'Prisoner'

The 52nd Annual TV Week Logie Awards are still two months away, but already voting has begun for both public and industry voted categories.

A list of nine contenders up for the Logies Hall of Fame were leaked this morning by The Australian, who had an unauthorised peek at this year’s ballot.

The Hall of Fame Gold Logie is awarded for “outstanding and sustained contribution” to television by an individual or televsion program.

This year, Network Ten’s cult favourite ‘Prisoner’, which ran from 1979 to 1986,  has been put forward as a contender for this year’s industry voted award. Should it win, it’d mark only the fourth television program to receive the honour.

ABC’s ‘Four Corners’, Ten’s ‘Neighbours’ and ABC’s ‘Play School’ were all previously inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992, 2005 and 2006 respectively.

Other names in contention this year are: retired newsreaders Brian Henderson and Ian Ross, the late Brian Naylor, who was killed last year in the Black Saturday bushfires, SBS’s George Negus, sports presenters Ken Sutcliffe and Les Murray, Foxtel presenter Maggie Tabberer and ‘Home and Away’ actor Ray Meagher.

The 52nd Annual TV Week Logie Awards will be televised on May 2 on the Nine Network.

Source: The Australian

TV.com

TV.com is set to stream episodes of ‘Home and Away’ and ‘Neighbours’ for free to viewers in the UK.

The entertainment site, which is owned by CBS Interactive — a subsidiary of US broadcaster CBS, have partnered with the soaps’ UK broadcaster Five.

The move will give British audiences access to shows from Five’s catch-up TV service, Demand Five, which houses around 250 hours of content, including the two Australian soaps.

Five’s head of digital media, Jonathan Lewis, said, “Our partnership with TV.com is a further example of Five’s strategy to expand and grow the reach of its content beyond the smallscreen to premium secure digital platforms.”

It’s the first European partnership for TV.com, who are set to compete with the Fox, NBC and ABC backed Hulu.

Just last week, Hulu’s director of international business development Simon Gallagher announced the company’s plans to expand internationally, with both Australia and the UK in their sights.

TV.com which also operates in Australia, are believed to be considering similar distribution arrangements locally. The site could provide a single online destination for viewers to access programs from all free-to-air broadcasters.

Source: Variety, CBS Interactive

The Seven Network, in partnership with Yahoo!7, have followed through with their plans to launch a new catch-up TV portal. The service launched today, under the name PLUS7.

The service, similar to ABC’s iView, will allow viewers to catch-up on all Seven’s most popular television shows online.

The shows will be free and ad-supported with an estimated 3-4 mid-roll ads per episode. The latest episodes will become available immediately after broadcast and remain online for 7-28 days (depending on online delivery rights).

Shows currently on offer are 30 Rock, Airways, Better Homes and Gardens, Border Security, Brothers and Sisters, Castle, Cougar Town, Criminal Minds, Desperate Housewives, Flash Forward, Gangs of Oz, Grey’s Anatomy, Heroes, Home and Away, LOST, My Kitchen Rules, Parks and Recreation, Private Practice, RSPCA Animal Rescue and Ugly Betty.

Seven have yet to partner with any ISPs (unlike ABC iView), so viewers should take note of the expected data requirements per episode. A 22 minute episode will consume between 45mb and 160mb, while a 42 minute episode will consume between 90mb and 370mb.

PLUS7 can be accessed from yahoo7.com.au/plus7

The highly anticipated mini-series 'The Pacific' premieres in 2010 on Seven. From Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and Gary Goetzman, producers of 'Band of Brothers'.

Seven will announce their complete 2010 programming line-up later in the coming weeks.

New Local Drama

• The Pacific (Miniseries) - Co-production with HBO, Playtone, Dreamworks

New Local Series

• Damage Control
• The Marriage Ref
• My Kitchen Rules

New International Series

• 100 Questions
• Cougar Town
• Day One
• Happy Town
• Hung
• The Marriage Ref (US)
• Parenthood

Sporting Events

• Australian Open
• AFL Grand Final

Returning Local Series

• Better Homes and Gardens
• City Homicide
• Deal or No Deal
• Double Take
• Home and Away
• The Morning Show
• New Idea TV
• Packed to the Rafters
• Sunrise
• Saturday Disney
• Thank God You’re Here

Returning International Series

• Bones
• Brothers and Sisters
• Castle
• Criminal Minds
• Desperate Housewives
• Family Guy
• FlashForward
• Grey’s Anatomy
• Private Practice

*Incomplete/subject to change

CarriageWorks

Move over Fox Studios Australia, the Redfern Waterloo precinct is the new home of film and television production in Sydney.

