ABC 2027 Upfront: new dramas, documentaries and returning favourites revealed – The ABC has unveiled a substantial 2027 line-up across ABC TV, ABC iview, ABC NEWS, ABC Kids and ABC listen. Six new scripted dramas lead the television announcements, alongside Australian documentaries, children’s series, returning entertainment and new audio projects.
For viewers, this is a year-ahead slate rather than a dated programme guide. The ABC has named the shows and given detailed stories for many of them, but has not announced individual 2027 premiere dates or weekly timeslots for most titles. TV Central’s guide below separates what is new from what is returning and covers the screen, news and audio plans in one place.
The strongest new scripted thread is crime with a distinctly Australian setting. It spans a Queensland corruption-era cold case, regional policing, Western Australian Indigenous private investigators and a political conspiracy. Meanwhile, the factual slate ranges from the 1998 waterfront dispute and cricket’s 1977 turning point to First Nations heritage, religion, wildlife and Australia’s relationship with the United States.
ABC managing director Hugh Marks described the slate as an expression of the broadcaster’s role across screen, news and audio.
“Our 2027 slate shows what that means across everything we make, from Screen to News to Audio.”
Hugh Marks, ABC Managing Director
Six new ABC dramas for 2027
Fortitude Valley
Fortitude Valley stars Hunter Page-Lochard as Detective Ethan Tobane, a rising Queensland police officer who has long revered his detective father Terry. Human remains found beneath the foundations of a demolished government building send Ethan into a cold case from the corruption-riddled 1980s. The investigation raises disturbing questions about his father’s reputation and connects him with Heather Briggs (Kat Stewart), an ex-con whose sister vanished in that era. Rupert Everett plays property magnate James Demming, whose company constructed the building; Nathalie Morris is also in the cast.
Moving Floor Entertainment produces the series for the ABC. Stephen M Irwin, Leigh McGrath and Page-Lochard are among its writers, with Sian Davies directing. In particular, its Brisbane setting and the personal cost of revisiting Queensland’s political past distinguish it from a conventional cold-case procedural.
The Great White
Hugo Weaving plays Alan Armstrong in The Great White. The brilliant barrister’s misconduct results in a year-long supervision order and a move to a struggling Sydney law office. Then a dangerous-dog case opens the door to animal law, eventually leading to a Supreme Court challenge to free a zoo elephant. The legal drama comes from See-Saw Films, with Ange Betzien creating the series. Its ensemble includes Eamon Farren, Sacha Horler, Miranda Otto and Emily Barclay.
Rural Crime Unit
Rebecca Gibney, Morgana O’Reilly and Philip Lynch headline Rural Crime Unit. The series pairs a seasoned local officer with a city transplant. In their small town, missing livestock, crop circles and industrial theft sit alongside a decade-old tragedy. The ABC describes it as a buddy-cop drama with regional humour and a longer mystery beneath the weekly cases. Darren Ashton and Adam Zwar created it; Northern Pictures produces.
Pilli Sisters P.I., Help Me! and John Bailey
Tasma Walton and Ursula Yovich play Marlee and May in Pilli Sisters P.I., Indigenous private investigators in Western Australia. Their sharp perception and instincts make them an effective team. Yet a case close to home has eluded them for a decade: the disappearance of their younger brother Michael. New leads emerge as the anniversary approaches. Walton created and co-wrote the series with Kodie Bedford; Beck Cole and Jub Clerc direct.
In the darkly comic thriller Help Me!, Kate Box and Sarah Peirse play estranged daughter Katherine and mother Barb. Katherine returns to Sydney after her career in New York implodes. Then a frightened stranger slips them a plea for help at a café. Their search leads to an enterprise targeting isolated, wealthy women. Sarah Lambert created the Lantern Pictures and Fremantle production; the cast also includes Tilda Cobham-Hervey and Jai Courtney.
Tim Ayliffe’s novel becomes John Bailey – The Enemy Within. David Lyons plays journalist Bailey opposite David Harewood as CIA agent Ronnie Johnson. A reporting assignment exposes a conspiracy reaching from online extremism into government and finance. Yael Stone and Anthony LaPaglia also star. Blake Ayshford adapted the novel for television, with Lucy Gaffy and Shawn Seet directing the CJZ production.
