SBS On Demand curates new collections to keep Australia entertained while we’re keeping to ourselves
Now more than ever, Australians are turning to television for comfort and entertainment. With over 8,000 hours of content available, SBS On Demand has curated two new collections for Australians confined to their homes.
For audiences wanting a little reprieve from the chaos of the outside world, the Social Distancing Toolkit collection curates the best feel-good and light-hearted entertainment for your viewing pleasure. For those wanting to lean into the chaos, the Streaming Survival collection pulls together an array of apocalyptic film and television.
From comedies and science fiction thrillers to documentaries and horror films, wherever your interests lie, SBS On Demand has you covered.
Social Distancing Toolkit
New Girl seasons 1-7
Nominated for five Golden Globe Awards and five Primetime Emmy Awards and starring Zooey Deschanel, all seven seasons of comedy series New Girl are available to stream. After a bad break-up, Jess, an offbeat young woman, moves into an apartment loft with three single men. Together with Jess’ best friend, Cece, they form an unlikely, and dysfunctional, family. Also starring Jake Johnson, Max Greenfield, Lamorne Morris and Damon Wayans Jr.
Future Man season 1
The Hunger Games’ Josh Hutcherson stars as Josh Futterman, a janitor by day, gamer by night, who is recruited by mysterious visitors to travel through time in order to prevent the extinction of humanity at the hands of an imminent super-race invasion. Also starring Eliza Coupe, Derek Wilson and Haley Joel Osmont.
The X-Files seasons 1-11
Over its nine-year run from 1993 to 2002, science fiction drama The X-Files won five Golden Globe Awards and three Primetime Emmy Awards. Starring David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, all eleven series of the cult favourite are available to stream on the platform. Fox Mulder, an unconventional FBI agent, takes it upon himself to investigate a group of unsolved cases that he believes involve paranormal phenomena. To keep tabs on his work, the FBI teams him up with Dana Scully, a young, sceptical agent with a degree in medicine and a strong bias toward the scientific.
Shrill seasons 1-2
Praised by USA Today as an “unflinchingly authentic depiction of a fat woman in the modern world,” Shrill is from executive producers Lorne Michaels and Elizabeth Banks and based on the memoir by Lindy West. Aidy Bryant (Saturday Night Live) stars as a struggling young journalist determined to change her life without changing her body. While dealing with unreliable boyfriends, sick parents and a perfectionist boss she begins to understand that she’s just as good as everyone else.
You’re the Worst seasons 1-5
American comedy series You’re the Worst is a modern look at love and happiness, told through the eyes of two people who haven’t been very successful with either. It’s the story of Gretchen and Jimmy, fear, heartbreak, romance, sex, food, Los Angeles, Sunday Funday, friendship and the fact that sometimes the worst people make the best partners. Praised by Vulture as “one of the best if not the best of the anti-rom-com rom-coms”, You’re the Worst stars Chris Geere, Aya Cash, Desmin Borges and Kether Donohue.
Back to Life season 1
Produced by Harry and Jack Williams (Fleabag), British comedy series Back to Life follows Miri Matteson after she returns home from an 18-year stint behind bars. She must learn to integrate back into adult life in the claustrophobic town she once knew. Co-written by and starring Daisy Haggard.
Wellington Paranormal seasons 1-2
Created by Taika Waititi (Thor, JoJo Rabbit) and Jemaine Clement (What We Do In the Shadows), New Zealand mockumentary comedy series, Wellington Paranormal follows two members of the Wellington police – Sergeant Maaka and Officers Minogue and O’Leary – whose job is to investigate paranormal phenomena. The second season features a cameo from NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s husband Clarke Gayford.
Team Chocolate season 1
Winner of the Prix Europa for Best European TV Fiction Series in 2017, Team Chocolate is a Belgian romantic drama that follows one man’s journey across Europe to be reunited with the love of his life. Jasper Vloemans, a young man with Down Syndrome, falls in love with Tina Dubrani at the small Belgian chocolate factory where they both work. When Tina is deported to Kosovo, Jasper and his co-workers embark on a road trip to find her.
