You Won’t Find a Stronger Aussie Drama and Comedy Lineup for 2021 Than on the ABC

The ABC has revealed its slate of shows for 2021, including new dramas, comedies and the return of old favourites, like panel show Spicks and Specks, with its original lineup of Adam Hills, Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough.

The lineup of TV dramas includes Fires, inspired by the people who survived last year’s catastrophic bushfire season; Wakefield, a psychological mystery about the staff and patients of a psychiatric ward in the Blue Mountains, featuring Rudi Dharmalingam, Felicity Ward and Ryan Corr; ’80s newsroom drama The Newsreader, with Anna Torv and Sam Reid; and three returning series, Harrow, Jack Irish and political drama Total Control.

Comedies premiering on the ABC in 2021 include cheeky probate law series Fisk, with Kitty Flanagan and Julia Zemiro, Nakkiah Lui’s take on doomsday preppers, Preppers, Erik Thomson as a disgraced chef returning to his hometown in Aftertaste, millennial comedy Why Are You Like This? and iView exclusive All My Friends Are Racist. Frayed and Superwog are both also coming back for new seasons.

New factual shows joining the network include a yet-to-be-named series exploring Australian democracy, directed by Craig Reucassel and starring Christiaan van Vuuren; Women in Parliament, hosted by Annabel Crabb; and natural history series Back to Nature, with Aaron Pedersen and Holly Ringland. The International Emmy-winning Old People’s Home for 4-Year-Olds returns for another season, as well as Love on the Spectrum and more.

Documentaries will explore subjects like euthanasia, women’s liberation, women’s bodybuilding, designers Jenny Kee and Linda Jackson, and Indigenous dance company, Bangarra,, like Laura’s Choice, Brazen Hussies, Strong Women, Step Into Paradise and Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra. Other arts programs launching on the network — which will next year include a dedicated arts and documentary channel ABC TV Plus, rebranding from ABC Comedy — include Finding the Archibald with Rachel Griffiths; Justine Clarke’s deepdive into country music, Going Country; Tim Ross in Designing a Legacy; and a book show with Claudia Karvan.

Factual comedy shows like Gruen, Hard Quiz, Sammy J, Shaun Micallef’s Mad as Hell, The Weekly and Tomorrow Tonight are all scheduled to return, as well as live music series The Set. The cornerstone of the ABC, its hard news content, will expand in 2021, with Q+A moving to Thursday at primetime, and new seasons of Foreign Correspondent, The Drum, Australian Story, 7.30, Four Corners and more.

This is the Australian-focused lineup we needed from the national broadcaster.