ABC2's blog

8:40pm – Tuesday, March 9 on ABC2

They say there’s only six degrees of separation between you and the rest of the world. Sometimes it’s not even that many. Sometimes the most brutal evil you can imagine is already part of your world.

Durham County is an emotionally powerful six-part series that centres on Detective Mike Sweeney (Hugh Dillon – Flashpoint) and his family as they move from the city to a seemingly idyllic suburb in the hope of making a new start. But the appearance of a local serial killer sees Mike assigned to the case and become increasingly suspicious that his new neighbour Ray Prager (Justin Louis – Missing; Dawn Of The Dead) may be the killer.

Mike and Ray share a history stretching back as far as high school… a history that could have deadly consequences. This award-winning Canadian drama also stars Australian actress Hélène Joy as Audrey Sweeney (Water Rats, Stingers.) In episode six, Detective Mike Sweeney battles to prove his innocence while his nemesis, Ray Prager spins violently out of control and abducts Mike’s daughter, Sadie.

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9:30pm – Monday, March 8 on ABC2

In the second episode of this two-part opener, Will hears from Dr Helen Magnus (Amanda Tapping) that the world is full of nature’s mistakes and triumphs and that she has spectacular proof of the strange and often terrifying creatures that secretly populate our world. She takes a mystified Will (Robin Dunne) on a tour of the Sanctuary where he can see for himself that ‘abnormals’ do exist outside of his imagination.

She explains that the Sanctuary is a place for all of nature’s creations – it is indeed a ‘Sanctuary for all’ – where abnormals are respected and helped and where she can delve into the rich evolution and diversity of life.

While Will wraps his head around this astonishing news, Dr Magnus receives a call from her daughter Ashley who informs her she’s hot on the trail of the boy and needs backup in the subway tunnels.

Deep underground, Dr Magnus, Will and Ashley (Emilie Ullerup) find the boy who reveals his secret in a rather alarming way. Clearly skilled at the chase, Dr Magnus and Ashley manage to bring the boy back to the Sanctuary securely, where they can investigate further.

Will is put to the test right away when Dr Magnus asks him to talk to the boy in spite of the danger he poses. Will uses his insightful psychiatric skills and personal understanding to connect with the young patient, impressing Dr Magnus who urges him to join her team.

The events of the evening now well in hand, Ashley goes out against her mother’s wishes. She is confronted for the first time by the sinister John Druitt (Christopher Heyerdahl), who possesses a force she has never encountered and a spectacular fight ensues. In spite of her impressive skill and strength, Ashley may have met her match against the mysterious Druitt who has a hidden agenda and baffling knowledge of Dr Magnus…

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9:05pm – Monday, March 8 on ABC2

The writers head to one of the most coveted gigs on the summer calendar – the Roskilde Music Festival in Denmark. It’s their first group assignment, but will they learn there is no ‘I’ in team?.

Hip-hop expert Krish refuses to write about rock-and-roll and accuses Russell of stealing her stories. Pete catches up with Wolfmother but Krish cannot get a break with Kanye. Russell is increasingly M.I.A back in New York. Krystal is rocking out, but how is her writing going.

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8:30pm – Saturday, March 6 on ABC2

Joanna Drayton (Kathleen Houghton) returns home from vacation with a fiancée, John Wade Prentice (Sidney Poitier), 35, a successful doctor, and an African American. Her mother Christina (Katharine Hepburn) is rapidly won over, but father Matthew (Spencer Tracy) is hesitant about this interracial union, and John won’t marry Joanna without both parents’ consent.

The arrival of John’s parents compounds the difficulties, since they are dismayed and incredulous to discover their son’s intended is Caucasian. After some painfully honest confrontations, the parents eventually respect their children’s decision.

Directed by Stanley Kramer, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner won two Academy Awards in 1967 – Actress – Katharine Hepburn (Christina Drayton), and Writing (Story and Screenplay – written directly for the screen) – William Rose.

