What to Watch: Mix Tape, Ocean With David Attenborough, Play School, Fubar and The Inspired Unemployed
In recent years Binge has given us some ripper series, including The Twelve, Love Me and Colin From Accounts. Now they're blessing us with this great four-part drama, based on the acclaimed novel by Jane Sanderson.
Told through dual timelines, it charts the teen love story of school friends Alison and Daniel (Florence Hunt and Rory Walton-Smith), living in Sheffield, England, in 1989, who fall in love and exchange mix tapes, which provide the musical backdrop to this beautifully realised series.
Alison and Daniel's story picks up again in 2015, and by this stage the pair (now played by Teresa Palmer and Jim Sturgess) are long estranged, and living very different lives to their teen selves. Daniel is a music critic, still living in his hometown, and Alison is on the other side of the world in Sydney, the wife of an accomplished surgeon (played by Ben Lawson) — neither is wholly satisfied with where they've landed.
They reconnect again, once more through music, and their stories pick up where they left off. But there's been a whole life lived between the stories, and the series asks whether lost love can ever really be reclaimed, and whether 'the road not taken' really is the better one.
This is beautifully shot, with a great script and superb performances, especially from Bridgerton's Hunt and newcomer Walton-Smith, who infuse their portrayals with just the right amount of teen intensity and crackling tension.
I adored this sweetly nostalgic series. You won't want to miss it.
'If we save the sea, we save our world,' says David Attenborough in the trailer for his latest landmark documentary special, which highlights the importance of the world's vast oceans and the part we all have to play in ensuring they remain healthy and viable. It's a marvel that Attenborough, now aged 99, is still involving himself with these types of programs. How blessed we are to still be hearing his voice. A cinematic journey into the deep.
This one's for all of you with teen boys at home: chances are they'll be tuning in to the new season, which sees the four mates up to their old tricks, thriving in the chaos they create through their attempts to one-up each other in the embarrassment stakes. Real talk: this show is not for everyone, but if you like puerile humour and rapscallion hijinks (see also: teenage boys), then you're in the right place. Not for the faint of heart.
There's something so wholesome about Play School — I miss the time I spent watching it daily with my little one. This week sees the start of a new spin-off, this one all about 'the beauty and diversity of Australia'. Different places are explored through the premise that regular presenter Teo is off having adventures, posting back parcels and videos showcasing where he's been. For curious little minds.
He promised us he'd be back, and Arnold Schwarzenegger is nothing if not a man of his word. He's returning for another season of his surprisingly funny comedy, which has him star as an ageing CIA operative who realises his daughter, played by Monica Barbaro, is also working for his organisation. For years they've both been living double lives, unaware of each other's professions — great premise, no? This season they're joined by The Matrix's Carrie-Anne Moss. Count us in!