George Miller’s upcoming film ‘Mad Max 4′ will move into a new production facility next door to CarriageWorks. The creative arts centre where Network Ten films ‘So You Think You Can Dance’.

Miller’s production company, Kennedy Miller Mitchell, will convert the existing warehouse space into the new Digital Film Making Studio, with a motion capture stage, art department workshops, a visual effects studio and production offices.

ABC News was there as Miller talked about his upcoming film and the future of Australian cinema.

The former railway carriage and blacksmith workshops will house the upcoming sequel ‘Fury Road’, as well as pre-preduction on Miller’s ‘Happy Feet 2′, the sequel to smash hit animated film.

Australian Technology Park retrofitted for 'MasterChef Australia' heats.

A rendering of the Seven Network's new production offices and sound stages.

Sydney's new film and television hub (front center).

CarriageWorks is just across the train line from Australian Technology Park, which has similarly become a popular spot for film and television production.

‘Australian Idol’, ‘MasterChef Australia’ and ‘Top Gear Australia’ have all used its industrial surrounds for filming.

‘Idol’ holds its Sydney open call auditions at ATP, while ‘MasterChef’ shoots the top 100 heats inside ATP’s expansive carriage bays.

But that’s not all, the Redfern Waterloo precinct is also the future home for the Seven Network and Global Television.

Seven are in the middle of constructing 4 purpose built sound stages and a state-of-the-art broadcast facility within Technology Park’s grounds.

Shows currently filmed at Seven’s Epping studios, including ‘Home and Away’ and ‘Packed to the Rafters’, will move into the sound stages at the new facility in the near future.

Meanwhile, over at Moore Park’s Fox Studios Australia, things aren’t quite as bright.

The studio recently lost the major Hollywood feature ‘Green Lantern’, which director Martin Campbell (‘Casino Royale’) and actor Ryan Reynolds were scheduled to film in Australia. Just last week, Warner Bros. announced that the project would be shift overseas for budgetary reasons — a result of the high Australian dollar vs the weak US dollar.

Fox Studios are however preparing for production to begin on Stuart Beattie’s smaller budgeted feature ’Tomorrow When the War Began’, which stars ‘Home and Away’ actor Lincoln Lewis and former ‘Neighbours’ actress Caitlin Stasey. Production will be based at the Moore Park studios and will also shoot in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales.

But despite the upcoming project, it doesn’t change the fact that Fox Studios has remained vacant for over a year — following the conclusion of production on Hugh Jackman’s ‘Wolverine’.

The same can’t be said over at Redfern/Waterloo, where it seems there’s no shortage of film and television productions.

With Seven/Global opening their new facility in the near future; Miller’s ‘Mad Max 4′ and ‘Happy Feet 2′ in for the long haul; and returning series ‘Dance’ and ‘MasterChef’, it seems there really is a new film and television hub in Sydney — and it’s not likely to be slowing down any time soon.

Donna (Margot Robbie) and Sunny (Hany Lee Choi) are set to lip lock in an upcoming episode of 'Neighbours'.

In what seems to be a never-ending cycle of copycat storylines, ‘Neighbours’ will once again revisit a storyline involving two female characters in a steamy lip lock.

On an episode set to air later this month, Donna (Margot Robbie) and Sunny (Hany Lee Choi) share in an “impulse kiss” after the love letter scandal storyline is exposed.

Just last month, ‘Home and Away’ sparked public outcry from conservative lobby groups after a the kiss between Charlie Buckton (Esther Anderson) and Joey Collins (Kate Bell).

G rated ’Neighbours’, compared to the PG rated ’Home and Away’, has already caused outcry from conservative lobby groups with a teen pregnancy storyline.

Source: Courier Mail via TV Tonight

By now, most of us have already received our tax bonus from the government. You know, the free nine hundred bucks from K-Rudd’s huge package?

As avid TV watchers and all round television junkies, we thought, why not spend our free monies on TV. After all, if we’re going to help stimulate the economy, we might as well spend it on something we love!

So here are a few television items you might consider purchasing during these troubled times.

Average price: $100 - $200 ($300 with built in HDD).

Okay, so this is a pretty clear choice.

