What we've got to look forward to

Its that time of year again. When we emerge blinking and sticky from summer holidays and grudgingly re-enter the daily grind. Back to school or work or uni or whatever it is you people do with you time. Sucks doesn’t it?
Never fear, Alex is here to help.

Nothing makes bad things better than the anticipation of good television on the horizon. So here’s what you’ve got to look forward to in 2011.

Doctor Who

The new series (which I’ve heard referred to as 11.2) stands to be, possibly, the best so far. I know that’s a big claim to make but Moffat and co have been making so pretty big claims themselves. Monsters scarier than the weeping angels, surprises bigger than ever before and the cliff hanger to end all cliff hangers. For anyone who’s been living under a rock, Doctor Who in 2011 is going to be split into two blocks. The first block is 6 episodes long and will air in the UK at Easter. The second 7 episode block will air there in Autumn. The purpose of this, according to Moffat, is the create the biggest most mind blowing story arch OF ALL TIME. But really I think its so he can use his powers for evil and kill us all with a cliff hanger of terrifying proportions. When will we get to see it? After the success of Smithmas and judging by the fact the ABC have already started advertising it as part of their “Coming Soon” line-up, I think the chances of a fast tracking are looking pretty good.

Sherlock

I probably shouldn’t talk about this one because its going to cause almost as much pain as joy. The estimated air date in the UK is Autumn. That’s our Spring. AKA a fucking long time away. But its coming and it’ll be amazing. There’ll be more speculation about this as we get closer to time. Nine included Sherlock in their 2011 trailer which is seriously promising. It rated well last time round and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if they invested in fast tracking it.

Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight

We’re talking seriously near future now. The new Wednesday night line-up on the ABC is a cracker. Along with new Spicks and Specks they’ve given Adam Hills his own talk show. I think its going to take a fairly traditional format with two or so guests and a live comedy/music bit. Adams Hills is always great when he’s in the slightly less child friendly environments like GNW and I think this’ll give him a bit more room to move than Spicks and Speaks does. It starts next Wednesday at 8:30pm. Set your alarms.

Laid

I’m seriously looking forward to this. Maybe it won’t be everyone’s cup of tea but I rather like Marieke Hardy. Co-written with Kirsty Fisher this is about a women who finds all her sexual partners begin to drop dead. Its not going to be easy, happy viewing and probably not something to watch with the grandparents but I think it’ll be worth sticking with.

Being Human

Series 3 people! The new series is currently airing in the UK and I keep chancing upon spoilers in gif form on Tumblr. So I was overjoyed to see a Coming Soon trailer on the ABC. For anyone who hasn’t yet discovered this show, now’s the time. Its about a vampire, a werewolf and a ghost who share a house which sounds like a bad knock knock joke. The show is anything but. Its funny and sexy. Its emotionally charged and cleverly written. It is AMAZING. I’d really recommend catching up on the first two series in time for ABC2 to start airing the new episodes. 

Good News Week

So I’m slightly biased but I’m terribly excited about new GNW. The first episode is going to be HUGE. They're filming it at the State Theatre in Sydney and it’s going to have rafts of special guests and glitter cannons galore. They’ll be less GNW than usual this year so I’d get in and enjoy it while you can. Monday night and as far as I’m aware they’re still on at 9:30pm.

Dance Academy

They started production on the new series this week. . Sure, a teen drama set at the National Academy of Dance might not be everyone’s thing but this is slick. Its well written (which you may have noticed is my main requirement for television) and it manages to bypass a lot of clichés. It doesn’t play up to the export market, instead representing Australia honestly. There was a lot of loose ends left at the end of series 1 and I can’t wait to see what happens next. This won’t air til later in the year though.

There’s a bunch of other things on the horizon too. The ABC have commissioned a heap of new comedy from people like Frank Woodley, Judith Lucy and Warwick Holt and Mat Blackwell (who write for GNW). There’s new Top Gear and Spicks and Specks and Gruen. The digital landscape stands to get more and more competitive, which means we’ll be seeing a lot more fresh content. I also think that we can look forward to a lot more fast tracking. The industries finally caught on that they need to move faster than our internet connections. Good on them.

It’s going to be a good year. For television anyway.