ABC2's blog

7:30pm – Thursday, November 1 on ABC2

This six-part series follows some of Britain’s worst fully licensed drivers as they seek professional help to sort out their problem driving.

In Leeds, we meet Dave – an aggressive tailgater who is terrorising his family, his girlfriend and the rest of the city. Dave thinks he’s a good driver and doesn’t understand why everyone criticises him. It’s time for instructor Steve to mediate and slow Dave down.

In Halifax, schools examiner Helen is sick of having her driving criticised by her twin sister and supposed best friend. She knows parking is her weak spot but is she really so bad? Despite her weakness, Helen still thinks she’s a competent and safe driver and wants a second opinion from an expert to end the arguments.

Over in Norfolk, retiree Robert drives a classic Morris Minor in much the same way as when he passed his driving test in 1966. His sister Susan can’t stand his slow pace and wishes he’d embrace the 21st century.

It’s clear that Robert needs to learn that driving slowly can still be a danger.

Can a two-hour session with a professional instructor help turn these dangerous drivers into model motorists?

9:30pm – Wednesday, October 31 on ABC2

After cooking up a storm with some of Australia’s most surprising politicians in the first series of Kitchen Cabinet, Annabel Crabb is coming back to ABC2 with a second helping.

Each week our veteran political journalist invites herself over to the home of a sitting member offering dessert in exchange for dinner.

Annabel Crabb is ABC Online’s chief political writer, and columnist for ‘The Drum’. She is a regular guest on ABC News 24′s 6pm current affairs show The Drum, and on ABC TV’s Sunday morning politics program Insiders. She writes a weekly column for the Sun Herald, Sunday Times (Canberra) and Sunday Age, and is a panellist and keen competitor on ABC1′s Randling. (Favourite word: Preposterous.) Via small plane, car and camel Annabel takes the long trek to remote Queensland to be wined and dined by one of the most colourful characters in the Australian Parliament. Before entering Parliament, Nationals Leader in the Senate Barnaby Joyce was a bouncer, football player and country town accountant. On the veranda of his St George home Barnaby talks about lessons learnt from Joh BjelkePetersen, compares Parliament to his days boarding at an elite private school, and extols the virtues of keeping the message simple. As the sun sets on his meat and mash-based dish, Annabel enjoys some classic Barnaby-isms but also discovers there’s far more to Senator Joyce than colourful quips.

8:30pm – Wednesday, October 31 on ABC2

Twenty-two-year-old Holly loves her dog Suki, she paints Suki’s nails and puts diamantes on them and feeds her non-stop treats. Mikki lives in a rough part of London, so for protection he is training his six-month-old pup Chicka to bite. While on the street, he never has his pup on the lead, posing a danger not only to Chicka but others on the street.

In the hope of becoming better pet owners, Holly and Mikki travel to South Africa to spend a week with dogs that are trained to track down rhino poachers.

They meet tough-talking Henry, one of the most successful security and military dog trainers in the country. He’s at war with rhino poachers. Rhinos are endangered and one is killed by illegal hunters every day. Finding the poachers is vital, but will the Brits cope with tough new responsibilities, and will the experience help them re-evaluate their own lives.

Henry expects Holly and Mikki to bond and control the dogs – they are given three dogs to look after, to feed and clean up after, something Holly struggles with. They undertake bite training, where Mikki’s cockiness is apparent. After two days at the dog pound, Henry takes the Brits into the African bush to further test their abilities with tracking exercises and an anti-poaching test.

9:30pm – Tuesday, October 30 on ABC2

Preparations for Sergeant Lloyd’s (Patrick Brammall) production of The Phantom of the Opera are in full swing when the theatre is vandalised and the set dresser quits. It falls on Banks (Toby Truslove) and Gregor (Barry Crocker) to get the theatre into shape before opening night. Cue weird, spooky happenings.

Gregor immediately points the finger at the theatre’s ghost. Banks refuses to believe Gregor’s tale and it looks like he’s right, when they meet an elderly man, Burt Ferguson (Desmond Kelly), in the theatre. Burt believes he is the star of the show, and that the year is 1942.

Gregor thinks they’ve found their ghost – a dead actor from the past! Banks thinks he’s just a senile old man. Gregor blackmails Banks to help Burt ‘cross over’ by performing a scene from the play. At the end of this performance, Burt disappears.

Has he crossed over or made his escape?

7:30pm – Monday, October 29 on ABC2

The Aker H6e is the biggest oil rig on the planet, built for the extreme conditions of the Barents Sea, located north of Norway.

