What to watch on ABC iview – quick links
ABC iview: new this week
Australian Story: The Westall UFO Mystery – 6 April
On April 6, 1966, a Melbourne school was thrown into chaos when strange objects appeared in the sky. It remains the largest mass UFO sighting in Australian history, witnessed by more than a hundred students in broad daylight.
Sixty years later, through the eyes of the now-adult witnesses, Australian Story examines the enduring impact of that day and the efforts to make sense of it that followed.
‘It was large, easily visible, circular, silver and clearly under some form of control,’ says retired school principal Ken Stallard, who was 15 at the time.
Foreign Correspondent: The Mamdani Effect – 7 April
When a young Muslim Asian American who proudly called himself a democratic socialist was elected Mayor of New York City, the world took notice. Zohran Mamdani has quickly become America’s newest political star.
In the richest city in the country, where an affordability crisis is now impacting the middle class, his message of tax increases for the rich, rent freezes and free childcare have been embraced by a city that had had enough.
Caper Crew – 10 April
Amelia and Kai Delaney’s quiet lives are upended when their con-artist grandmother Queenie teaches them the art of the grift – sparking their hunt for the priceless Woodspring Nug.
Secrets At Red Rocks – 10 April
Twelve-year-old Jake is drawn into a world of mythical creatures and adventure when he finds a sealskin hidden on the rocky shores of his father’s seaside home in Wellington, New Zealand. Can he protect his family from the danger he’s unleashed?
Wild Isles With David Attenborough – 12 April
Series. David Attenborough explores Britain’s mountain, woodland, grassland, freshwater and ocean habitats to reveal globally important wildlife and places, as spectacular as any he has seen in the world.
ABC iview: recently added
Australian Story: The Leyland Brother – Mal Leyland – 30 March
TV legend Mal Leyland is preparing for his final outback trip. Aged 81 and suffering from moderate dementia, the co-star of the long-running Ask the Leyland Brothers series will host a convoy of four-wheel drive enthusiasts on a journey from the west to east coasts of Australia.
The month-long trek will commemorate the 60th anniversary of Mal and Mike Leyland’s groundbreaking continental crossing of Australia in 1966 and raise money for a planned Mal Leyland museum in Cairns.
‘Having dementia is interesting because it depends a little bit on what it affects,’ Mal tells Australian Story.
‘If you’ve got a good memory of the good things in life, the good things are far more important.’
At the peak of their popularity in the 1960s and 1970s, the Leyland Brothers’ travel documentaries were among the top-rating programs on Australian television. They’re often credited with sparking the boom in camping and four-wheel driving, with the phrase ‘doing a Leyland Brothers’ becoming shorthand for an extended outback holiday.
But the brothers fell out when a shared business venture went bust, and their relationship never fully recovered.
Mal was diagnosed with dementia two years ago and is being cared for by his only daughter, Carmen.
‘The hardest thing has been watching this man that I idolised my whole life, slowly disappear in front of my eyes,’ she tells Australian Story.
Four Corners: Campus Chaos – 30 March
Australian universities are in turmoil. Deep cuts to jobs and courses are triggering fury on campuses across the country.
This week on Four Corners, reporter Steve Cannane investigates how years of shrinking public funding, rising debt and increasingly corporate decision making have pushed some of the nation’s most important public institutions to breaking point.
Campus Chaos reveals the scale of spending on outside consultants and asks what that means for transparency, accountability and the future of higher education.
The Piano Season 2 – 15 March
Series. Eighty-eight keys. Infinite voices. One magical instrument that speaks straight to the heart. Hosted by Amanda Keller, the six-part series The Piano returns, celebrating the extraordinary power of the piano to unlock stories from everyday Australians with remarkable musical gifts.
Can You Keep a Secret? – 15 March
Series. Dawn French plays domineering granny Debbie Fendon, a woman who will stop at nothing to protect her family – it’s just the person they most need protecting from is her. And when her hermit-like husband, William (Mark Heap), unexpectedly dies, she makes an outlandish decision that will put the family under more pressure than ever before.
Frauds – 15 March
Series. Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker star as confident tricksters whose toxic yet darkly funny friendship is rekindled in order to pull off the art heist of the century.
Set against the epic rolling hills of southern Spain and the dark criminal underbelly that casts a shadow over the glistening coast, Frauds is a complex and addictive story of friendship, deception and survival.
