Tag Archives: Australian Television

Population 11: Outback UFO Tours – TV Review

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TL;DR – This weird and wonderful first episode hooked me in to see what wild ride we are about to go on.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the STAN service that viewed this series

A tree in the outback at light.

Population 11 Review –

If there is one thing that Australia does very well, it is the mystery set in the Outback. Indeed, some of my earliest TV memories are of the wild and wonderful Jeopardy, which, if you are Australian or British of my age, you will know well. But in the world of Scrublands and Deadloch, we get a new entry today with Population 11.

So to set the scene, on a quiet night in the Outback surrounded by stars and termite mounds, a man stands alone, looking at a giant tree. That is, until a light appears from the heavens shining down on him, and while he runs, he is not quick enough. Sometime later, a strange American man from Cincinnati, Ohio, arrives in the town of Bidgeegud, which is so tiny that the pub and the church are in the same building. The man Andy (Ben Feldman) is here for the UFO tour led by Hugo (Darren Gilshenan), but maybe that is not the only reason he is there. Now from here, we will be looking at the episode as a whole, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.

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NCIS: Sydney – Blonde Ambition & Full Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – They may have saved the best for last with a banger of a season finale.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

The surf off Sydney.

Well, we have come to the end of the first season of NCIS: Sydney. It has been an odd season, with moments of highs and also a lot of frustrations. However, things started to coalesce towards the end, and I wondered if the show could stick the landing.   

So to set the scene, we open at a kids birthday party where a deeply bad clown is performing for the kids, but things turn sinister when the clown steals the birthday boy. Meanwhile, they have the secretive woman Anna (Georgina Haig) they captured in Bunker Down, who has been a thorn in everyone’s side since Gone Fission. The team is wondering why Anna feels so secure even though she is in handcuffs and locked to a desk when the call comes in that the child that was stolen was JD’s (Todd Lasance). We will be looking at the episode and season as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Bunker Down – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is the first episode where everything came together to make a profoundly entertaining episode.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge with Indegenous Flag flying.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

As we have gone through this first season, it has been interesting to see the strengths and weaknesses of bringing a media brand like NCIS and transporting it to Australia. On the whole, we have gotten a lot of fish-out-of-water comedy around Australian animals and locations around Sydney. However, we have yet to get an episode that worked entirely as a whole, well, that is until today.

So to set the scene, one day, a cleaner is doing her rounds at The Audley Hotel in Sydney. The Royle Suit is the first on her route, but as she goes to clean, she hears water running in the bathroom, then a trail of blood, and the body of a dead man, followed by a scream. The team is getting ready to go to a secret Gaiametric presentation after an invitation from the DoD. The only problem is the dead scientist also had an invitation that is now missing, and no one knows where the event is or how to contact Mackey (Olivia Swann), Cooper (Tuuli Narkle), and Blue (Mavournee Hazel) because mobile phones can’t reach down in the bunker. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Extraction– TV Review

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TL;DR – An incredibly contrived episode, but with some surprising moments of fun.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

While this season of NCIS Sydney has been chiefly okay so far, last week’s Doggieccino Day Afternoon was the first time I was very concerned that they might not be able to pull this off. Thus, it is with some trepidation that start this episode about gym-bros and the things they keep in their back rooms.

So to set the scene, we open as a dude (Michael Jupp) is skulking around taking photos of chemical labels when he gets spooked. He tried to play it cool as he walked through the gym to the outside world, but he got rumbled and had to run. A couple of hits by a car and a slide down a hill later, he had almost escaped onto a bus when he falls to the floor dead, and we discover that the dude has an American Naval jacket. But more than that, it might be that one of the team knows our John Doe. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Doggieccino Day Afternoon – TV Review

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TL;DR – A tale of two episodes, one fascinating, the other deeply frustrating.   

Rating: 2 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

A dog playground.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

Today, we look at a case study of what happens when you take an exciting idea and then weigh it down with unnecessary factors that end up taking away from the fascinating idea you had at the start.

So to set the scene, Doctor Roy Penrose (William McInnes) is at a dog café with his dog, of course, when a young girl, Louie (Josie Rawson), who is clearly bleeding, comes in. Even more concerning is the sounds of sirens that follow and the reveal that she has explosives strapped to her chest. If anyone goes through the door or cuts her feed, then the whole place goes boom. Oh, and to make things worse, there is a dead cop in the mix. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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NCIS: Sydney – Ghosted – TV Review

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TL;DR – Alas, it is a quite predictable affair that produces some oddly wooden performances.  

