Contemporary tales of love and lust will round out a trio of drama titles for SBS in 2023, with anthology Erotic Stories added to the broadcaster’s upcoming slate alongside revisionist historical dramedy While the Men are Away and thriller series Safe Home.
Produced by Lingo Pictures and supported by Screen Australia, each episode of the 8 x 30-minute series explores desire from a different character’s perspective and spotlights diverse experiences of sex and intimacy across age, sexuality, race, gender and disability.
Penning the stories are Niki Aken, Tamara Asmar, Alistair Baldwin, Christine Bartlett, Glace Chase, Marieke Hardy, Sara Khan, and Sarah Walker.
Helen Bowden and Liam Heyen are producing, with Jason Stephens executive producing, and ITV handling international sales.
It forms part of what the network is boasting as its biggest ever local commissioned program offering, including a large line up documentaries featuring talent such as Julia Zemiro, Jess Hill, Noni Hazlehurst, Barry Humphries, Rhonda Birchmore, Derryn Hinch, John Safran, Adam Liaw and Cal Wilson.
Speaking about the new programming in Sydney on Wednesday, SBS managing director James Taylor said contemporary Australia shone through the broadcaster’s “stories and storytellers”.
“The Australia you see when you walk out your door each morning is what you see
in everything we do at SBS,” he said.
“Our content offer is an open invitation to all Australians to feel a sense of belonging
and over the year ahead, we’ll deliver more original local content across our network than ever before.”
1940s rural Australia is the focus of Arcadia’s While The Men Are Away.
First announced by Screen Australia in August, the 8 x 30 drama follows two Women’s Land Army recruits from Sydney who arrive in a fictional country town called Bush and undergo a heady course in race relations, rural politics, spirituality, sex, personal growth, and farming.
Alexandra Burke created the series alongside Monica Zanetti and Kim Wilson, both of whom are writers with Jada Alberts, Magda Wozniak, Enoch Mailangi and Sam Icklow.
The series is being financed with support from Screen NSW, with Red Arrow Studios International managing international sales.
In coming up with the idea, Burke told IF she was interested in how “the dark cloud of war” touched everyone’s lives, while at the same time instilling an “impetus on people to seize the moment”.
“With men going away, social conditions are put on hold, such as marriage,” she said.
“We use that idea that if the door is opened just a little bit, then groups such as queer women who probably weren’t able to voice or physically explore things could see that like-minded people were drawn to things such as the Women’s Land Army, which were on offer during this period.”
The country’s history is also at the centre of Who the Bloody Hell Are We?, a satirical docuseries presented by John Safran, Cal Wilson, and Adam Liaw that examines Australia’s multicultural roots.
Other factual explorations set to be undertaken by the broadcaster across the next 12 months include Mint Pictures’ Great Australian Walks, in which host Julia Zemiro will delve into history, geography, science, travel, and culture, all while on foot; BBC Studios ANZ’s The Matchmakers, a series that offers insight into the private world of old traditions, religion, family values and culture through matchmaking; Chemical Media’s The Big School Swap, a social experiment consisting of students from Australia’s biggest Islamic school embarking on a school swap with students from mainstream high schools to bridge cross-cultural divides; and ITV Studios Australia’s behind-the-scenes docuseries Inside Sydney Airport (working title).
Returning to SBS in 2023 is Who Do You Think You Are?, the 14th season of which will feature Barry Humphries, Rhonda Burchmore, and Derryn Hinch; Every Family Has a Secret (season four) with Noni Hazlehurst, and documentary strand Australia Uncovered.
There will also be Jess Hill and Northern Pictures’ follow-up to the 2021 miniseries See What You Made Me Do, Asking For It, as well as a local version of the global survivor format, Alone, and previously announced digital originals, Night Bloomers and Appetite.
For NITV, which celebrates its tenth anniversary of being free-to-air on SBS in December, the milestones will continue into 2023, with Indigenous current affairs program, Living Black, presented by Karla Grant, celebrating its 20th year on air.
It will be joined by Pink Pepper and Periscope Pictures six-part documentary series Our Law, and the returning Going Places with Ernie Dingo, with the host to be joined by actor Aaron Fa’aoso, journalist Rae Johnston, Network 10 television presenter Narelda Jacobs, and entrepreneur and presenter Bianca Hunt.
SBS director of Indigenous content Tanya Denning-Orman said the network would celebrate culture, connect to Country, and “champion the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities from across the continent” in 2023.
“What a line-up of First Nations programming we have coming up in 2023,” she said.
“Whatever platform you use to come to SBS, you’ll find more stories from the world’s greatest storytellers that will inspire and instill pride in all Australians.”
As part of its slate reveal, SBS announced it would serve up another two seasons of The Cook Up with Adam Liaw, with the host also set to be reunited with his Masterchef counterpart Poh Ling Yeow for Adam and Poh’s Great Australian Bites. Other food titles for the broadcaster include Paradise Kitchen Bali, Khanh Ong’s Wild Food, and Luke Nguyen’s Indian Insights.
Elsewhere in its lifestyle line up are returning titles Celebrity Letters & Numbers with host Michael Hing, wordsmith David Astle and expert mathematician Lily Serna, and quiz show Mastermind with Marc Fennell.
Among the biggest changes announced for 2023 was in relation to SBS Radio, which will usher in a new multi-platform focus as SBS Audio, housing multi-lingual services as well as a range of podcasts.