*In Flemish and Albanian with English subtitles
Cavendish season 1
Created by comedians Mark Little and Andrew Bush, Canadian sitcom Cavendish follows brothers Mark and Andy as they return home to Cavendish for the first time since childhood. They care for their ailing father who runs The Museum of the Strange and Fantastic, and quickly realise Cavendish is not like other towns – they soon become embroiled in creepy misadventures.
Gourmet Farmer seasons 1-4
Gourmet Farmer follows Australian farmer and chef Matthew Evans, former editor of the Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide, as he pursues a culinary and personal sea change in Tasmania. Five seasons later and Fairfax endorses the series, saying “It’s hard to think of anyone in Australia who’s done more consciousness-raising around food and food production than Matthew Evans. Gourmet Farmer started with the farm, not the television concept.”
These titles join an array of premium content also available in the collection, including seasons one-three of Danish drama Borgen, seasons one to four of Canadian comedy series Letterkenny, seasons one to four of comedy series The Last Man on Earth, season one and two of British drama series The A Word, seasons one to four of Canadian science fiction series Continuum, seasons one and two of US comedy-drama series The Orville, season one of documentary series Planet Expedition, and seasons one to three of Canadian science fiction series Dark Matter.
Streaming Survival Collection
The Last Man on Earth seasons 1-4
Created by and starring Will Forte (Saturday Night Live), The Last Man on Earth is a post-apocalyptic comedy series set in 2020 after a virus wipes out everyone in the world except one man. Average guy Phil Miller crosses the country in his RV searching for fellow survivors. While he tries to make the best of his situation by living a careless, carefree, hedonistic lifestyle, the lack of companionship – specifically the lack of female companionship – weighs on Phil until the loneliness becomes too much for him.
The Plague seasons 1-2
Created by Alberto Rodriguez (Smoke and Mirrors) and Rafael Cobos (La Isla Minima), Spanish historical drama series The Plague is set in 16th Century Seville during an outbreak of the bubonic plague. Mateo (Pablo Monlinero), a former heretic, must return to the city that sentenced him to death. Once there he is soon arrested, but the Holy Office offers Mateo a bargain for absolution: solve a spate of murders in the city and he will be pardoned. As the plague begins to consume the city, the walls are closed and the pressure of finding the murderer intensifies.
*In Spanish with English subtitles
Years and Years season 1
Starring Emma Thompson (Love Actually, Harry Potter), Years and Years follows an ordinary Manchester family and catapults them through the next 15 years. As the Britain of this imaginary drama is rocked by political, economic and technological advances, the family experiences everything hoped for in the future, and everything that is feared. Fairfax called it “a masterful comment on the human race on a fast train to some kind of hell,” and The Guardian called it “2019’s most terrifying TV show.”
Berlin Syndrome
Starring Australian actress Teresa Palmer (Warm Bodies, Hacksaw Ridge), Berlin Syndrome is a 2017 Australian-French psychological thriller nominated for seven AACTA Awards. Alone and adrift in Berlin, Australian photographer Clare meets charismatic local Andi, and there is an instant attraction between them. But what begins as a passionate romance takes a sinister turn when Clare wakes up one morning to discover Andi has locked her in his apartment, and he has no intention of letting her leave, ever.
Cabin Fever
Written by Eli Roth, 2016 American horror film Cabin Fever is a remake of Roth’s 2002 film of the same name. Starring Samuel Davis, Gage Golightly, Matthew Daddario, Nadine Crocker and Dustin Ingram, the film follows a group of five college graduates who rent a cabin in the woods and begin to fall victim to a horrifying flesh-eating virus, which attracts the unwanted attention of the homicidal locals.
Contagion
At 9:40pm on Sunday 29 March, SBS will premiere UK documentary Contagion. The outbreak of a deadly virus is a major threat to the UK. To predict the impact of the next pandemic more accurately, scientists need more data. Dr Hannah Fry is ‘Patient Zero’ in this experiment. The documentary will be available on SBS On Demand after broadcast.
These films and television series join a more extensive list of content available in this collection, including season one of German apocalyptic science fiction series 8 Days, season one of science fiction series Future Man, the special Pandemic episode of SBS News and Current affairs program Insight, comedy film April Apocalypse, Chinese action film Till the End of the World, Canadian thriller Into the Forest, Canadian-French horror film Antiviral, and Australian documentary film Jabbed: Love, Fear and Vaccines.