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Sydney Morning Herald
a day ago
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‘It was really liberating': Bump's teen mum is all grown up in courtroom drama
Just as Nathalie Morris was preparing to shed the skin of the character that made her a star – teenage mum Oly, from Claudia Karvan and Kelsey Munro 's Stan* family saga Bump, which ended last year after five seasons – a gift from the anti-typecasting gods arrived. As charismatic clubber Jazmyn Tanner, part of the ensemble of jurors in the third season of The Twelve, the Australian adaptation of Belgian courtroom drama De twaalf, Morris' metamorphosis is complete. Physically, she is unrecognisable, the familiar honey blonde swish and furrowed brow replaced by burgundy choppy layers and a wicked smirk. Morris relished Jazmyn's storyline that delves into the darkness of fast and intense female friendships, in parallel with a fictitious 1968 double-murder cold case. 'It was really liberating,' Morris says. 'I love Oly, and I think that she's a very complicated and three-dimensional character, but she's become like second skin. Sometimes I feel like I'm not acting any more. I always joke with Claudia, 'Are we doing our job, or are we just being ourselves at this point?' So it was really great to step into a character that did feel like I was exercising some muscles. It was a very creative experience.' Loading The 28-year-old actor, who in 2023 was named as an international rising star by the Casting Guild of Australia, joins a stellar cast that includes Sam Neill, reprising his role as defence lawyer Brett Colby, Danielle Cormack as the prosecutor, William Zappa as the accused, Sarah Peirse as his wife, and Eryn Jean Norvill as a recently slain true-crime author. Among the actors playing jury members are Ewen Leslie, Paul Tassone, Phoenix Raei and Bessie Holland. 'There were really great, funny, intelligent cast members in that jury,' Morris says. 'And we spent so much time together – all of those court days. Every witness was essentially two days' filming. So if you count the number of witnesses in the show, we were in that courtroom for a month, just sitting there together, observing.' Just like a real jury, the actors were left to crime-solve by themselves, only finding out the identity of the killer as close as possible to filming. Having never done jury duty in real life, Morris says she would one day 'love to', though she does not indulge in the popular fascination with true crime. She didn't even follow closely the recent headline-grabbing Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial. 'I'm a very sensitive person and I get quite disheartened with the media portrayal of people and the sensationalised drama of it all,' Morris says. 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I've definitely had people come into my life that I've really admired and been drawn to and felt like I wanted to latch on to for some sort of personal transformation. And I think I've been that for other people at different times.' Having taken the unusual step for an aspiring Australian actor and undergone training in New Zealand, at acclaimed Wellington drama school Toi Whakaari and then getting her start on iconic Kiwi soap Shortland Street, Morris was right at home with The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer' s Kiwi cast (Neill, Peirse, Cormack). 'I loved my time at Toi, and I think that New Zealand is a really creative place, like Tasmania,' she says. 'Smaller places end up being so much more innovative because they have less money, but so much heart. I'm seeing more and more New Zealanders across a lot of different casts. Even on Bump we had Arlo Green. I think that New Zealanders are very grounded and there's a connection to culture there that is a little bit stronger than in Australia.' Loading Having experienced the buzz of the writers' room when she penned an episode of Bump (the series has just wrapped its apparently final incarnation, a Christmas movie), Morris is keen to explore a holistically creative path in the industry. 'I've had a really good role model in Claudia [Karvan], in terms of how she works,' Morris says. 'Her heart and her mind are very much in the right place. In this industry, especially when you're so young, it's such a big world, and you come out of school, and you really have no idea … I've learnt the things that I want to prioritise, and the way I want to engage with writers and directors, and how I want to work because Bump was such a collaborative show. I like to be involved in that storytelling process. It really is where my interest lies.' She hopes one day to collaborate with her partner, Safe Home director Stevie Cruz-Martin, who, before the couple met, directed two episodes of the second local season of The Twelve. 'Stevie's on her path at the moment, and I'm on mine, and one day we will definitely do something together. She's such a phenomenal director that I would be honoured to be directed by her. I would definitely one day love to work with her, and I think she feels the same way.'