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

The Syndey Harbour at night.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

As we continue through the season, we are starting to hit the episodes where people have had time to feel their characters and how they should be played. Here, you get to see actors start defining who they are. Just that is not always a good thing.

So to set the scene, it is the spooky season, and what else would you do during that time but take a late-night ghost tour of The Rocks in Sydney. In full costume, of course. We learn about all sorts of awful things, like the bakery that used unholy meat. But no one suspected a new ghost to be made in front of them as a body flew out a window, like the defenestration of Prague. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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The Artful Dodger: The Yankee Dodge – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a bloody introduction to a beloved character that promises a lot, but I am not yet wholly convinced.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Disney+ service that viewed this series.

The Artful Dodger Review –

For people of my time, this odd little TV show ran for one season but still echoed through time. Punching above its weight. Escape of the Artful Dodger had such an odd impact that I was surprised no one had taken a second bite at the apple until today. Let us then go back to 1800s Australia, stuck on the opposite side of the world from all, but at the heart of our story.

So to set the scene, it is a typical day in colonial Port Victory in what will become Australia. Hangings are common, life is cheap, and power is everywhere. Dr Jack Dawkins (Thomas Brodie-Sangster) is one of the few local doctors around; even rarer, he is competent at his job. However, he does like to gamble with people like Darius Craksworth (Tim Minchin), who is not afraid to cheat. Being in the hole for £26 and about to lose a hand is almost the worst thing to happen to him, but then a Norbert Fagin (David Thewlis) arrives. He should be dead, but here he stands, and he also knows that Dr Jack Dawkins used to be The Artful Dodger and is still technically an escaped convict. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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NCIS: Sydney – Brother In Arms – TV Review

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TL;DR – There is nothing quite like a shark to ratchet up the tension in the water.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

Waves crashing into the rocks.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

If you ask someone about Australia, the first thing they will likely mention is the wildlife and how it wants to kill you all. In reality, as long as you take some sensible precautions, you’ll be fine in nearly every case, bar drop bears. Oh, and sharks, because they are apex predators for a reason.

So to set the scene, it is a beautiful day down at the Malabar Ocean Pool, that is, until the swimmers discover a shark has made it into the pool from the ocean, even more so when a bloody hand drops out of its mouth. But what happens when you have a missing Navy SEAL but you have no missing SEALs? We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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Scrublands: Season 1 – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a solid mystery that does not outstay its welcome. It hits hard at the start but does lose some energy throughout.  

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Stan service that viewed this series.

Warning – Contains scenes that may cause distress.

A road in the outback.

Scrublands Review –

If there is one setting that Australian literature loves to explore, it is a small town. They litter the continent, becoming part of a country’s tapestry, but can also be insular places full of secrets. This juxtaposition creates the tension that can be mined for drama, which we see today.  

So to set the scene, one Sunday morning, Father Byron Swift (Jay Ryan) was greeting his parishioners at the end of a service when he dips back into the church only to return with a rifle and murders five people in front of the screaming masses fleeing the carnage. One year later, journalist Martin Scarsden (Luke Arnold) arrives at Riverside to discover why a man of the cloth became a mass murderer. But no one in town is talking, are they just upset about the torture porn, or is there something more going on. We will be looking at the series as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead. 

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NCIS: Sydney – Gone Fission – TV Review

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TL;DR – This is a clunky yet interesting start to NCIS Down Under.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Disclosure – I paid for the Paramount+ service that viewed this series.

The Sydney Opera House.

NCIS: Sydney Review –

Growing up in my era, it felt like everyone and their dog watched JAG and NCIS at the start. Since then, we have run to Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Hawai’i, but where will they go next? Australia? Well, as an Australian media reviewer with an international relations degree, and who taught Australian politics, it is a perfect time to see how they pull this off.

So to set the scene, at Fleet Base East, Woolloomooloo, the USS Navajo is standing by as a presentation about Operation Talisman Sabre is given. It symbolises unity between Australia and the United States of America. But when everyone is distracted by a protestor, they miss a sailor in distress before he falls into the ocean. It is a public relations disaster, so the AFP and NCIS are forced to team up for the optics, and it is time for Michelle Mackey, NCIS Special Agent-in-Charge (Olivia Swann) and Jim “JD” Dempsey, AFP (Todd Lasance), to play nice. We will be looking at the episode as a whole from here, so there will be some [SPOILERS] ahead.    

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