The ABC has announced its 2027 content line-up, and two things are very clear: next year is going to be a big one for workplace dramas and crime series — old and new.
asserted
year → announce → dramas
For one, Kitty Flanagan will don the baggy brown suit for the first time in two years, as she returns for the fourth season of beloved office comedy Fisk.
asserted
she → don → Fisk
The comedian, who wrote the international hit alongside her sister Penny Flanagan, said they were partly inspired to revisit the story of Helen, a wills and probate lawyer, because they finally "understand what probate is and how it works".
asserted
it → write → Helen
"I have to admit, we've kind of been faking it for three seasons.
asserted
we → have → seasons
We'd throw around the word 'probate' wherever it sounded right," Flanagan joked.
asserted
Flanagan → throw → word
The sisters had no choice but to learn all about "the goddamn admin and probate" after their father died earlier this year.
asserted
father → have → admin
"He was our biggest fan and was so proud of us and the show," Flanagan continued.
asserted
Flanagan → continue → us
"I said to Penny, 'It would be crazy not to do another Fisk, now that we actually know what we're talking about'.
asserted
we → say → what
And I think Dad would be delighted to know his passing inspired us to do this new season.
asserted
passing → think → season
Also coming to the ABC next year is new drama The Great White, with Hollywood heavyweight Hugo Weaving transforming into a brilliant but disgraced barrister named Alan Armstrong, who's desperate to restore his reputation and get out of debt.
asserted
who → come → debt
From the producers of Slow Horses and Apple Cider Vinegar, the series follows Armstrong as he joins an ailing law firm and takes on a dangerous dog case that ultimately sets him on a path of self-discovery.
But Flanagan and Weaving aren't the only familiar names returning to the broadcaster.
asserted
Flanagan → follow → broadcaster
Rebecca Gibney, who last appeared in an ABC scripted show in 1995 — will front Rural Crime Unit alongside The White Lotus breakout star Morgana O'Reilly and relative newcomer Philip Lynch.
asserted
who → appear → O'Reilly
Gibney is set to play the uncompromising, big hat and high-heeled boot-wearing matriarch of a small-town called Gundawarra, where experienced local police officer Rita (O'Reilly) must work with city transplant Nick (Lynch) to solve crimes that run the gamut from missing livestock to industrial theft.
asserted
that → set → theft
And yet, Gibney says this drama, set in the heart of country Australia, is far from a generic cosy crime series.
asserted
drama → say → series
"When I read the initial description of Jolene and then the script, I knew I had to play her," the Packed to the Rafters and Halifax f.p. star said.
"
asserted
star → read → Rafters
There isn't a murder of the week, there are no dead bodies and while the two cops are certainly central to the story, this show is as much about the characters as it is about the crimes themselves.
asserted
it → be → crimes
"[And] there is a richness that is being so beautifully captured cinematically.
asserted
that → be → ?
It certainly has a Yellowstone feel, but with more than a touch of Priscilla and so uniquely Australian.
asserted
It → have → Priscilla
Fortitude Valley is another in the string of new crime offerings, but this series takes a darker approach to the genre, in a similar vein to 2026 hit Treasure & Dirt.
asserted
series → take → hit
Set in Brisbane, it stars Hunter Page-Lochard (The Newsreader, The Sapphires) who will play a detective investigating the discovery of human remains in a recently demolished building.
asserted
who → Set → building
Not only does the case become unexpectedly personal — solving it will involve coming up against a powerful property magnate, played by British actor Rupert Everett (My Best Friend's Wedding, Shrek 2).
Page-Lochard, who also executive-produced the series and served as one of its writers, hopes the project will help other Indigenous creatives like him see a place for themselves in more contemporary Australian drama.
asserted
creatives → become → drama
"That would be really special," he said.
asserted
he → say → ?
Deadloch and Dustfall star Kate Box leads the series — billed as an off-kilter and darkly comedic thriller — playing a daughter forced to reconsider her fractured relationship with her eccentric mother (Sarah Peirse, The Letdown, Treasure & Dirt) after a woman slips them a note in a cafe begging for assistance.
asserted
woman → lead → assistance
Box put the surge in emotionally charged thrillers to come next year down to an "awakening in our responsibility to scrutinise our part in the machine".
asserted
Box → put → machine
"I reckon the curtains are pretty far drawn on the systems we're encouraged to trust and outsource our thinking to," she said.
asserted
she → reckon → thinking
"And feeling a bit emotional about that is a damn fine thing."
asserted
feeling → feel → that
But it's not just Fisk returning
For the first time in four years, You Can't Ask That will be back on our screens.
Kirk Docker co-created the award-winning entertainment series, which sees everyday Australians ask unfiltered questions about taboo issues and gives people with lived experience the space to respond.
asserted
Australians → return → space
Docker said part of the reason for the show's return was to remind us we can still ask tough questions, "even though we're in a pretty conflicted world right now" — and that we can ask them of other people.
asserted
we → say → people
"If you talk to a chatbot, or if you ask Google something, you're going to get a summarised version … with no nuance, it's flat," he considered.
asserted
he → talk → nuance
"When you hear it from [someone with lived experience], then you hear it from a second and a third person, and they don't agree, and they're different ages and ethnicities, you're reminded that life isn't monotone.
asserted
life → hear → person
Similarly spiky and thorny and interesting, documentary competition series Race Around the World will also be returning, fresh off the back of its 2026 reboot.
asserted
Race → return → reboot
It will again feature John Safran and Zan Rowe, the latter of whom is still coming to terms with the "phenomenal" response to the first season.
asserted
latter → feature → season
"It was a massive unknown because it was almost 30 years since the original series," she said.
asserted
she → say → series
"I'm curious to see if the [response next time] will be even bigger now audiences know they can travel around the world for 100 days making these stories, albeit in very stressful conditions.
asserted
they → see → conditions
The presenter will also helm a sixth season of Take 5 with Zan Rowe in 2027.
asserted
presenter → helm → 2027
While Rowe can't say who will next appear on her celebrity music interview series (which has featured the likes of Shania Twain and Guy Pearce), she did say this: "If some of the people [we've started talking to] come to fruition, they're gonna be huge."
asserted
they → say → fruition
Shocking absolutely no-one, Hard Quiz is returning next year too, for what will be its 12th season.
asserted
what → shock → one
Host and comedian Tom Gleeson predictably said he was "quite happy" to continue making the show forever — or at least until ABC executives tell him to stop.
asserted
executives → say → him
"But I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon, because Hard Quiz is propping up the whole schedule," Gleeson joked.
asserted
Gleeson → think → schedule
Also next year, rage will mark its 40th anniversary, which will of course be celebrated in a manner befitting a program that's shaped generations of music lovers.
asserted
that → mark → lovers
…and 19 more, not listed.
The Aporia