The Age
a day ago
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Just as Nathalie Morris was preparing to shed the skin of the character that made her a star – teenage mum Oly, from Claudia Karvan and Kelsey Munro 's Stan* family saga Bump, which ended last year after five seasons – a gift from the anti-typecasting gods arrived. As charismatic clubber Jazmyn Tanner, part of the ensemble of jurors in the third season of The Twelve, the Australian adaptation of Belgian courtroom drama De twaalf, Morris' metamorphosis is complete. Physically, she is unrecognisable, the familiar honey blonde swish and furrowed brow replaced by burgundy choppy layers and a wicked smirk. Morris relished Jazmyn's storyline that delves into the darkness of fast and intense female friendships, in parallel with a fictitious 1968 double-murder cold case. 'It was really liberating,' Morris says. 'I love Oly, and I think that she's a very complicated and three-dimensional character, but she's become like second skin. Sometimes I feel like I'm not acting any more. I always joke with Claudia, 'Are we doing our job, or are we just being ourselves at this point?' So it was really great to step into a character that did feel like I was exercising some muscles. It was a very creative experience.' Loading The 28-year-old actor, who in 2023 was named as an international rising star by the Casting Guild of Australia, joins a stellar cast that includes Sam Neill, reprising his role as defence lawyer Brett Colby, Danielle Cormack as the prosecutor, William Zappa as the accused, Sarah Peirse as his wife, and Eryn Jean Norvill as a recently slain true-crime author. Among the actors playing jury members are Ewen Leslie, Paul Tassone, Phoenix Raei and Bessie Holland. 'There were really great, funny, intelligent cast members in that jury,' Morris says. 'And we spent so much time together – all of those court days. Every witness was essentially two days' filming. So if you count the number of witnesses in the show, we were in that courtroom for a month, just sitting there together, observing.' Just like a real jury, the actors were left to crime-solve by themselves, only finding out the identity of the killer as close as possible to filming. Having never done jury duty in real life, Morris says she would one day 'love to', though she does not indulge in the popular fascination with true crime. She didn't even follow closely the recent headline-grabbing Erin Patterson mushroom murder trial. 'I'm a very sensitive person and I get quite disheartened with the media portrayal of people and the sensationalised drama of it all,' Morris says. 'But I do find it fascinating that a group of people that are randomly selected have to decide on the fate of a person or of a case … It's such an incredible idea for a show [such as The Twelve ] to centre around these people that have to come together with all of their different existing prejudices and backgrounds and hash things out. It's such an interesting way into understanding the society that we live in.' Loading With New Zealand actress Hanah Tayeb, who plays more reserved jury member Gretel, with whom Jazmyn quickly forms a destructive bond, Morris enjoyed 'unpacking' their characters' intense relationship. 'I got invested in that dynamic between Gretel and Jazmyn,' she says. 'What we're exploring between with them as friends is narcissistic personality traits … In the rehearsal process, we were all sharing about different relationships that we've had or observed, and different versions of Jazmyn that we've all had in our lives, or versions of Gretel. I've definitely had people come into my life that I've really admired and been drawn to and felt like I wanted to latch on to for some sort of personal transformation. And I think I've been that for other people at different times.' Having taken the unusual step for an aspiring Australian actor and undergone training in New Zealand, at acclaimed Wellington drama school Toi Whakaari and then getting her start on iconic Kiwi soap Shortland Street, Morris was right at home with The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer' s Kiwi cast (Neill, Peirse, Cormack). 'I loved my time at Toi, and I think that New Zealand is a really creative place, like Tasmania,' she says. 'Smaller places end up being so much more innovative because they have less money, but so much heart. I'm seeing more and more New Zealanders across a lot of different casts. Even on Bump we had Arlo Green. I think that New Zealanders are very grounded and there's a connection to culture there that is a little bit stronger than in Australia.' Loading Having experienced the buzz of the writers' room when she penned an episode of Bump (the series has just wrapped its apparently final incarnation, a Christmas movie), Morris is keen to explore a holistically creative path in the industry. 'I've had a really good role model in Claudia [Karvan], in terms of how she works,' Morris says. 'Her heart and her mind are very much in the right place. In this industry, especially when you're so young, it's such a big world, and you come out of school, and you really have no idea … I've learnt the things that I want to prioritise, and the way I want to engage with writers and directors, and how I want to work because Bump was such a collaborative show. I like to be involved in that storytelling process. It really is where my interest lies.' She hopes one day to collaborate with her partner, Safe Home director Stevie Cruz-Martin, who, before the couple met, directed two episodes of the second local season of The Twelve. 'Stevie's on her path at the moment, and I'm on mine, and one day we will definitely do something together. She's such a phenomenal director that I would be honoured to be directed by her. I would definitely one day love to work with her, and I think she feels the same way.'
