5 best new shows – quick links
Marie Antoinette Seasons 1-2 – 30 March (Binge)
Series. This lavish historical drama follows Marie Antoinette, who arrives at Versailles as a teenage Dauphine and must navigate court politics, royal duties and growing public hostility as she evolves into the Queen of France.
Across two seasons, the series charts her rise and influence, and the escalating pressures that ultimately threaten her reign.
Aaron Chen: Funny Garden – 31 March (Netflix)
Comedy special. As Aussie comedian Aaron Chen – star of the Netflix hit series FISK and loyal assistant to Guy Montgomery on the ABC smash Guy Montgommery’s Spelling Bee – continues to sell out theatres across the globe, you can now watch this live recording of his latest show, Funny Garden.
The show features Chen’s signature deadpan, observational style and includes material about his life in New York, his marriage and interactions with the audience.
If It’s Tuesday… It’s Murder – 31 March (Disney+)
Series. This brand new Spanish original series from Disney+ and Hulu tells the story of an eclectic group of Spanish tourists at a once-grand hotel now crumbling into ruins during a week-long holiday in Lisbon.
When one of the travellers is found dead the day after their arrival, four of the others set out to investigate who the killer might be – and whether it could even be someone within their own group. This team of devoted true-crime and mystery novel fans will have to face the police, a roster of suspects, the threat of being expelled from the trip and their own hidden truths as the days slip away before they have to leave Lisbon.
Riot Women – 2 April (SBS On Demand)
Series. SBS has the exclusive Australian premiere of smash-hit UK drama series Riot Women, created by Sally Wainwright (Happy Valley). Riot Women is about a group of women who form a punk rock band – just for fun, just to enter a local talent contest, just to raise money for charity – but who discover in the course of rehearsing an ABBA song (badly) that they have a voice of their own.
Your Friends and Neighbors Season 3 – 3 April (Apple TV)
Series. We’re back with Andrew Cooper (Jon Hamm), who doubles down on his life as an unlikely suburban thief, until the arrival of a new neighbour threatens to expose his secrets and place his family at risk.
James Marsden joins the cast, alongside returning stars Amanda Peet, Olivia Munn, Hoon Lee, Mark Tallman, Lena Hall, Aimee Carrero, Eunice Bae, Isabel Gravitt and Donovan Colan.
Best new shows – recent favourite
Deadloch Season 2 – 20 March (Prime Video)
Series. When Aussies Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan (The Katering Show) turned their hand to a dark parody of small town murder series, the result was a global hit – pulling off the rare feat of being both a quality parody and a solid example of the thing it was sending up. Forget Tassie Noir, Deadloch Season 2 is entering its Tropical Goth era in the Top End.
It’s been three years since we last hung out with the crime-fighting duo of Senior Sergeant Dulcie Collins (Kate Box) and Detective Eddie Redcliffe (Madeleine Sami). Now, they’ve left the chilly town of Deadloch for Eddie’s home turf of Barra Creek in the Northern Territory, where the duo seeks to uncover the truth about the death of her former police partner.
Sticky, sweaty and juggling comprehensive thrush infections, the detectives find themselves embroiled in a world of crocodile-fuelled tourism, overstretched Indigenous rangers, cagey locals and seven-metre-long prehistoric predators. As the humidity builds, and Eddie and Dulcie dig deeper, more questions arise – not only about the case, but the many secrets that lie beneath the surface of this small town. Sounds like hot stuff.
The first two episodes of Deadloch Season 2 premiere on 20 March, with new episodes released weekly, culminating in the season finale on 17 April. Watch the trailer.