With Freeview and the digital TV transition happening soon(ish), there’s no reason why we couldn’t put down a few hundred bucks on a high def digital set top box.

Cause we all want sport in HD, right One?

'Underbelly' Uncut

If you love Australian television, then your DVD collection isn’t complete without ‘Underbelly’. Why not help boost Australian drama production while your’re at it?

‘Underbelly’ is available for $64.97 from EzyDVD.

‘Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities’ is available for $54.97 from EzyDVD, out 27th May.

With the economic down turn, perhaps you’re going out less. Then a FOXTEL subscription might be for you.

For $40 a month, get access to over 36 channels. That’s almost two years of cable TV courtesy of K-Rudd.

If you’re thinking of subscribing to Foxtel, then why not use our affiliate link and help support our site.

'7 is Heaven' will be the new name for daytime programming on digital channel '72'. While bizarre, not entirely unbelievable from the network with "Mr. TV Man" as their main mascot.

The Seven Network have finally put their money where their mouth is, and have announced their multi-channelling plans for the Freeview platform.

The network will launch with three distinct channels from November, including their current SD digital channel ‘7′, a re-launched ’7 HD’ and an all new ‘7 Extra’.

While speaking at the “Get ready for digital TV” forum in Sydney this morning, Seven’s CEO David Leckie said “the current economic crisis has put a lot of things into perspective. Our multi-channelling plans will address these issues.”

First up is the new HD channel. The network will continue using the ‘Seven HD’ moniker for channel ‘70′, which will be dedicate to all Australian content.

It will screen new first run lifestyle programs, time-shifted news and re-runs of Australian drama including ‘City Homicide’, ‘Packed to the Rafters’, ‘All Saints’, ‘Home and Away’ and older series like ‘Last Man Standing’, “HeadLand” and ‘A Country Practice’.

The channel will also show a simulcast of Seven’s regular channel ‘7′ in HD for select content, i.e., movies and other “must-see TV.”

Seven will re-launch ‘The Great Outdoors’, which has been MIA for some time now. Naomi Robson (‘Today Tonight’) and Charlie Delaney (‘Hi:5′, ‘Battle of the Choirs’) will be joining the travel show as globe trotting presenters.

‘Out of the Red’, is a new first run lifestyle program that will screen on the new 7HD. It will feature ‘Sunrise’ hosts, Mel and Kochie, as they help people bogged down by the current economic crisis. The new series will see the duo help families with their debts and give them tips for getting”out of the red”.

The network announced that they have several other new lifestyle programs in development which will be announced at a later date.

“Lifestyle programs are much more cost effective for us to produce in this current economic climate. The smaller budgets mean we can experiment with various concepts and ideas without breaking the bank” said Leckie. “We’ll offset our new lifestyle programming on the new 7HD with our large back-catalogue of great Aussie drama,” he added.

The network’s plans for their second standard definition channel, ‘7 Extra’ (‘72′), is a little more interesting.

In a bold move for the commercial broadcaster, the new channel will outsource its programming blocks to various content producers.

Deals have been struck with Walt Disney, Bloomberg Television, the Australian Christian Channel and various community television stations from around the country.

“By outsourcing the programming to different content providers, we’ll be able to create a diverse programming line up,” Leckie added. ”We’ve established a new shared advertising revenue scheme with the content producers, which will see lower up front costs for content.”

Each programming block will be themed depending on the content producer. The four banner names will be: ‘7 is Finance’, ‘7 is Heaven’, ‘7 is Adventure’ and ‘7 is Community’.

‘7 is Finance’ will run during the morning programming block (6 am to 11 am) and will feature non-stop finance reports from Bloomberg Television.

“Keeping people up to date with the markets is just another way we’ll be helping people during these troubled times,” said Leckie.

‘7 is Heaven’ will run during the daytime programming block (11 am to 5 pm) and will feature a schedule developed by the Australian Christian Channel. The ACC have several new programs in development including a new music program produced in conjunction with the Hillsong Church. It will be hosted by ‘Australian Idol’ winner and renowned Hillsong member Guy Sebastian.

Classic TV dramas including ‘Touched by an Angel’, ‘Joan of Arcadia’ and ‘7th Heaven’ will run throughout the week, while Sunday’s will feature live sermons from around the country.

“All of our daytime programming will be aimed at spreading hope and optimism to our viewers,” said Leckie.

“But the ‘adventure’ really begins on ‘7 Extra’ during prime-time,” he announced.

