August brings the premiere of two hit shows’ new seasons, the linear debut of an Outback mystery series, and the addition of an award-winning comedy to a streamer.
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.
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NATIONAL PREMIERES UPDATED
Five Bedrooms: Season 2 (AU)
One of my favorite new shows of 2020, this dramedy returns with a second season that follows the five singles who together became home co-owners, housemates, and friends (and in certain cases even more) in Season 1.
They are lawyer Liz Wendell (Kat Stewart, Offspring), Liz’s gay surgeon best friend Harry Sethi (Roy Joseph, Back in Very Small Business), contractor Ben Chigwell (Stephen Peacocke, Home and Away), real estate agent Ainsley Elling (Katie Robertson, Rosehaven), and Ainsley’s former landlady Heather Doyle (Doris Younane, McLeod’s Daughters), a nurse who joined them after Lachlan Best (Hugh Sheridan, Packed to the Rafters), Ainsley’s married colleague, got back with his wife and bailed on them.
By the end of the first season, divorcée Liz was in a very different place, and her situation impacted the others in a major way. But there were life changes for her housemates, too, including new love and a pregnancy. There have been very few details released about Season 2, only that there will be two pregnancies and one ex-husband, as well as a new home, a DIY renovation (and a related injury), a workplace bullying complaint, an unexpected tragedy, and love found and lost.
Returning cast members include Kumud Merani (Spice Sisters) as Harry’s mum, Manju, and Kate Jenkinson (Wentworth) as Lachlan’s wife, Melanie. Joining the cast is Josh McKenzie (Bad Mothers) as Harry’s new love interest, Xavier. And guest starring in the new season is Rodger Corser (The Heart Guy) as Liz’s ex-husband.
Five Bedrooms: Season 2, a Peacock Original series, premieres in the US on Thursday, August 19, exclusively on Peacock.
My Life Is Murder: Series 2 (NZ)
Following the events in the Melbourne, Australia-set first season of this hit mystery series, Season 2 finds retired detective-turned-private investigator Alexa Crowe (Lucy Lawless, Xena: Warrior Princess, Spartacus, Ash vs Evil Dead) back in her home country of New Zealand for the first time in years. When Alexa is asked to look into a bizarre unsolved murder, she can’t help but say yes.
Joining Alexa in her sleuthing are Madison Feliciano (Ebony Vagulans, The Heart Guy), her partner in crime-solving, plus charismatic detective Harry (Rawiri Jobe, The Brokenwood Mysteries) and café owner Reuben (Joe Naufahu, Game of Thrones). Soon Alexa finds herself investigating other murder mysteries in Auckland, in surprising and glamorous worlds filled with intriguing characters who are hiding dangerous and deadly secrets.
The long list of Season 2 guest stars includes Lawless’s former cast mates Anna Hutchison (Underbelly), Graham Vincent (The Shannara Chronicles), Jay Ryan (Beauty and the Beast), and Bruce Hopkins (Lord of the Rings), as well as William Shatner (Star Trek), Martin Henderson (The Gloaming), Michelle Ang (Fear The Walking Dead), Sara Wiseman (A Place to Call Home), Bill Bailey (Black Books), Matt Whelan (The Sounds), and popular drag performers Kita Mean (RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under) and Amanduh La Hor.
My Life Is Murder: Series 2, an Acorn TV Original series, premieres with its first two episodes in the US and Canada on Monday, August 30, exclusively on Acorn TV and its apps and digital channels, including Acorn TV on Amazon Channels. New episodes will debut singly on subsequent Mondays.
NON-PREMIERE PROGRAMS DEBUTING ON LINEAR TV
Mystery Road: Season 1 (AU)
In the first season of this Outback Noir mystery-crime drama series — a spinoff of the 2013 film of the same name — Indigenous Australian Detective Jay Swan (Aaron Pederson, Jack Irish, Total Control) is called to the remote Australian town of Patterson by local cop Emma James (two-time Oscar® nominee Judy Davis, Husbands and Wives, A Passage to India) to help investigate the mysterious disappearance of two farmhands on an outback cattle station. Their work on the case uncovers a past injustice that threatens the fabric of the whole community.
Mystery Road: Season 1 has its US linear TV debut on Tuesday, August 24 at 12:30 AM ET (Monday, August 23 at 9:30 AM PT), as part of Ovation TV‘s “Secrets & Crimes” programming block.
NON-PREMIERE PROGRAMS BEING ADDED TO STREAMING SERVICES
Upper Middle Bogan: Series 1 (AU)
Also known as Bess of Both Worlds, this 2016 AACTA Awards winner for Best Television Comedy Series stars Annie Maynard (Playing for Keeps, Dead Lucky) as Bess, a married mum of two and a wealthy doctor who discovers that (1) she is adopted and (2) she comes from a family of uncultured drag racers in the outer suburbs — ergo “upper middle bogan.” Despite the protests of her slightly snobby architect husband, her private school educated kids, and her snooty, overbearing adoptive mother, Bess is determined to make one big happy clan with her newly-found and very noisy family.
Costars include Patrick Brammall (No Activity) as Bess’s husband Danny, Robyn Nevin (Top of the Lake) as her adoptive mother Margaret, Robyn Malcolm (Harrow) and Glenn Robbins (Kath & Kim) as her birth parents Julie and Wayne, Lara Robinson (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries) and Harrison Feldman (Fancy Boy) as her children Edwina and Oscar, and Michala Banas (Bad Mothers), Rhys Mitchell (Glitch), and Maddy Jevic (Wentworth) as her new-found siblings Amber, Kayne, and Brianna.
Upper Middle Bogan: Series 1 begins streaming in the US and Canada on Monday, August 30, on Acorn TV and its apps and 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 August premieres of shows from the UK, Canada, and Ireland, visit The British TV Place. For info about the debuts of original-language, English-subtitled programs from Europe, visit The Euro TV Place.
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As an affiliate of Amazon and other companies, ads & affiliate links on this blog allow us to earn income from qualifying actions and purchases (at no extra cost to you).
