ABC2's blog

8:30pm – Friday, June 24 on ABC2

Henry hears of a werewolf sighting near Oldham, England – the location of many such apparent incidences. He is drawn to investigating the area in hopes of gaining some insight into his own history and perhaps find others like him who are Hyper Accelerated Proteans (HAPs)…otherwise known as werewolves.

Sanctuary follows the adventures of the beautiful, enigmatic and always surprising Dr. Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping), her new recruit, forensic psychiatrist Dr. Will Zimmerman (Robin Dunne) and her fearless daughter Ashley (Emilie Ullerup). Together they track down, study and protect the strange and often terrifying creatures that secretly populate our world and live among us.

7:30pm – Friday, June 24 on ABC2

Friday,24 June 2011 In 1985 The Observer Colour Magazine paired up the naturalist Mark Carwardine and The Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy writer Douglas Adams and invited them to travel to Madagascar in search of the Aye-Aye, a strange and little known nocturnal lemur thought to be on the edge of extinction.

Douglas and Mark found that they enjoyed the journey, and each other’s company to such a degree that they decided to spend a year travelling the globe in search of other endangered animals.

In 1990 the book Last Chance To See by Douglas and Mark was published as a companion to the BBC radio series of the same name.

In 2001, as Douglas and Mark were discussing the possibility of new adventures, Douglas suffered a heart attack and died.

Stephen Fry was a close friend of Douglas, and when Douglas and Mark spent a year travelling the world, Stephen lived in Douglas’s house, and recalls “taking urgent phone calls to send maps and lenses to faraway places”.

In 2008-09, exactly 20 years after the original journey, Stephen and Mark head off to see what has become of the animals over the past two decades, and to discover what has affected their fortunes.

9:30pm – Wednesday, June 22 on ABC2

It’s one of life’s strongest drivers and greatest mysteries, the source of terrible distress and sublime ecstasy. So how do we decide what is normal when it comes to sexual behaviour.

British clinical psychologist Dr Tanya Byron asks why we judge some expressions of sexual desire as eccentric but within normal bounds, and condemn others as repugnant and dangerous.

Tanya spends time with a self-described sex addict who has had more than 5000 partners. He insists he is normal and argues that most men would do the same if given half a chance.

Dr Byron also meets a woman who insists low libido in women is normal and that most women want far less sex than their male partners.

She also confronts the case of a man who believes there should be no age of consent.

8:30pm – Wednesday, June 22 on ABC2

In 2007, fashion fanatic Stacey Dooley’s life took an unexpected turn when she travelled to India for Blood, Sweat And T-Shirts to live and work alongside the people in the Indian fashion industry making clothes for the UK high street. In the cramped backstreet workshops of the Mumbai slums she came face to face with child labour and what she saw there changed her life.

Stacey realises that this is a global issue and embarks on two separate journeys taking her into the heart of the child labour issue.

This week Stacey goes to Cambodia to investigate how thousands of young girls are being sold into sexual slavery often by those they trust the most, their family. She confronts the problem head on as she joins the police on raids to shut down brothels, and learns firsthand the harsh realities for girls who are trafficked and abused in the sex industry. Stacey learns how poverty forces adults to sell their children into this horrific underworld from which it is hard to recover. But, with the help of charity workers, she also sees how it is possible for these girls to lift themselves out of the mire and start a new life.

7:30pm – Wednesday, June 22 on ABC2

Travelling the world to prove who is the better driver, actor Will Mellor trails rival and celeb mate Kirsten O’Brien 2-1 at the series half-way point.

The competition gets personal and the rivalry intensifies as they head to Canada to drive the world’s most sophisticated amphibious vehicle, the 47-tonne go-anywhere Arktos.

Brimming with confidence after last week’s win driving the 100-tonne Terex truck in Scotland, Kirsten is about to face a fierce fightback as Will battles to break even.

Over three intense training days, mentor Bruce Seligman puts Will and Kirsten through a series of lessons and tests to prepare them for a final race, where there can only be one winner. The Arktos is unlike anything Will and Kirsten have ever driven before and as they grapple with the controls on land, river and even the Pacific Ocean, the unthinkable happens and Kirsten crashes the super vehicle, valued at two million pounds. Distraught and emotional, she has to take stock.

Can Kirsten restore her confidence and widen the lead, or is Will about to take victory and level the score?

9:00pm – Tuesday, June 21 on ABC2

On a quest to seek the truth behind the world’s greatest myths, self-proclaimed expert, Leigh Hart, embarks on a journey that will take him to the most challenging, dangerous and remote environments on the planet.

Using state of the art technology throughout the series, Hart demands answers and confronts so-called experts, challenging not only their beliefs but his own.

Tonight, the intrepid traveller heads into the mountains and jungles of Peru in search of El Dorado – the lost city of gold.

Leigh risks his own life and the lives of his team as he searches for lost Inca gold.

The troupe follows in the forgotten footsteps of a mysterious Nazi archaeologist who has never appeared in any other documentaries on the topic.

