Screen Australia: Top Aussie dramas & documentaries of 2019

It was a big year for new Aussie dramas as they dominated Screen Australia's top 10 chart for 2019. With half of the top ten being shown on the ABC, with each commercial broadcaster also featuring:

Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia commented: “In 2019 we saw a wave of new shows on the small screen that were of an incredibly high calibre. Foxtel’s Lambs of God became the most nominated show in AACTA history, ABC’s Total Control was Australia’s first series selected for the Toronto International Film Festival and Network 10 quickly ordered season two of Five Bedrooms such was the audience demand. True Australian stories on TV also remain perennially popular, with 2019 producing landmark titles such as Australia in Colour and Love on the Spectrum that became community talking points.”

“It’s also fantastic to see creators benefiting from their original IP. Every Cloud Productions developed the Miss Fisher property originally for the ABC, followed by a hit spin-off for Channel Seven last year, a Chinese adaption on the way and now one of the most anticipated films of 2020 in Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears.”

“Amongst the new players, it was telling that Stan built its entire 2019/20 summer strategy around four Australian titles, which was a very public endorsement of the ability of local content to attract audiences. " said Mason.

It was also a big year for Australian produced TV documentaries with the bulk being produced by public broadcasters.

The top 10 Screen Australia-funded television documentaries are included below. Docu-series remain the most popular documentary format however features like Michael Hutchence's  Mystify also performed well.