The film also received eight nominations – Actor – Spencer Tracy (Matt Drayton); Actor In A Supporting Role – Cecil Kellaway (Monsignor Ryan); Actress In A Supporting Role – Beah Richards (Miss Prentice); Art Direction – Art Direction: Robert Clatworthy; Set Decoration: Frank Tuttle; Directing – Stanley Kramer; Film Editing – Robert C. Jones; Music (Score of Music – adaptation or treatment) – DeVol; and Best Picture – Stanley Kramer, Producer.

6:30pm – Saturday, March 6 on ABC2

It’s the day before Rosie’s (Lucy Jo Hudson) wedding – after the tragic events of the first attempt. Danny (Stephen Tompkinson) is proud of his daughter and determined to feed her up now that she’s eating for two.

All the family are excited about the imminent return of Caroline (Hayley Mills), especially Du Plessis (Deon Stewardson) who can’t wait to see his fiancé. There’s a shock in store for Du Plessis when Caroline calls. She has decided to stay in England as it’s too painful for her to be in Africa with all the memories of Sarah. Du Plessis is devastated as he reveals that Caroline is never coming back.

9:30pm – Friday, March 5 on ABC2

Although he should be worried, Walt (Bryan Cranston) finds it erotically exciting to stay one step ahead of the police investigation that could ultimately tie him to a pair of murders. While the beating he suffered has Jesse (Aaron Paul) looking to sell his house and get out of the drug trade altogether, the new deal Walt has negotiated is restarting their meth lab in order to satisfy the ruthless Tuco (Raymond Cruz). But even though they come up woefully short of what was promised, Walt still convinces Tuco to underwrite the purchase of more equipment and materials for their business.

Meanwhile, as she looks to Dr. Delcavoli for a ray of hope in Walt’s battle with cancer, Skyler’s (Anna Gunn) arrest while returning an expensive baby shower gift has led her to suspect that it was stolen by her sister, Marie.

To make good on the four pounds of meth he promised to deliver to Tuco every week, Walt devises a new process and sends Jesse to procure a long list of lab equipment and chemicals.

To get the time away from home he needs to complete his work, Walt tells Skyler that he is going to spend a few days at a Navajo healing ceremony. However, when Jesse come up one ingredient shy of what they need to manufacture the next batch, Walt’s homemade bomb helps them carry out a daring night time raid on a chemical plant to steal it. And when problems with their mobile lab force them to relocate their operation to Jesse’s basement, they risk being discovered during a realtor’s unexpected open house.

Finally, after delivering a new batch to Tuco, Walt and Jesse get the go ahead to produce as much meth as they can.

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10:00pm – Thursday, March 4 on ABC2

Series 6 of the multi award-winning sitcom starring David Mitchell and Robert Webb.

Peep Show follows the antics of Mark (David Mitchell) and Jeremy (Robert Webb), two flat-mates living in south London. Mark is the sensible one – a professional brogue wearer with a slightly worrying interest in World War Two. Jeremy is the loose cannon – a lazy waster with dodgy friends who dreams of becoming a musician but can never get his act together, let alone get up in the morning.

Shot entirely from the characters’ point of view, the audience is also party to their deepest and darkest thoughts as they try in vain to find their place in the modern world and to find love and fulfilment.

Last week (Episode 1, Thursday 28 January at 10pm on ABC2), Mark and Jeremy were determined to avoid the issue of Sophie’s (Olivia Colman) baby for as long as possible – given one or other of them is the father. Newly promoted at work, Mark enjoyed his additional power and wealth by splashing out on a boiler and sofa, and by finding Jeremy a job in the office. His pursuit of Dobby (Isy Suttie), the company IT girl, also looked promising – until a routine fire drill put his plans into total disarray.

This week, Mark makes a final play for Dobby, the object of his desires. While Jeremy meets a new love, Elena (Vera Filatova). Elena is a Russian émigré who loves music and poetry and, after long deliberation, has concluded: “I often think that children are our future”. Both guys are determined to impress, but one of them is an expectant father. When the pregnant Sophie spills the beans, both Mark and Jeremy’s worlds change forever. Worse still, the new boiler is playing up. The economic boom may be over, but for the guys the baby boom is just about to begin.

