Closing out 2024 are the US premieres of a new Aussie crime drama series and a new season of a fan-favorite cozy mystery series.
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.
(For details about the premieres of shows from the UK, Canada, Ireland, and countries in Europe and elsewhere, visit The British TV Place, The Euro TV Place, and The Global TV Place.)
Programs and dates are subject to change without prior notice.
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NATIONAL PREMIERES
Critical Incident (AU)
This crime drama centers on Senior Constable Zilifcar “Zil” Ahmed (Akshay Khanna, Touch, Red, White & Royal Blue), who, while on patrol for a suspect who injured an officer the night before, pursues Dalia (Zoë Boe, Total Control, The Tree). But in the chaos and confusion of his pursuit of her at a busy train station, a bystander is critically injured, prompting an investigation led by Detective Edith Barcelos (Simone Kessell, Yellowjackets, Pine Gap).
Zil’s world comes crashing down when he discovers that Dalia was, in fact, not the perpetrator. His immense guilt over the bystander’s injuries, coupled with the pressures of the critical incident investigation and mounting public scrutiny, creates an unbearable burden for him. In trying to deal with the fallout, Zil, encouraged by his brothers in blue, becomes obsessed with pinning something on Dalia. Meanwhile, Dalia herself becomes embroiled in the underworld she was trying to escape.
Costarring Hunter Page-Lochard (Harrow), Zindzi Okenyo (Troppo), and Erik Thomson (800 Words), amongst others, Critical Incident premieres in the US on Friday, December 6, on Hulu.
Darby and Joan: Season 2 (AU)
Reprising their titular roles in the brand-new season of this fan-favorite cozy mystery series are Emmy® nominee Bryan Brown (Boy Swallows Universe, Anyone but You, The Thorn Birds) and Emmy® winner Greta Scacchi (Bodies, War and Peace, Rasputin). After colliding in the Australian outback and becoming entangled in a string of intriguing mysteries, retired Aussie detective Jack Darby (Brown) and widowed English nurse Joan Kirkhope (Scacchi) form an unlikely investigative duo and quickly realize that the greatest mystery they face is each other.
Season 2 opens a year after their fateful meeting and finds Jack and Joan have forged a deep friendship amid their investigative adventures. But Jack’s story has only just begun: He’s determined to clear his name of the unexplained cloud hanging over his career. Despite the potential danger — or perhaps because of it — Joan insists on helping Jack with his quest. As the two hunt for the one person Jack believes can reveal the truth about his mysterious past while solving mysteries as they travel through Queensland’s picturesque landscapes, Jack and Joan’s relationship with be tested. And will they be able to uncover the truth after all these years, or will their search for answers only unearth more questions?
Darby and Joan: Season 2, an Acorn TV Original Series, premieres with two episodes in the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand on Monday, December 30, exclusively on Acorn TV and its digital channels, including Acorn TV on Prime Channels, where available. New episodes will be released every Monday through the season finale on January 27, 2025.
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Stream Darby and Joan Season 1
Darby and Joan Series 1 DVD from Acorn (for US, not UK, DVD players)
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NON-PREMIERE PROGRAMS BEING ADDED TO STREAMING SERVICES
The Newsreader (AU)
This period drama revolves around the frantic world of broadcast news in the 1980s. In the maelstrom of a commercial television newsroom in 1986, Dale Jennings (Sam Reid, Interview with the Vampire, Lambs of God, Prime Suspect: Tennison) is a diligent young reporter, desperate to become a newsreader. Helen Norville (Anna Torv, Fringe, Territory, Secret City) is a notoriously “difficult” star newsreader determined to build credibility.
Paired together over three months, Dale and Helen will cover an extraordinary chain of news events — from the shock of the Challenger explosion, to the hype of Halley’s Comet, to the complexities of the AIDS crisis. From messy beginnings, a deep bond is formed that will upend their lives and transform the very fabric of the nightly news bulletin.
Costarring William McInnes (Total Control, Rake), Stephen Peacocke (RFDS, Five Bedrooms), and Robert Taylor (Longmire, Territory), amongst others, The Newsreader begins streaming in the US and Canada on Thursday, December 19, exclusively on Sundance Now, the AMC+ streaming bundle, and their digital channels, including Sundance Now on Prime Channels and AMC+ on Prime Channels.
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