Page Text: 14 Apr 2022 - 3:10pm
Top new series in April 2022
(L–R) ‘Black Sands’, ‘Four Lives’, ‘Question Team’, ‘Beforeigners season 2’. (SBS On Demand)Source: SBS On Demand
We welcome new drama, comedy and reality shows, a quiz show with a twist, and the return of favourite international series. April, we love you.
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Alone: The Beast
This spin-off from US survival series, Alone , puts three contestants together for 30 days in the remote wilderness. This time, a small crew films their team effort to survive with no tools or modern amenities – what they do have is a beast, literally. They’ll need to summon all their ingenuity and stamina to feed themselves and make it through the month together. This series is not for the faint-hearted and contains scenes of butchery.
In the wild with nothing but the clothes on your back: welcome to 'Alone: The Beast'
This American spin-off of 'Alone' just might be the toughest version yet.
Six-part series Alone: The Beast premieres at 8.30pm on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand on Tuesday 5 April. Double episodes air weekly. Stream it now at SBS On Demand .
Black Sands
From the creator of Trapped, this crime drama is set on the striking south coast of Iceland, famous for its black sand beaches. Young police detective Anita leaves Reykjavik to investigate the death of a tourist on the black sands. In what turns out to be her first case, she discovers a serial killer has been operating for years, disguising murders as accidents. Anita’s hometown is also here, and she has a few issues to face while in the area.
‘Black Sands’ reveals Iceland’s gothic beauty in mother-daughter drama
Iceland presents another strong contender in the Nordic Noir stable.
Black Sands premieres exclusively in Australia and is now streaming at SBS On Demand .
The Rope
A small scientific community working at an observatory deep in the Norwegian forest are thrilled – they’ve been given the go-ahead to complete critical research. But something interrupts their concentration, an abandoned rope that’s appeared at the edge of the forest. Six of them decide to follow it, allowing their curiosity to lead the way. Where does the rope end, or begin? This three-part supernatural thriller, while set in Norway, is French, and you’ll get hooked on finding out just where this is all going.
Who knows what lies at the end of ‘The Rope’?
A length of rope leads into the Norwegian woods. Where does it come from, and how far does it go?
The Rope premieres exclusively in Australia and is now streaming at SBS On Demand .
Question Team
Richard Ayoade, beloved Travel Man and weaver of rich word tapestries, is the ideal host for this panel show that’s flipped upside down. Instead of asking the questions, Ayoade asks the guests to write them. In each episode, three comedians must come up with a unique round of questions inspired by what they’re into, and have the answers ready for when the others play. If they don’t have proper answers, what goes down during their game is anyone’s guess.
‘Question Team’ brings a fresh twist on the comedy quiz show
The new 8-part series proves that if comics are allowed to make up their own quiz show, they are sure to have the last laugh.
Question Team premieres exclusively in Australia at SBS VICELAND at 8.30pm, Monday 11 April. Episodes stream at SBS On Demand after going to air.
Four Lives
In a role that will surprise and impress you, award-winning writer and stand-up comedian Stephen Merchant (The Office, The Outlaws) plays killer Stephen Port, a real-life murderer who was sentenced to life in prison in 2016, after police bungled the case from the start in 2014. Based on extensive research, interviews and published accounts of the harrowing crimes, this gripping drama looks at the devastating impact Port’s crimes had on the victims’ loved ones, whose dogged determination finally led to justice.
There’s a killer on the loose and the police are on trial in ‘Four Lives’
A serial killer is stalking London, and it’s left to the families of his victims to fight for justice.
Four Lives premieres exclusively in Australia at 9.30pm, Thursday 14 April on SBS. Episodes air weekly and stream at SBS On Demand from midnight on the day they go to air.
Kura
Kura is short for Papakura, a suburb in Auckland’s Southside. In season 1 of this comedy, we meet mates Billy-John and Hotene. Billy is desperate to leave his job at the local pools and escape the small town, so when his uncle Trev wants his stash of weed, Billy jumps at the chance to deliver it to him on the Gold Coast. In season 2, things heat up for Billy when Trev wants to know where his weed went. With his uncle pressuring him to make some bad choices and as his debts mount up, Billy ends up in deep water.
Kura started life as a web series and quickly became a TV hit in New Zealand. Its cast is proudly over 60% Maori and Pasifika, and we can’t wait to watch it.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll watch stoners get high: Kiwi comedy ‘Kura’ has it all
Two best mates spending their last week together before one smuggles a stash of weed into Australia – what could possibly go wrong?
