZ/AU)
In the first half of this family drama’s third season, locals in Weld launch a search and rescue operation for Ike (Alex Tarrant, Tatau), Zac (Rob Kipa-Williams, Nothing Trivial), and Steve (Mark Ferguson, The Blue Rose) after their empty boat is found capsized; George (Erik Thomson, All Saints) contemplates fatherhood while comforting his daughter Shay (Melina Vidler, Rake); and Jan (Bridie Carter, McLeod’s Daughters) gives birth to twins, but there are more than paternity complications.
800 Words: Season 3, Part 1 is confirmed for airing on the public TV stations and regional networks listed below, starting on or after Wednesday, August 1. Air dates and times vary by market, so check your local listings or contact the station that serves your area for broadcast details. To request the program, contact your station’s Viewer Services department or American Public Television.
| STATE | CITY | STATION |
|---|---|---|
| ARIZONA | Tucson |  |
| ARKANSAS | Arkadelphia, El Dorado, Fayetteville, Ft. Smith, Jonesboro, Little Rock, Mountain View |  |
| CALIFORNIA | Los Angeles |  |
| CONNECTICUT | Fairfield, Hartford, New Haven, Norwich |  |
| ILLINOIS | Chicago |  |
| INDIANA | Indianapolis |  |
| MASSACHUSETTS | Boston |  |
| MISSOURI | Kansas City |  |
| NEBRASKA | Alliance, Bassett, Hastings, Lexington, Lincoln, Norfolk, North Platte, Omaha |  |
| NEW HAMPSHIRE | Durham, Keene, Littleton |  |
| NEW YORK | Binghamton, Elmira |  |
| NEW YORK | Rochester |  |
| NEW YORK | Syracuse |  |
| OHIO | Akron, Alliance, Youngstown |  |
| OHIO | Cincinnati |  |
| SOUTH DAKOTA | Aberdeen, Eagle Butte, Lowry, Martin, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls, Vermillion |  |
| WASHINGTON | Spokane |  |
| WISCONSIN | Green Bay-Appleton, La Crosse-Eau Claire, Madison, Menomonie, Park Falls, Wausau-Rhinelander |  |
| WISCONSIN | Milwaukee |  |
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Did you miss any of the new shows from previous months? Check the Down Under TV Viewing Guide and Viewing Guide Archives to find out.
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For details about the August premieres of shows from the UK, Canada, and Ireland, visit The British TV Place. For those about the debuts of original-language, English-subtitled programs from Europe, visit The Euro TV Place.
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