Foxtel has announced its new commissions and returning series across its various platforms for 2023.
“Upright” starring Tim Minchin and “House of the Dragon’s” Milly Alcock will return for Season 2, as will drama “Love Me”, which recently started production on Season 2.
In addition, “Colin From Accounts”, created, written by and starring Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall, will join the slate.
There will also be an Australian version of “Fboy Island” based on the U.S. format. The series will follow three women who are looking for love. They must uncover which suitor is there for love and who “is just a player”.
Foxtel also revealed the international titles it had acquired, including post-apocalyptic video game series “The Last of Us”, starring Pedro Pascal, Bella Ramsay and Australian Anna Torv. “The Idol”, created by Sam Levinson and Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye and starring Lily-Rose Depp, is also coming to Australia via Foxtel.
Other exclusive shows will include period drama “Marie Antoinette”, created and written by Deborah David (“The Favourite”); British comedy-drama “Chivalry”, written by and starring Steve Coogan and Sarah Solemani; and “Love and Death”, a new crime drama starring Elizabeth Olsen and written by David E. Kelley.
Returning international titles include “The White Lotus”, “Succession”, “And Just Like That” (the “Sex and the City” spin-off), “Young Rock”, “Devils”, “Outlander”, and the franchises of “Below Deck”, “Real Housewives” and “Bake Off”.
Locally returning franchises include “Gogglebox Australia”, “Selling Houses Australia”, “The Great Australian Bake Off” and the final season of “Grand Designs Australia”. Foxtel also recently announced a reboot of music quiz show “Rockwiz”.
New factual content will also hit the subscription television platform over the next 12 months, including docu-series “Icons Unearthed”, exploring the iconic film and television franchises that have shaped the industry. It will kick off in December with a look at “Star Wars”. In addition, “Master of Light” will tell the story of an imprisoned artist and the power of redemption and identity.
Hit survival competition series “Alone” will also return, as will “Aussie Gold Hunters”, “60 Days In”, “Pawn Stars”, “Storage Wars” and “American Pickers”.
Foxtel also announced it would become the exclusive destination for WWE in Australia in 2023. This will include adding WWE’s extensive archive to the platform, as well as premiere and live events. Foxtel subscribers will also have access to a dedicated 24/7 WWE channel and video-on-demand hub. Its entertainment streaming service Binge will launch as the “Home of WWE in Australia” in 2023.
All of WWE’s Premium Live Events, previously only available through pay-per-view, will be available to Foxtel and Binge subscribers at no additional cost.
In sport, Foxtel Group will showcase every match of the Super Netball season, along with Australian International Tests and Quad Series.
Cricket will also have a large billing, with two World Cups (the Women’s T20 World Cup and the Men’s ODI World Cup), as well as every Australian Men’s and Women’s home international, every match of the BBL and WBBL, plus major domestic, and international matches live and ad-free during play getting a run.
There will also be Supercars and Formula 1 events, along with Main Event Boxing and UFC, golf, AFLW, NRLW, AFL, NRL, NFL and Surfing.
Amanda Laing, chief content and commercial officer, said the diversity of quality content is what sets Foxtel Group apart, and is a critical factor in its success in an increasingly competitive entertainment market.
“Foxtel Group is the partner of choice for many major overseas studios and content distributors, unlocking the world's best shows to be made exclusively available for our customers here in Australia,” she said.
“We are incredibly excited about the content we have in store for our subscribers to enjoy in 2023. From the biggest sports to the best local and international TV shows and movies, we offer the best range of premium entertainment and sport in the country.”
During Foxtel’s Upfronts event, the group also announced a new local comedy drama series “Strife”, based on the memoir of Mia Freedman, for Binge, and revealed that Binge would soon have an advertising tier.