Australian Encounters

Armed with his 1913 Bradshaw’s Handbook to the Chief Cities of the World, Michael embarks on six new railway journeys across spectacular Australia.

Australia: The Story of Us is an extraordinary journey through the people, places and events that have shaped Australia, from the first footprints on our continent to the present day. Astounding visual sequences, amazing CGI and dramatic re-enactments bring these stories to life and show how we came to be the country we are today.

The true story of the brutal World War II military campaign fought between Australia and Japan in the green hell of the mountains of Papua New Guinea. Told from both the Japanese and Australian perspectives the documentary also explores the impact of the decisions of high command on the soldiers at the front line.

First Australians is an Australian historical documentary series produced by Blackfella Films over the course of six years, and first aired in October 2008. The documentary is part of a greater project that further consists of a hard-cover book, a community outreach program and a substantial website featuring over 200 mini-documentaries. The series chronicles the history of contemporary Australia, from the perspective of its first people, or Aborigines. The series is essentially a synthesis of well documented historical information. It relies heavily on archival documents and interpretations from historians and members of both the Indigenous and European community and leaders. The story begins in 1788 in Sydney, with the arrival of the First Fleet and ends in 1993 with Koiki Mabo's legal challenge to the foundation of Australia. The series comprises seven episodes in which it explores what unfolded when the oldest living culture in the world was confronted by the British Empire. It explores the lives of particular individuals and uses their stories as a vehicle to explain the larger situations of the time. It explains violent aspects of European settlement of Australia, such as killings, battles, wars, as well as acts of friendship and decency between the early European settlers and Indigenous Australians. Indigenous Australian history has until recently been clouded by the "great Australian silence" where ignorance of the real history of Australia can be seen as a way for non-Indigenous to hide shame for their own history. In this respect it has been controversial in that many of these stories have not been portrayed on Australian television before and the Indigenous Australian perspective of European settlement is confrontational for many.

Bill Peach explains the stories of the great 18th and 19th century explorers of Australia, complete with full-cast re-enactments.

Bastard Boys is an Australian television miniseries broadcast on the ABC in 2007. It tells the story of the 1998 Australian waterfront dispute. The script, published by Currency Press, won the 2007 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for Best Television Script.

An Australian educational comedy television series based on the American series (and earlier web series) of the same name. In each episode, an inebriated celebrity struggles to recount a historical event, while actors reconstruct and enact the narrator's anecdotes while lip syncing the dialogue.

In 1806, William Thornhill is sentenced to New South Wales for life where he is drawn into a terrifying conflict that will leave a bloody and indelible stain.

The True Believers is a 1988 Australian mini series which looks at the history of the Australian Labor Party from the end of World War Two up to the Australian Labor Party split of 1955. It was co-written by Bob Ellis who focused on three characters "Chifley, the unlettered man of great dignity; Menzies, who used to stand for something but eventually stood only for Menzies; and Evatt, the grand idealist... It's almost like Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1. It's a chunk of national history during Australia's great era of change after the war."

Bored with life and considering the real world to be just a “crappy game,” savvy sibling shut-ins Sora and Shiro have withdrawn into their own fantasy world filled with video games. However, one day they find themselves summoned to another world by a boy who calls himself “God,” their abilities are about to be put to the ultimate test! Now not only their fates — but the fate of all of humanity — will be decided by a series of games that may just be the hardest these super-geniuses have ever faced!

In a land of dragons, where citizens called breeders tame their dragon pals, races of dragons are born from breeders who are given a Seikoku: a dragon star-shape brand. Learning to ride and tame dragons comes easy to most students at Ansarivan Dragonar Academy — except for first-year student Ash Blake, who is known by his fellow classmates as the "number one problem child".

Makoto 'Smile' Tsukimoto and his friend Yutaka 'Peco' Hoshino have been playing table tennis together since they were kids, but as they enter high school, they find that the game, and how they see it, has changed. Peco, brimming with confidence and energy, wants to be the best in the world, but the reserved Smile has little fighting spirit and doesn't want to sacrifice others' happiness just to win, despite his innate talent. As the two grow, and experience the ups and downs of the sport – and life – they try to figure out exactly who they really are and what drives them to play.

Kazunari Usa finally has a place of his own at the Kawai housing complex. Unfortunately, his roommate is a total weirdo and a massive pervert! But life at the Kawai Complex isn’t all that bad with his dream-girl Ritsu living right down the hall.

Alka is an assassin for the Clan of the Sword. She's on a journey to find the woman Jin Valel, who killed her master Hon. Jin is demon-like woman who controls the Energy of Chaos and kills without feeling - not unlike how Alka has learned to kill in her work as an assassin. On her journey, Alka encounters three strange women, each great warriors in their own right, and grapples with her slain master's wish that she leave the life of an assassin behind.

WIXOSS is a card game that's popular with teenagers. Supposedly there exist "LRIG Cards," female character cards with wills of their own. Special girls can hear the voices of the LRIGs, and those who possess them are called "Selectors." These Selectors have card battles in a dimension that other humans cannot access. It's said that whoever triumphs in these battles will have their wish granted. Ruko Kominato is the latest girl to find a LRIG card. She names hers Tama, and without any further explanation is thrown into her life as a Selector.

In order to stop the mysterious "Penguin Empire" from interfering with world peace, secret organization "Prince Beauty Parlor" has developed a giant robot that is powered by a rare special energy source called "Hi-ERo particles." Organization member Kyōko Sonan has located an ordinary high school student, Kōichi Madanbashi, with high amounts of Hi-ERo particles, making him a suitable candidate to pilot of the giant robot. But there is only one way to release his particles: allow Madanbashi to persuade him with lewd behavior.

In the Sun Kingdom, sunshine is part of its citizens' everyday lives, and rain is something that they have never even heard of. However, in a faraway land called the Rain Dukedom, the weather is reversed, and everybody has the power to create rain with their voices. Livius Ifrikia has conquered the entire world and expanded the Sun Kingdom's influence in the three short years since he was crowned king. Upon learning about the powers to create rain, Livius decides to marry Nike Remercier, one of the princesses of the Rain Dukedom. However, those outside the Sun Kingdom have spread a rumor that Livius is a cruel, ruthless, and tyrannical ruler, and as word reaches the princess, she begins to prepare herself for the worst. But when she finally meets her fiancé, Nike discovers that he is an entirely different person from what she originally expected.

In order to survive the eventual arrival of the "Dusk End," people of the western reaches of the "Land of Dusk" devoted their efforts to rediscover and recreate lost alchemic technologies. Those technologies were then gathered in the alchemy city known as "Central," where research was conducted on how to halt the advance of the twilight. Having learned the newest alchemic techniques in Central, young alchemist Logy requested a transfer to an understaffed town of Colseit on the frontier to make use of his abilities. There he meets Escha, an apprentice girl assigned to the Development Department. Together, the two make a promise to use their alchemic techniques to bring success to the Development Department.

As urban space shrinks, we build higher and faster than ever before, creating a new generation of skyscrapers. Super skyscrapers are pushing the limits of engineering, technology and design to become greener, stronger, smarter and more luxurious than their predecessors. This four-part series follows the creation of four extraordinary buildings, showcasing how they will revolutionize the way we live, work and protect ourselves from potential threats. Read more about each episode below.

Toru Acura is a 20-year-old retired soldier meandering through life now that the war has ended. He encounters Chaika Trabant, a 14-year-old sorceress carrying a coffin, and follows her in hopes of finding meaning to his life again. The two travel with Toru's adopted sister, Akari, the employed member of the group and thus Toru's source of income.