If you’re looking to log off social media and combat that pesky, TikTok-induced brain rot (yes, brain rot is officially a word as of 2024!), then look no further than the SBS Originals Collection.
The internet can be an overwhelming place at the best of times: there’s no shortage of content competing for our attention at every waking moment. Algorithms prioritise short-form, affective videos that bait us into reactions and with the rise of generative AI, it’s hard to know which cat videos are real and which have been manufactured for ultimate virality (an internet crime in and of itself).
Thankfully, there are corners of the interwebs that act as rest stops, remedial and healing in their authenticity, nuance and educational value. I am, of course, talking about the SBS Originals collection: a curated stockpile of entertaining and educational content that spotlights homegrown talent, unique perspectives and original stories which are guaranteed to teach you something and connect you with our ever-fragmented society.
So, sit back, take a breather and enjoy this collection of SBS and NITV series, documentaries, dramas and more, guaranteed to stimulate your brain in all the right ways.
The People vs Robodebt
If, amidst all the other horrors we've been dealing with in recent years and post-COVID, the Robodebt crisis was pushed to the back of your mind, you’d be forgiven, but for many of those caught up in the disaster, and the families of people who tragically lost their lives after the botched scheme, the pain endures.
In 2016, the federal government implemented an automated welfare system which, over three years, falsely notified almost half a million Australians of debts owed which didn’t actually exist. The results were catastrophic.
The People vs Robodebt is a landmark docu-drama that delves into how unethical and illegal the Robodebt scheme was. Now, SBS tells the story of the people who investigated the scheme and fought for justice, as well as the grieving families who will never get their loved ones back.
All 3 episodes of The People vs Robodebt will premiere on Wednesday 24 September on SBS On Demand. Episodes air weekly on SBS from 7.30pm starting Wednesday 24 September.
Four Years Later
When you think of great Indian love stories, chances are you envision grand gestures, colourful dance numbers and sudden tragedies (bonus points if Shah Rukh Khan dies for a beloved). But in real life, it’s pretty unlikely that an admirer will need to go to such lengths to win our hearts or experience such earth-shattering horrors to break them.
Romance rarely pans out the way TV portrays it. Most of us don’t experience Bollywood’s famed grand gestures, or Disney’s cookie-cutter happy ending. Instead, we find love in moments, in the spaces between words, in glances shared and left unspoken. And it’s this quieter, more delicate (but still life-altering) version of love that Four Years Later shines a light upon.
This SBS Original romantic drama series explores the most intimate and vulnerable moments between vivacious Sridevi (Shahana Goswami) and introvert Yash (Akshay Ajit Singh), a newly married couple excited to begin a life together in Jaipur, India, only to suddenly find themselves forced to live apart for four years. Yash is accepted into a medical traineeship in Australia that he can’t refuse, and due to forces out of the couple’s control, they must part ways and still somehow find their way back to one another.
Four Years Later is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Four Years Later
series • drama • Hindi
M
series • drama • Hindi
M
Moonbird
Homegrown Indigenous talent shines in this co-production between Tasmanian Aboriginal screen production company Kutikina Productions and Sheoak Films. Starring Lennox Monaghan (Deadloch, Windcatcher), this life-affirming drama follows the relationship between a 13-year-old Palawa boy and his recently sober father (Kyle Morrison) as they reconnect on a remote island off the coast of lutriwita (Tasmania) during muttonbirding season.
An exploration of the struggle of passing down cultural knowledge after centuries of violent colonisation, and the way invasion and environmental destruction has fractured ancestral practices, Moonbird uncovers old wounds, if only to help them heal right.
Moonbird is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Moonbird
series • drama
MA15+
series • drama
MA15+
Great Australian Road Trips
Australia is a country vast and diverse in nature (just like its people), and many of us never see everything it has to offer. From dry deserts to lush rainforests, it’s amazing how much the biosphere and Great Australian Road Trips is here to show these pockets of beauty to the world.
Join Aussie icons Melissa Leong and Nazeem Hussain, as well as Steph Tisdell and Claudia Karvan, as they take scenic road trips to culturally significant places across Australia. Each duo goes on their own trips and the warm and insightful chats between the two are just as beautiful as the landscape around them. Come for the views, stay for the banter!
Great Australian Road Trips is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Great Australian Road Trips
series • documentary
PG
series • documentary
PG
Moni
A beautiful and heart-wrenching tale of fraught family relations and survival against all odds, this short and sweet series follows the unique perspective of 30-something gay Samoan man Moni (Chris Alosio, Talk to Me) who returns home after 10 years to attend his sister’s wedding. Moni’s arrival in his old neighbourhood is not as warm as it could be, with whispers and rumours haunting his every step and a dark secret from his childhood threatening to resurface.
Led by creator, writer and showrunner Taofia Pelesasa and set in the heart of western Sydney, the series spotlights a Samoan family where English is the second language and cultural ties are key pillars of identity. Moni’s story explores the alienation queer youth from working class migrant families can face when trying to be their authentic selves and how sometimes, it's those that are supposed to protect them that can hurt them the most.
Moni is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Moni
series • drama • Samoan
M
series • drama • Samoan
M
The Jury: Death on the Staircase
The Jury: Death on the Staircase is a true crime event series which re-enacts the real-life manslaughter trial of Philip Leung, presented word-for-word by actors to a jury of everyday Australians.
Leung was tried for the same death three times. He was accused of manslaughter after he was found cradling the head of his deceased partner Mario Guzzetti at the bottom of a stairwell in 2007 but was found not guilty on the grounds of insufficient evidence. However, due to controversial double jeopardy laws, he found himself on trial again and was found guilty and imprisoned. It wasn’t until he appealed the judgement and found himself on trial for the third time that he was acquitted for good.
It’s an extraordinary story, made even more impactful by Leung’s existence on the intersection of multiple marginalised identities as a Vietnamese gay man. Will the new mock-jury, unaware of the finer details of this prolific case, come to the same conclusion as the original one? Or will they find him guilty?
The Jury: Death on the Staircase is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
The Jury: Death on the Staircase
series • documentary
M
series • documentary
M
Dead Lucky
Blamed for the death of a fellow uniformed police officer, Grace Gibbs (multi-award-winner Rachel Griffiths) has had a fall from grace. Paired with rookie cop Charlie Fung (Yonson An, who went on to appear in Mulan, Creamerie and New Gold Mountain), the two race to catch the killer of Fung’s best friend as a woman goes missing and a robber is on the loose.
Dead Lucky has been praised for its multicultural cast, and its depiction of Australian underbellies that rarely appear on screen, including issues of gendered violence, racism and the exploitation of international students.
Dead Lucky is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
Dead Lucky
series • Crime drama
M
series • Crime drama
M
True Colours
Aboriginal detective Toni Alma (Rurriwuy Hick) is sent back to her hometown (a fictional location set in Alice Springs) to investigate a suspicious car crash. She resists the order because there’s “too much family” and no one will talk to her as a cop. However, her superiors remind her that the community will be even less comfortable with white police officers, and so she returns home.
This miniseries created, written and directed by Erica Glynn and Steven McGregor, and co-starring Warren H Williams and Luke Arnold, explores the tensions between Indigenous communities and law enforcement, noting the difference in legitimacy between colonial law and ancestral customs.
True Colours is streaming at SBS On Demand.
Stream free On Demand
True Colours
