Down Under TV fans in the US get a double dose of brand new Kiwi TV in September, plus the new season of an Aussie TV favorite.
For updates about shows from Australia and New Zealand added to US linear TV and streaming channels throughout the month, see the Down Under TV Viewing Guide.
Programs and dates are subject to change without prior notice.
Videos below may contain content that is not suitable for everyone.
NATIONAL PREMIERES
The Sounds (NZ-CA)
Set against the stunning backdrop and exotic landscape of Marlborough Sounds, this psychological thriller sees Maggie and Tom Cabbott, a happily-married Canadian couple, move to a sleepy harborside town on New Zealand’s South Island to start a new life — specifically to escape Tom’s oppressive family and to launch his own business venture, a salmon fishery, that will help revive the troubled local economy.
But when Tom (Matt Whelan, The Luminaries, Narcos) disappears after he goes out kayaking, unsettling facts about him soon come to light, and the search for him brings long-buried wounds to the surface. As Maggie (Rachelle Lefevre, Proven Innocent, Under the Dome) struggles to navigate the escalating events, it becomes clear that in the small, seemingly close-knit community of Pelorus, nothing and no one are quite what they seem. Grieving wives, cheating husbands, epic embezzlement, and historic crime all collide to weave a complicated web stretching through the Sounds’ hidden valleys and deep waters.
Costars include Matt Nable (Dead Lucky, Winter), Emily Piggford (The Girlfriend Experience), Peter Elliott (Tarzan), Anna-Maree Thomas (The Brokenwood Mysteries), Vanessa Rare (Last Man Standing), Tandi Wright (800 Words), Morgana O’Reilly (Wentworth), Tainui Tukiwaho (Step Dave), John Bach (Janet King), Josh McKenzie (The New Legends of Monkey), Adam Brown (The Hobbit), Emma Fenton (Filthy Rich), and Sara Wiseman (A Place to Call Home).
The Sounds, an Acorn TV Original series, premieres in the US and Canada with its first two episodes on Thursday, September 3, exclusively on Acorn TV and its digital channels, including Acorn TV on Amazon Channels. New episodes will be released on the show’s regular Monday schedule.
One Lane Bridge (NZ)
In this character-driven crime drama with a dark, supernatural edge, Ariki Davis (Dominic Ona-Ariki, The Commons), an ambitious young Māori detective, arrives in Queenstown with high hopes for his future. When local legend Grub Ryder is found dead at the bottom of the infamous One Lane Bridge, Ariki joins the investigation led by his boss, the respected stalwart Detective Senior Sergeant Stephen Tremaine (Joel Tobeck, The Luminaries). During the investigation, Ariki inadvertently unlocks his Matakite — a supernatural ability akin to second sight that he hasn’t experienced since his youth — which threatens to endanger the case, his career, and his life.
Costarring Michelle Langstone (800 Words), Sara Wiseman (A Place to Call Home), and Alison Bruce (The Gulf), One Lane Bridge premieres in the US and Canada with its first episode on Thursday, September 17, exclusively on Sundance Now and its digital channels, including Sundance Now on Amazon Channels. New episodes will be released weekly.
Wentworth: Season 8 (AU)
The penultimate season of this multiple award-winning crime drama finds the prisoners and the staff struggling to cope in the aftermath of the siege (in Season 7).
Ann Reynolds (Jane Hall, Newton’s Law) is the new General Manager at Wentworth, where Industries Manager Vera Bennett (Kate Atkinson, Jack Irish) returns to work despite her reluctance to do so after giving birth to her daughter. No stranger to Wentworth is Lou Kelly (Kate Box, Rake), a former top dog who’s back in the slammer along with her transgender boyfriend, Reb Keane (Zoe Terakes, Janet King), for armed robbery. And getting acquainted with the place is new inmate Judy Bryant (Vivienne Awosoga, The Time of Our Lives), a British hacker suspected of terrorism.
But the news that shocks everyone to their core is about Joan Ferguson (Pamela Rabe, F*!#ing Adelaide): The former governor and former prisoner at Wentworth is quite alive, despite having been buried alive.
Guest-starring Marta Dusseldorp (A Place to Call Home), Wentworth: Season 8 premieres in the US on Wednesday, September 30, exclusively on Netflix.
NON-PREMIERE PROGRAMS BEING ADDED TO STREAMING SERVICES
The Sum of Us (AU)
Based on the long-running off-Broadway play by David Stevens, this award-winning comedy-drama feature film stars Jack Thompson (Breaker Morant) and Russell Crowe (Gladiator) as the father-and-son pair of Harry and Jeff Mitchell. The former is a ferry-driving, beer-drinking, straight-down-the-line widower, and the latter is an athletic and gay 20-something plumber. The two live under the same roof, but get on like a house on fire. And while they are the best of friends, each is lonely and searching for that special someone.
Fate smiles on both men when Harry meets alluring divorcée Joyce (Deborah Kennedy, A Place to Call Home) and Jeff meets local resident Greg (John Polson, Mission: Impossible II). Unfortunately, the closeted Greg is uncomfortable with Harry’s acceptance of Jeff. And Joyce, uncomfortable with Jeff’s sexuality, puts a strain on the bond between father and son.
The Sum of Us begins streaming Monday, September 14, on Acorn TV and its digital channels, including Acorn TV on Amazon Channels.
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (AU)
Based on the international best-selling novel of the same name by Fergus Hume, this TV movie set in 1880s Melbourne starts with the murder of a man connected to wealthy benefactor Mark Frettlby (John Waters, Offspring). The victim’s romantic rival, Brian Fitzgerald (Oliver Ackland, Party Tricks), is arrested for the crime but refuses to provide an alibi. Thus his lawyer, Duncan Calton (Marco Chiappi, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries), and wealthy fiancée, Madge Frettlby (Jessica de Gouw, The Secrets She Keeps), are forced to search for the truth themselves in order to save Brian’s life. Their investigation not only uncovers a trail of secrets and scandal from opium dens and brothels to the cream of society, but their revelation threatens to tear Madge’s family apart.
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab begins streaming Monday, September 21, on Acorn TV and its digital channels, including Acorn TV on Amazon Channels.
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Did you miss any of the new shows from previous days, weeks, or months? Check the Down Under TV Viewing Guide and Archives to find out.
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For details about the September 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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