They encounter deadly creatures at every turn and interact with ‘lost Tribes’, unseen for many hundreds of years.

They may find the gold but will they get out alive?

10:20pm – Monday, June 20 on ABC2

Monday,20 June 2011 It’s time to get your shoulder pads out of storage, start crimping your hair and get into the Eighties mood for the very last time… as this multi-award-winning drama returns for its highly anticipated finale.

Series two of Ashes to Ashes ended on a cliffhanger, with Gene Hunt (Philip Glenister) accidentally shooting Detective Inspector Alex Drake (Keeley Hawes), the delightful thorn in his derriere. Ever since, fans have been eager to know whether Alex has survived and, with everyone thinking he shot her deliberately, how will Hunt dig himself out of that hole.

This series finally unravels many of the mysteries from the previous two series, as well as those first experienced by the initial time-travelling copper, Sam Tyler, in the groundbreaking series Life on Mars.

There’s also a new and unsettling twist to the team dynamic, in the form of Discipline and Complaints Officer, Jim Keats (Daniel Mays), who implies that Hunt’s involvement in Sam Tyler’s death was suspicious.

Will Alex finally discover why she has been sent back in time to the 1980s? Does anything tie Alex and Sam Tyler together? And who exactly is Gene Hunt….

Thrilling, mysterious and supremely funny, the conclusion of this extremely popular series contains the same successful combination of crime drama, outrageous Eighties outfits and cutting one-liners – plus a finale that is one of the most exciting, compelling and edge-of-your seat rides on TV.

9:30pm – Monday, June 20 on ABC2

With invigorating complexity and depth Deadwood emotes intellectual and emotional meaning like no other show.

Deadwood isn’t merely about language or action or characters it’s about all of these in concert with one another and not only for a given scene or episode but for the whole series.

There’s a new dawning in Deadwood tonight. Mrs Elsworth (Molly Parker) officially opens the Bank of Deadwood, Jack Langrishe (Brian Cox) falls into step with Joanie Stubbs (Kim Dickens) about buying the Chez Ami for use as a theatre, while Hostetler (Richard Gant) arrives back in the camp after six weeks absence with the horse that killed the sheriff’s boy.

Hostetler takes responsibility for the accident but Bullock (Timothy Olyphant) doesn’t blame him. The sheriff does want him to broker a deal with drunk Steve (Michael Harney) who cared for the livery in Hostetler’s absence.

Despite a barrage of racial insults and screaming epithets Hostetler agrees to sign over the livery to Steve for a fair price.

Meanwhile, Swearengen (Ian McShane) and Cy Tolliver (Powers Boothe) have a meeting with Hearst (Gerald McRaney) in his Grand Central rooms. Hearst indicates he’ll be in and out of Deadwood on a regular basis and wants Al and Cy to look after his interests.

Swearengen demands to see the numbers but Hearst wants agreement in principle first. Al delegates Adams (Titus Welliver) to represent him in future dealings with the mining magnate.

8:00pm – Sunday, June 19 on ABC2

Sunday,19 June 2011 With two more students sent home, including a very surprised Nebil, and Mike winning a reprieve, the eight remaining students are beginning to feel the pressure.

The majority of them failed to impress international designer Philippe Starck and his team at the last challenge, only Polly seemed to fully grasp the project idea. At the next meeting, Philippe encourages the students to change their attitudes and makes it clear that laziness will not be tolerated.

For the next challenge, Philippe encourages the students to step out of their comfort zone, think ethically, democratically and ecologically to come up with a useful product that can be developed into a sellable item.

He’s not asking them to re-design a product already on the market; instead their goal is to invent a useful product. They have a week to present their design ideas and prototype to Philippe.

After a group discussion, the students branch off to pursue their ideas. A day before presentations are due, Eugeni Quitlet, Philippe Starck’s head designer, checks on their progress and reminds them that they should have some sort of prototype to show. Realising that many of them fall short, the students work through the night to finish their projects. However presentation day is a disaster, with all students failing to fulfil the brief.

Philippe is unimpressed and is ready to pull the plug on the whole project.

5:15pm – Sunday, June 19 on ABC2

Sunday,19 June 2011 The Octonauts follows a team of adventure heroes who dive into action whenever there is trouble under the sea. In a fleet of aquatic vehicles, they rescue amazing sea creatures, explore incredible new underwater worlds and often save the day before returning safely to their home base, the Octopod.

Buoyed by the companionship of three leading characters – Captain Barnacles Bear, Lieutenant Kwazii Cat and Medic Peso Penguin – the Octonauts are always ready to embark on an exciting new mission.

Based on the richly imaginative books by award-winning design team, Meomi, the TV series combines elements of classic team adventure with dazzling CGI animation to transport preschoolers into a world they can’t ordinarily visit – the ocean. The show will arouse the curiosity and feed the imagination of preschoolers, answering questions on a journey of discovery through the world’s oceans.