The end of 2026 might be in sight but Australian television is just getting started. Long gone are the days when spring and summer saw local series going into hibernation; television is a year-round business, and there’s still plenty of must-see titles on the horizon.
Will they all make it to our screens this year? That’s yet to be seen. All we know is that all of the following series have been announced for 2026, so there’s still three months left for them to make an appearance. And when has an Australian television network ever led their audiences astray?
Coming to TV & streaming – quick links
Gnomes
When the evil Gnome Queen unleashes a reign of pint-sized ceramic carnage on the small town of Nompton, it’s up to Senior Sergeant Arnold Kipps (Asa Butterfield) and a rag-tag bunch of misfits to save the day. Channelling the spirit of numerous wacky 80s monster mash-ups – think Gremlins or The Goonies – and with a deep roster of Australian comedy talent in supporting roles, if nothing else this horror-comedy looks like one of the more unusual local series of recent years.
Gnomes is coming to Stan on 8 October.
ScreenHub: Stan’s Gnomes is a new Australian-made horror series
Dustfall
Based on Vikki Petraitis’s novel The Unbelieved, the ABC’s latest foray into small-town crime stars Anna Torv as Queensland Detective Tig Pollard. When she’s assigned to investigate a gruelling sexual assault case linked to a string of drink spikings, things start off grim and soon get worse after a key suspect turns up dead. On her increasingly fraught search for the truth, Pollard finds herself struggling with her own past, as the investigation unearths long buried secrets from her childhood.
Dustfall arrives on ABC on 11 October.
Austin Season 3
The third season of the ABC’s popular dramedy sees Austin (Michael Theo) preparing to enter the unfamiliar world of married life, while Julian (Ben Miller) and Ingrid (Sally Phillip) are enjoying a friendly(ish) divorce. Well, Sally is. She’s got a new man, and Julian has… a lot of pressure to come up with his next children’s book. As the rural wedding draws near, Austin begins to doubt if marriage really is for him, while Julian and Ingrid start to wonder if divorcing was really the right move.
Season 3 of Austin is expected to air on ABC in 2026.
Shakedown
The Robodebt saga is brought to dramatic life with this four-part look at the human stories behind the headlines. Described as ‘a stirring dramatisation and a critical lens on institutional failure, human resilience, and the cost of justice delayed’, there hasn’t been a lot of information released about this one. It’s meant to be a scripted drama – in contrast to the 2025 SBS docudrama The People vs Robodebt – but as yet there’s been no news as to who’s been cast, or whether the announced 2026 release date is still happening.
Shakedown is expected to air on ABC in 2026.
Separated at Birth
Nazeem Hussain and Urzilla Carlson team up in this sitcom about a happy go lucky paramedic (Hussain) who finds his life crumbling around him when his wife asks for a divorce moments after the birth of their first child. Fortunately his brash ‘work wife’ (Carlson) is on hand to help him navigate the confusing world of co-parenting – and give him a place to stay while he does it. No doubt she’ll be a calming and stabilising influence in his life.
Separated at Birth is expected to air on ABC in 2026.
Tough Love
When Kerry (Miranda Otto) receives a cancer diagnosis, she’s forced to face a grim fact: none of her three children – Shane (Donald), daughter Steph (Kingsman) and middle son Rodney (Johnstone-Burt) – are going to be able to cope without her. And her partner Mick (Jay Ryan) is looking a bit wobbly himself.
Created and written by Rick Donald, and directed by the duo that led Colin From Accounts (Trent O’Donnell and Madeleine Dyer), Binge will be hoping some of that series’ mix of comedy and drama shines through here
Tough Love is due to arrive on Binge in 2026.
Cop This
It’s been over a decade since comedian Ed Kavalee’s last telemovie for Paramount (that’d be the enjoyably funny police comedy Scumbus), but now he’s back with the third in his law-enforcement trilogy (Border Protection Squad went straight to iTunes in 2015).
Here two cops – played by Nicolette Minster and Ray O’Leary – are tasked with babysitting a drugdealer for 24 hours in a police station that’s about to be closed down. With a cast featuring literally dozens of Australian comedians, it looks like they’re going to have a very busy day.
Cop This airs on 10 on 5 October.
Wentworth: Halfway Home
Wentworth was one of Foxtel and Binge’s biggest local drama successes, so the real mystery here is why it’s taken so long to get a spin-off up and running. Set at Sal’s Halfway House, the story begins with former Wentworth inmate Boomer (Katrina Milosevic) arriving freshly paroled and hoping to win back custody of her daughter. Safe to say, things do not go smoothly, with fellow inmates Franky Doyle (Nicole da Silva) and Lou Kelly (Kate Box), alongside fresh face Moira (Rachel Griffiths), all promising to stir things up.
Wentworth: Halfway Home comes to Binge in 2026.
Careless
When Scottish backpacker Robbie (Solly McLeod) takes on a job as a live-in carer for MS sufferer Mike (Richard Roxburgh), he soon becomes a close confidante to the no-nonsense former rock star and his wife Angela (Robyn Malcolm). But even as Robbie insinuates himself into the family, it gradually becomes clear that he has problems lurking in his past that are set to become a very present danger.
Careless is due to arrive on Stan in 2026.
Who the Hell is Hamish
Inspired by the hit true crime podcast, this six part series takes a look at one of Australia’s most audacious fraudsters: Hamish Watson (later McLaren). Back in his home town after some dodgy dealings in Canada, Hamish (Dominic Cooper) quickly has his eyes set on a new prize: Bec (Claire van der Boom), a single mother of three with a sizable family trust. But for once, his smooth moves don’t quite come off. She gets suspicious, and gradually comes to realise the slick charmer is a global grifter with a million-dollar track record of ripping off vulnerable women.
Who the Hell is Hamish is expected to stream on Paramount+ in 2026.
