Australia’s SBS Reveals New Programming Highlights

October 30, 2013 World Screen Top Stories

MELBOURNE: There is a raft of new factual, entertainment and drama programming coming to Australia's SBS in its 2014 season, including the provocative Shine Australia series Living with the Enemy.

Living with the Enemy puts two people with very different points of view into each other's lives. The show is a new factual highlight for SBS for 2014, along with Australia's Secret Heroes, which charts the journey of a secretive WWII Special Forces unit; The Great Australian Race Riot, which looks at the country's history of racism and reconciliation; and What's the Catch?, led by Matthew Evans and spotlighting Australia's seafood. Returning factual programs include Once Upon a Time in a Punchbowl, Once Upon a Time in Carlton and Who Do You Think You Are?

SBS has new drama acquisitions coming in 2014, including Rectify. The Danish dramas The Bridge and Borgen return to SBS. Vikings will be back with a second season, followed by the recently renewed second season of Masters of Sex. Sunday nights will feature a World War II season of programming with three new dramas: Generation War, a German mini-series; Spies of Warsaw, starring David Tennant and Janet Montgomery; and Restless.

As for entertainment highlights, Australia's much-loved musical quiz show RocKwiz will be back in 2014 with an expanded season of 14 episodes.

Thursday nights have become a popular destination for food programming for SBS. This will include Gourmet Farmer Afloat, exploring the food and culture of yesteryear; Luke Nguyen's France, as the chef returns with a brand-new series; Mexican Fiesta with Peter Kuruvita, exploring Mexican cuisine; and Shane Delia's Spice Journey Turkey, which sees Delia back for the second stage of his odyssey through the Middle East.

Tony Iffland, the director of TV at SBS, said: “SBS's depth and quality of programming is bigger and better than ever before as we head into the coming year, with commissioned Australian content up 33 percent in 2013-2014.

“The year ahead sees SBS building reputable brands such as Once Upon a Time and Who Do You Think You Are? and introducing new commissioned documentaries that will continue to provoke debate and push boundaries across a range of topics.

“We're expanding our already incredibly popular food offering with five new commissions for the coming year and layering our schedule with the best in international drama and factual acquisitions."

He added, “SBS has a strong reputation of delivering ground breaking, thought-provoking, original content and 2014 solidifies our aim to provide a schedule with consistency, easier navigation and extraordinary depth of programming.”