‘7 is Adventure’ will run between 5 pm and 1 am. It’ll feature content from the network’s output deal with Disney/ABC Studios. It will screen all of Disney’s classic animations like ‘Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘The Lion King’, as well as more mature content from Walt Disney Pictures, Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films. Titles will include film franchises ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’,'The Chronicles of Narnia’ and ‘Kill Bill’, as well as box office hits like ‘Pearl Harbour’ and ‘Gangs of New York’.

TV series from ABC Studios will join the ‘7 is Adventure’ block, with ‘Desperate Housewives’, ‘Lost’, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, ‘Brothers and Sister’, ‘Ugly Betty’, ’Scrubs’, ‘Commander in Chief’ and ‘Alias’ will all be getting a re-run on the new channel. ‘Night Stalker’, ‘Dirt’, ‘Kyle XY’ and ‘Greek’ will also make the move to free-to-air under the new ‘7 is Adventure’ block.

Disney channel movies and TV series like ‘High School Musical’, ‘Camp Rock’ and ‘Hannah Montana’ will air Saturday nights under the new ‘adventure’ banner.

From 1 am to 6 am, ‘7 is Community’ will screen, with original programming from Sydney’s TVS, Melbourne’s C31 and other community stations from around the country.

“We really want to embrace the community as a source of great entertainment,” said Leckie. “The new shared revenue scheme will really benefit independent content makers and allow them to create more ambitious programs.”

‘7 Extra’ will be broadcast on digital channel ‘72′.

“As the leaders in television, our mission is to bring viewers diverse and entertaining programs.”

“We believe that we’ve come up with a great strategy for our multi-channelling line up, which will provide both variety and quality,” Leckie concluded.

So after several long months, Seven’s digital TV plans have finally been unveiled and the all-Aussie channel and the outsourced programming channel are both pretty bold ideas for the network. It’s definitely the most comprehensive and unique plan we’ve seen from a free-to-air broadcaster so far.

Too bad we’ll have to wait until November.

Oh, and by the way…April fools!

Esther Anderson stars as Charlie Buckton on Seven's 'Home and Away'.

Stories concerning the upcoming kiss between Charlie Buckton (played by Esther Anderson) and Joey Collins (Kate Bell) on Seven’s ‘Home and Away’ were dominating media outlets today, with several sources claiming that conservative lobby groups had forced the network into cutting the kiss between the two female characters.

According to ‘Home and Away’ fan site, BacktotheBay.net, these rumours are completely false. The fan site citing a source on the show had contacted them directly to set the record straight.

“The articles are completely unfounded and that the kiss will be airing on Tuesday night as originally planned.”

This wouldn’t be the first time that a same sex relationship had been portrayed on Australian television.

Network Ten’s soap ‘Neighbours’ shared a similar storyline between Stephanie McIntosh’s character Sky and Lana (Bridget Neval) in 2004.

‘Home and Away’ even featured an on screen kiss between two female characters last month with Nicole (Tessa James) and Freya (Sophie Hensser).

Stephanie Jacobsen and Colin Egglesfield join The CW's 'Melrose Place'.

The casting team over at The CW’s ‘Melrose Place’ are working overboard filling out the potential fall season drama.

The latest actors to become ‘Melrose’ residents are Colin Egglesfield (‘All My Children’) and Hong Kong born-Aussie, Stephanie Jacobsen.

Egglesfield will play Auggie. An avid surfer, who works as a sous-chef at a hot restaurant with the dream of one day working for himself.

Jacobsen will play Lauren, a UCLA med student living a double life as a high-end call girl.

Jacobsen has been seen in a number of high profile dramas since her role as Dr. Charlotte Adams on ‘Home and Away’, including roles on ‘Battlestar Galactica’, ’Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles’ and ‘Life On Mars’.

Egglesfield and Jacobsen join Michael Rady, Katie Cassidy, Ashlee Simpson and Jessica Lucas who’ve already landed leads on the CBS Paramount produced drama pilot.

Daniel MacPherson will move to Los Angeles in September, when his contract with the Seven Network expires.

The Melbourne-based actor will depart Seven’s police drama ‘City Homicide’, but says he wants to continue working on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ by flying back and forth from LA.

In an interview with The Sunday Telegraph, the 28 year old spoke of his wonderful relationship with Seven, “beyond September I’d like to think there’s more work between us.”