Fisk, Return to Paradise and more returning drama
Kitty Flanagan returns as Helen Tudor-Fisk for a fourth season of Fisk. Return to Paradise is also back for season four. Meanwhile, the Logie-winning Dog Park, starring Leon Ford and Celia Pacquola, has a second season. Sam Pang’s comedy Ground Up also returns for a second run about the creation of Tasmania’s AFL team.
Entertainment, comedy, music and national events
The familiar entertainment line-up continues with Tom Gleeson’s Hard Quiz, Guy Montgomery’s Guy Mont Spelling Bee, Spicks & Specks, The Weekly with Charlie Pickering and Gruen. Second seasons are planned for Urzila and Tonight at the Museum. Jessica Mauboy returns to host That Blackfella Show, the ABC’s First Nations variety programme.
Race Around the World returns with Zan Rowe and John Safran sending another group of young Australian creators overseas. Meanwhile, You Can’t Ask That is back for the first time in four years. Once again, it puts candid questions to people whose experiences are often reduced to assumptions.
The Piano reaches a third season. Tim Freedman joins Andrea Lam as a mentor, with Amanda Keller hosting. Likewise, Portrait Artist of the Year enters season three with Miranda Tapsell and Luke McGregor. Returning arts and music strands include Take 5 with Zan Rowe and Front Row with Megan Burslem. The ABC Classic 100 Concert and triple j’s Live at the Wireless also return. Meanwhile, the late-night music institution rage marks its 40th birthday.
The ABC’s live-events calendar includes the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, New Year’s Eve, the Australian of the Year Awards, Australia Day Live and ANZAC Day coverage.
Documentaries: crime, Australian history, wildlife and community
Investigations and social issues
Pray Harder is a three-part investigation by journalist Richard Baker into coercive control and abuse in Australian cults. The series examines the death of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs. Members of her Toowoomba religious sect had refused her insulin in favour of prayer. Her sister Jayde and other survivors contribute. Shauna Keogh directs the BBC Studios Productions Australia series, which builds on Baker’s earlier podcast investigation.
Mark of a Murderer follows journalist and now parliamentarian Colleen Egan as she revisits murders near Fremantle, wrongful conviction and a suspected serial killer. Filmed over 25 years, it traces Egan’s work on the Andrew Mallard case and a later investigation reaching the United Kingdom. Artemis Media makes the series in association with Channel 4.
Feature documentary Silenced examines the use of defamation law against women who speak about gendered violence. Human rights lawyer Jennifer Robinson guides a story with access to Brittany Higgins, journalist Catalina Ruiz-Navarro and actor Amber Heard. Selina Miles wrote and directed it. Kumarangk: Sacred Women’s Business, written and directed by Tracey Rigney, revisits the Ngarrindjeri women’s battle over the proposed bridge to Hindmarsh Island and the protection of a sacred site.
Australian history and the regions
Mutiny on the Boundary uses the 1977 Australia–England Centenary Test to revisit players’ frustration with cricket’s establishment. It also traces the upheaval that led toward professional cricket. The two-part documentary comes from Jam TV. Separately, Battle on the Waterfront revisits the 1998 Patrick Stevedores dispute. Participants on all sides recount sackings, picket lines, court battles and boardroom negotiations. Former prime minister John Howard, Patrick chief Chris Corrigan and union leader Greg Combet are among those interviewed in the three-part Ronde production.
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The King in Australia explores King Charles III’s relationship with the country through archive footage and commentary, spanning 17 visits from 1966 onward. Wild Wild Whips follows rival families and competitors around the National Whip Cracking Championships. Rodeo Dreams follows four young bull-riders, including Peter Jnr, Camicka, Donovan and Darcy, toward the Mount Isa Mines Rodeo. Filmed over three years, it also examines the sport’s role in outback communities.
Nature, science and an intergenerational experiment
Kingdom of the Crocodile tracks crocodiles, wallabies and sea eagles through a year around a river ruled by Stumpy, a large saltwater crocodile. By contrast, Terra Futura uses science, CGI and natural-history footage to imagine Earth 3.8 billion years from now. Thus, the ABC’s wildlife offering pairs a close observational story with a speculative journey grounded in evolutionary biology and geology.
Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds and Family adds parents to the established intergenerational experiment. Ten seniors and ten four-year-olds take part in an eight-week programme, while their parents join the study of connection, wellbeing and family pressures. Professor Susan Kurrle, Dr Stephanie Ward, Nicola Kertanegara and Dr Carol Newall help guide or assess the participants.
Returning documentary and specialist programmes include I Was Actually There, The Assembly, Muster Dogs, Kitchen Cabinet, Todd Sampson’s Why?, Dr Ann’s Secret Lives, Dr Karl’s How Things Work, Grand Designs Australia, Grand Designs Transformations, Compass, Landline, Back Roads, Offsiders, Gardening Australia and Media Watch.
ABC Kids and family programmes
Little Lunch: New Class revisits the playground a decade after the original mockumentary. Adelaide, Ivy, Mason, Steve, Bonnie and Arthur enter Mrs Gonsha’s class for new 15-minute stories. Robyn Butler and Wayne Hope created the television series from the books by Danny Katz and Mitch Vane; Gristmill produces for the ABC and BBC.
Emma Watkins leads Emma’s Dance Club, set in the fictional town of Spudson. Four children discover that dance can help the community solve everyday problems. Newcomers Anderson Kwok, Georgia Valentine, Eddie Sirotic and Khadi Nettle appear alongside Watkins, Kimie Tsukakoshi, Penny McNamee, Genevieve Lemon and guest star Casey Donovan.
Animated Happy House imagines animal influencers living together and making their own online content. Science series Imagine This uses preschoolers’ “Imagine if” questions to inspire 10-to-12-year-old builders and experimenters. Dirrell Lullaby with Alice Skye pairs a song by Skye with an animated journey of two dingo pups through the Wimmera Mallee sky and lake country. Returning children’s titles include Do Not Watch This Show, It’s Andrew!, Flower & Flour, Little J & Big Cuz, Dance with Tom, Caper Crew, Knee High Spies, Good Game Spawn Squad and Play School.
ABC NEWS: Alliance and Alan Jones documentaries
ABC NEWS has announced Alliance, a documentary examining 75 years of the Australia–United States relationship and its current strains. Former Australian prime ministers, senior American figures, historians, intelligence officials and diplomats discuss defence, foreign policy and the value of the alliance. Another documentary, The Rise and Fall of Alan Jones, examines the broadcaster’s influence, loss of power and the indecent-dealing accusations he is facing in court. The accusations remain allegations; the programme has not yet screened.
National Forum returns to bring policy makers, community leaders and audiences into discussion. Similarly, ABC Your Say will continue gathering local concerns for national conversations. Established news and current-affairs programmes returning in 2027 include 7.30, Australian Story, Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners, Insiders, ABC News Breakfast and Planet America.
ABC listen, podcasts and triple j
The seventh season of Expanse, titled Disappearing in the Devil’s Triangle, investigates a six-seat plane that vanished over the Barrington Tops in 1981. Host Keely Johnson explores the unanswered questions around the five people on board. A three-part visualised documentary version is also planned for ABC News InDepth on YouTube and the ABC News Channel. A separate six-part narrative, Expanse: The Box, follows Griffin Blumer back to a remote town and a buried family mystery.
Chaser co-founder Julian Morrow hosts The People Versus, a consumer-focused podcast about disputes with major brands and practical ways to seek a better deal. A new rugby league podcast with Josh Mansour, Kennedy Cherrington and Andrew Fifita will cover the men’s and women’s games twice a week from February 2027.
On the music side, triple j begins the year with the Hottest 100. Like A Version and One Night Stand return, while Double J’s Straight To Tape records three- or four-song sets live to analogue tape in one take. Unearthed’s DEMO offers intimate performances by emerging Australian artists. The Unearthed High competition enters its 19th edition with a five-date school tour in partnership with youth music charity The Push.
The ABC also lists returning podcasts including ABC News Daily, ABC Business Daily, Politics Now, If You’re Listening, Conversations, Unravel, The Case Of, Another Cuppa? with Granny Bingo, The Grill and Ladies, We Need To Talk. Other returning audio titles include Global Roaming, ASSASSINS, The Dead Can’t Sue, No One Saw It Coming, Rewind, The Slop, The Hook Up, All in the Mind and What’s That Rash? among audio returnees.
For more TV Central ABC coverage, head here. View the broadcaster’s current television and on-demand programmes at ABC TV.