Seasons 1 and 2 of Kura premiere exclusively in Australia and are now streaming at SBS On Demand .
Beforeigners
With season 1 ending on a cliffhanger, fans of Norway’s popular time-travelling crime drama Beforeigners, will be hoping to have their questions answered. How does the time hole work? What exactly do we know about Alfhildr’s past? If you haven’t watched it yet, people from various periods, including the Viking era, pop up mysteriously in modern-day Norway, and chaos ensues. It’s a wild ride you’ll be glad you jumped on. We cannot wait for the clarity (we hope!) and continuing intrigue of season 2.
‘Beforeigners’ asks, what if Jack the Ripper time travelled to today?
The stars and creatives of the Norwegian drama talk crime, comedy and social issues – and that cracking season 2 mystery.
Season 2 of Beforeigners premieres exclusively in Australia and is now streaming at SBS On Demand alongside season 1. Dive straight into season 2:
Or start from the beginning at season 1:
‘Bang’.
Source: Distributor
From BAFTA award-winning writer Roger Williams (Tir), this drama series from Wales, with Welsh and English languages, is the story of a brother, a sister and a gun. Siblings Sam and Gina’s father was murdered when they were children. Now, Gina is a police officer and Sam a criminal. Season 1 follows their family saga as the shooting of a local businessman is investigated; Sam was entrusted to look after a gun before the shooting. In season 2, Gina, now a detective sergeant, leads a manhunt for a serial killer who’s targeting a group of men connected with a sexual assault from the past.
Set in the steel town of Port Talbot in south Wales, this series has plenty to sink your teeth into. The show took out the BAFTA Cymru Award and the Celtic Media Festival Award for best drama series.
Seasons 1 and 2 of Bang premiere exclusively in Australia at SBS On Demand on Thursday 21 April.
Stella Blómkvist
Season 2 of this popular Icelandic legal thriller jumps two years on in our lawyer Stella’s life. She’s in a bad way, making destructive choices and maintaining her obsession with the Prime Minister; it doesn’t help that Dagbjört’s new legislation restricts her options as a newly pregnant woman. While fiercely defending her clients through her personal anger and frustration, she is headed towards a dramatic showdown with her arch nemesis. We’re so glad to have front-row seats.
Season 2 of Stella Blómkvist premieres exclusively in Australia at SBS On Demand from Thursday 21 April. Season 1 is now streaming for catch-up.
Bäckström
Our Swedish hot-shot detective, ‘Bulldozer’ Bäckström is back for another season of solving crimes better than anyone else in the world. Convinced of his own genius and not being one to follow the rules or get stuck in the mire of red tape, Bäckström is adored and despised in equal measure. Whatever you think of him, there’s no denying he gets the job done. Based on Leif GW Persson’s novel, Can You Die Twice? we happen to love him.
Season 2 of Bäckström premieres exclusively in Australia at SBS On Demand on Thursday 21 April. Season 1 is now streaming for catch-up.
‘Pray, Obey, Kill’.
Source: Distributor
This true crime series follows the Knutby murder, which shook Sweden in January 2004. A woman confessed to the murder, claiming her acts were directed by text messages from God. The sect to which she belonged was only closed last year. Journalists Anton and Martin investigate the grisly details. With some members of the sect only convicted for abuse this year, was the 2004 murder just the tip of the iceberg?
Pray, Obey, Kill premieres exclusively in Australia at SBS On Demand on Thursday 21 April.
La Jauria
Detectives Olivia Fernandéz (Antonia Zegers) and Elise Murillo (Daniela Vega, A Fantastic Woman)are back, continuing to hunt la jauria – the pack – an extreme online group who target women and girls. Their gender crime unit travels to Chile’s central coast following the murder of a young backpacker and the disappearance of her two friends, leading them to realise the pack’s tentacles reach far outside Santiago, operating within a nationwide trafficking network and designer drug ring, stirring up the prominent protectors of the aggressors.
This chewy timely drama from Oscar-winning producers, brothers, Pablo and Juan de Dios Larraín (A Fantastic Woman) is one of Variety’s 15 Best International series 2020.
Season 2 of La Jauria premieres exclusively in Australia at SBS On Demand on Thursday 28 April. Season 1 is now streaming for catch-up.