“One of my long-term goals has been to head to the States and my mantra has always been that I wouldn’t head over there until I’m 100 per cent ready,” MacPherson said.

Last year, MacPherson secured representation by Hollywood agency ICM, whilst visiting LA with manager Mark Morrissey.

MacPherson will join fellow Australian actors Chris Egan (‘Kings’, ‘Home and Away’), Chris Hemsworth (‘Star Trek’, ‘Home and Away’) and Jesse Spencer (‘House’, ‘Neighbours’), who’ve all found success while living in LA.

Aussie television stars join TV big shots for upcoming mystery film.

Anna Hutchison and Chris Hemsworth.

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth (‘Home and Away’, ‘Star Trek’) and Kiwi Anna Hutchison (‘Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities’) have joined the cast of Drew Goddard (‘Alias’, ‘Cloverfield’) and Joss Whedon’s (‘Buffy’, ‘Dollhouse’) upcoming flick ‘The Cabin in the Woods’.

The film’s plot is a closely held secret, much like the 2008 hit ‘Cloverfield’. Even the details surrounding the actor’s roles are being kept closely under wraps.

The film is currently under production with Drew Goddard at the helm from a screenplay by Goddard and Whedon.

“Finding this ensemble has been very hard and very rewarding,” says Whedon.

“Each of the ‘kids’ is unique, fascinating and talented, and like true friends, the group is more than the sum of its parts. These are people you care about, able to go toe-to-toe with the amazing actors we’ve corralled thus far, and not unpretty in the bargain. I can’t wait to harm them.”

The film is scheduled to be released February 5, 2010 by MGM in the United States.

Conrad Coleby as Roman Harris on Seven's 'Home and Away'.

According to The Daily Telegraph, Conrad Coleby is set to leave Home And Away after just 15 months on the Seven Network series.

Coleby, who has played Roman Harris on the soap since 2007, will wrap his final scenes later this month after producers of the show decided that the character had run his course.

With Coleby’s depature, its unclear at this stage whether or not his on-screen daughter Nicole (Tessa James) will remain on the show.

Melissa George at this year's Academy Awards.

Australia’s Melissa George has been just about everywhere in the biz. From her first role on ‘Home and Away’ as Angel, to the other woman in the ‘Alias’ love triangle, to her Golden Globe nominated role in HBO’s ‘In Treatment’ and finally as no-good intern Sadie Harris on ‘Grey’s Anatomy’.

Well the Aussie actress has moved once again and has landed the lead role in the CBS drama pilot, ‘US Attorney’.

According to Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello, she’ll play Susan, an ADA and ex-wife to the section chief, played by Michael Lange.

The drama project follows a team of prosecutor’s in the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan, New York.

George’s first episode of ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ airs March 19th on Seven.

The trailer for the new “Star Trek” movie hits theatres this weekend in the US, infront of the new James Bond flick, “Quantum of Solace”.

It’s marks the eleventh feature film based on 60’s sci-fi series, but that’s not the only TV connection. The upcoming reboot for the “Star Trek” franchise was written and directed by TV mastermind J.J Abrams (Felicity, Alias, Lost, Fringe), and fellow scribes, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Alias, Fringe).

It stars TV’s Zachary Quinto (Heroes), Simon Pegg (Spaced), Jennifer Morrison (House), Rachel Nichols (Alias),  John Cho (Ugly Betty, Kitchen Confidential), Anton Yelchin (Huff) and Australia’s Chris Hemsworth (Home and Away). Along with Chris Pine, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Winona Ryder, Australia’s Eric Bana and Star Trek’s original Spock, Leonard Nimoy.

“Star Trek” lands in theatres May 7, 2009 in Australia. Keep an eye out for the new trailer when it hits the web next Tuesday. We’ll post a link on our blog.

Megan Mullally Joins Christine

One of my favourite comedic actors, Megan Mullally, best know for her role as Karen on Will & Grace, will be guest starring on an upcoming episode of The New Adventures of Old Christine.

The Emmy nominated star will play the head of the family values-based organisation that owns Christine’s gym. Her character threatens to shut down the fitness center when she learns of Christine and Barb’s marriage.

Melissa George On Grey’s A Done Deal

Last week I mentioned that the Aussie actor was in final negotiations to join Grey’s Anatomy. It now it looks like its a done deal. Signed, sealed and delivered. Expect to see our ex-Home and Away girl land in Seattle Grace later this season, - SPOILER ALERT! - when she stirs up trouble for Erica and Callie’s blossoming romance.