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9:30pm – Thursday, March 4 on ABC2

Gavin and Stacey are happy and in love until a misunderstanding on the phone at work leaves Stacey broken-hearted and Gavin in a state. Gavin decides he must clear things up and drives all the way to Barry Island to talk to Stacey in person.

Stacey cannot bear to be parted from Gavin, so agrees to come back to Billericay with him, where his proud mother, Pamela, is beside herself with excitement and sets about cleaning the house from top to bottom.

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9:30pm – Wednesday, March 3 on ABC2

In the year 2010 we live in a sex-drenched society, but how did we get here from conservative 1950′s America? Forever caught in the throes of a bitter culture war, the story the sexual revolution and its legacy is more than ever charged with moral controversy. Was it liberation and wild ecstasy? Moral degeneracy? AIDS? All of the above.

Sex: The Revolution, a four-part documentary series, explores a time in American history that challenged centuries of traditional morality about sex. This revolution eradicated people’s fear, loathing and ignorance about sex; promoted unprecedented sexual honesty and expression; and made laws which would end censorship and legal retribution for people’s private sexual behaviour. Sex: The Revolution is the story of the visionaries, movements and fanatics who created the sexual revolution, and the story of the opponents who feared and condemned it and launched a counter-revolution.

In episode one, Save it for Marriage, the stultified, sexually repressed America of the 1950s – when kids were taught to ‘save it for marriage’ is transformed by Hugh Hefner’s groundbreaking Playboy magazine, with its first issue selling 90,000 issues. Dr Alfred Kinsey releases his second groundbreaking study, Sexual Behaviour in the Human Female and the contraceptive pill is released on the market, allowing women to have sex without fear of pregnancy.

By the mid 1960s, as the counter-culture emerges, issues of censorship and freedom of expression are freely explored. Hippies take to the streets of San Francisco and the sexual repression of the 1950s seems like a distant memory. ‘Free love’ is in the air as a new generation embraces utopian idealism.

Over the next three episodes this fascinating documentary continues to tell the full story of the Sexual Revolution – from swingers clubs to studio 54, Barbarella to Deep Throat, Cosmopolitan to The Joy Of Sex, women’s liberation to gay rights, and finally AIDS which put the brakes on sexual promiscuity – and how this revolution changed America and the world.

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8:30pm – Wednesday, March 3 on ABC2

Dominic Gill has gone to extraordinary lengths to find some new friends. He has ridden a tandem bicycle from the wild northern coast of Alaska to the Southern tip of South America, with an empty backseat – just so that he can pick people up along the way to talk to. As the journey – including all the twists and turns – is some 30,000 miles, it has taken over two years to complete.

Take A Seat is the exciting story of Dominic’s journey, and gives a stunning and unique view of the two most exciting continents on earth. His route takes him through wildly contrasting social and physical landscapes – everything from the glamour of Hollywood to the very real dangers of crossing the lawless no-mans-land between Panama and Colombia. It is a fantastic adventure.

Along the way, he faces everything from pedalling for his life after being threatened by a machete-wielding mad Mexican, to sampling sheep’s head soup for breakfast in Peru. He camped with jail birds and slept in police stations, fire stations, family homes, schools and often by the road with only a bike and snakes for company. Meeting his companions along the way in bars, diners and on the roadside, Dominic shares his journey with peasants, policemen, drifters, mayors, women he fancied – anyone that he can persuade to help him cycling his tandem a few miles along the mammoth marathon he set for himself.

Dominic has proved he can complete the challenge, and managed to capture it all on camera. Through one man’s epic, compelling journey, Take A Seat offers a brand new look at what the world has to offer.

The film won a Special Jury Award at the Banff Film Festival and has been nominated at the Kendal Mountain Festival.

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