Marine operations chief Knut Engebretsen and his team of Norwegian engineers have tight deadlines for some major moves to put this monster together. The oil rig is so big that half of it is being constructed in Norway and the other half is being built in Dubai where construction costs are cheaper. When the Dubai-built structure is finished, it will make the 53 day journey via the Suez Canal to Norway for final assembly.

The construction crew have to ‘skid’ eight-thousand-tonne hull pieces on rails across a giant yard. The steel deck that goes on top of the hull weighs more than 11,000 tonnes. Raising it up in the air ten storeys will be one of the most extreme heavy lifts ever attempted by the construction crew. On top of these mega-challenges, this hardy crew of Norwegian engineers has to battle extreme bad weather along the way.

6:00pm – Monday, October 29 on ABC2

The Pajanimals is a 52 x 11 minute short-form musical series featuring four soft cuddly animals who snuggle together every night to sing sweet night time songs to their preschool viewers.

There’s Sweetpea Sue, a shy, smart pony who never forgets to wash up before bedtime; Squacky, an excitable duck who sometimes has a hard time settling down at night; Cowbella, a creative, well-mannered cow with an Italian accent; and Apollo, an upbeat, optimistic pup who loves space adventures but has a slight case of separation anxiety.

The Pajanimals is both entertaining and educational as it helps comfort preschool viewers with bedtime themes covering transitional issues such as sleeping through the night and being comfortable with the lights out.

Episode 27: Oops! – Monday, October 29 at 6.00pm on ABC4Kids Squacky is excited because he doesn’t have to wear a pull up to bed for the first time! But that night, Squacky is sad because he’s had an accident and wet his bed. When they travel to the Night Sky, the Moon reminds Squacky not to drink too much water before bed and explains to him that it’s okay to have accidents and these feelings will pass.

Episode 28: Sing a Pajanimal Song – Tuesday, October 30 at 6.00pm on ABC4Kids The Pajanimals have formed a band and when they play their new song, Apollo keeps making mistakes.

This frustrates him and leads to him quitting the band. The Pajanimals don’t want Apollo to quit the band, so they all travel to Storybook Land where Edwin shares with Apollo that he too has felt frustrations, but if you practice, you will get better and the feeling of frustration will pass!

8:30pm – Sunday, October 28 on ABC2

On a South Leeds estate in the heart of Rugby League territory, a group of nine young boys are preparing for competition.

But they are not taking on Bradford Northern or Hull Kingston Rovers.

This is a documentary about Britain’s leading all-boys cheerleading team – the DAZL Diamonds and their coach Ian Rodley.

Director James Newton follows the team and their families as the boys fluff up their pom poms and prepare for the National Championships in Coventry where they hope to be the first boys team to lift the trophy – a win which could change their lives forever.

8:30pm – Saturday, October 27 on ABC2

Ken (Marlon Brando) is a war veteran paralysed in combat, who returns home to face the torturous ordeal of rehabilitation…only to learn he will never walk again. Embittered by his condition, he refuses to see his fianc�e Ellen (Teresa Wright) and sinks into a solitary world of hatred and hostility.

Fighting her parents, society and her own self-doubts, it is Ellen who ultimately forces him to confront the reality of his situation.

Directed by Fred Zinnemann, The Men stars Marlon Brando and Teresa Wright.

9:00pm – Tuesday, October 23 on ABC2

ISIS goes into full lockdown after Pam is abducted by kidnappers. Wait, Pam? Yes, but the kidnappers were really after Cheryl/Carol. Wait, Cheryl/Carol? Yes, because Cheryl/Carol isn’t quite who she appears to be.

Or is it whom? We’ll find the answers to these questions – and two more – on this episode of Archer.

Archer is an animated half-hour comedy set at ISIS, an international spy agency, where global crises are merely opportunities for its highly trained employees to confuse, undermine, betray and royally screw each other.

9:30pm – Friday, October 26 on ABC2

The group reconvenes at the retreat to work on building the confidence they need to tackle the challenges they face in daily life.

Lewis came out as a man three years ago. Taking the male hormone testosterone means he’s got a beard, a lower voice and body hair, but still has female breasts. He is now determined to raise the 5000 pounds he needs to get a mastectomy.

As he goes about setting up a fund raiser, it becomes the opportunity he’s been waiting for to reconnect with his father, who’s struggled to come to terms with ‘losing his daughter’.

Drew starts the third retreat believing that she’ll never be able to live a normal life.

She’s been rejected by potential employers fearing their customers’ reactions to her trans status, but just as they’re preparing to leave the retreat, she gets the chance she’s been hoping for: work experience at a local coffee shop.

It’s up to her to prove she can put a sceptical public at ease, and work like any other girl.