Source: Entertainment Weekly

All Saints General Western Hospital is about to get a whole lot more summery.

Next month, ex-Home and Away actors, Ella Scott-Lynch and Kip Gamblin who played Hayley Smith and Scott Hunter on the long running Seven soap, will be joining the networks other long running drama All Saints. 

Both actors are keen to be joining television veterans John Howard and John Waters on the medical drama. Gamblin will play Dr Adam Rossi, and Scott-Lynch will play nurse Claire Anderson.

A network spokesman denied that they were brought in to cover the tragic death of actor Mark Priestley. Producers are yet to decide how they show will deal with the character’s sudden exit.

Alan Ball’s new vampire drama True Blood on HBO has already been given the green-light for a second season. The show has seen a significant audience boost for the cable network jumping up 24% from 1.4 million viewers during its premiere to 1.8 million viewers.

According to HBO’s West Coast Programmer Michael Lombardo, the ratings uptick factored in minimally into the pay cabler’s decision to renew “True Blood.”

“There was no way creatively we didn’t want this show on the air for another year, but (the ratings spike) probably gave us the kick in the butt we needed to pick it up early,” he said, noting that making that decision now will allow HBO and Ball time to get season two on the air by next summer.

“It was always our intention to air (the premiere) during the summer, but the writers strike put a damper on that,” Lombardo added.

True Blood stars Anna Paquin, Rutina Wesley, Michael Raymond-James, Jim Parrack, Alexander Skarsgård and Australia’s Ryan Kwantan (Home and Away, Summerland) and comes from acclaimed writer Alan Ball (Six Feet Under, American Beauty).

Source: Variety

Okay okay, I’ll try to restrain myself. I won’t turn this into another Nine bashing post.

Set on the sunny Gold Coast is Nine’s hot new crime show The Strip, centring around an elite group of criminal investigators from the fictional Main Beach CIB. The Strip is from the producers of Wildside and East West 101 and stars Aaron Jeffery (McLeod’s Daughters), Frankie J Holden (Underbelly), Bobby Morley (Home and Away) and newcomer Vanessa Gray.

The Strip premieres 8:30pm Thursday, September 4 on Nine.

Okay, so I’m probably a little biased because I’m a huge J.J. Abrams fan, but seriously, Fringe is one of the best new shows you’ll see on television this year. It’ll be the next big thing. You’ll get addicted to it just like Lost.

Fringe is a fantastical thriller from acclaimed writer/producer J.J. Abrams (Alias, Lost), Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Alias, Transformers).  It stars Australia’s Anna Torv (Mistresses) and John Noble (The Lord of the Rings, Home and Away), along with Joshua Jackson (Dawson’s Creek). The trio uncover a deadly mystery involving a series of unbelievable events and soon realise they may be a part of a larger, more disturbing pattern that blurs the line between science fiction and technology.

Check out Nine’s promo below.

See the FOX promo below.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWlsXtsQ6CQ

Fringe premieres September 9 on FOX and is coming soon to Nine.

The Nine Network’s Scorched is Australia’s first cross-platform drama project. The upcoming political tele-movie is set in a climate change ravaged Sydney.  After 240 days without rain, the city has only two weeks water left. When the city is then ringed by severe bushfires, the question becomes, how do you fight fire when you have no water?

Check out the trailer for the tele-movie below.

While it won’t hit our screens for a few weeks, the drama is already making waves on the web in the form of a collection of webisodes and fictional online news reports. Several websites have been created that are linked to the events of the tele-movie.

• scorched.tv
• argon-energy.com
• h20transport.com
• angelaboardman.com
• rawt.org.au

Scorched stars Georgie Parker (All Saints, The Falls), Rachael Carpani (McLeod’s Daughers, Cane), Vince Colosimo (Underbelly, The Falls), Cameron Daddo (Pirate Master) and Libby Tanner (headLand). The tele-movie is directed by Tony Tilse (Underbelly).  The online webisodes star Kate Bell (Blue Water High) and Zachary Garred (Home and Away).

Scorched premieres 8:30pm Sunday, August 1, on Nine.

Can’t wait for the Olympics to finish?  Missing your daily Home and Away fix?  Or perhaps just wanting to perve a little on some models?

Check out the new post Olympic-promos for Home and Away and Make Me A Supermodel after the break.

Home and Away

Make Me A Supermodel