ABC2's blog

9:30pm – Monday, January 28 on ABC2

Hell on Wheels tells the epic story of post-Civil War America, focusing on a Confederate soldier (Anson Mount) who sets out to exact revenge on the Union soldiers who have killed his wife. His journey takes him west to Hell on Wheels, a dangerous, raucous, lawless melting pot of a town that travels with and services the construction of the first transcontinental railroad, an engineering feat unprecedented for its time.

In episode four, Cullen searches for the man known only as ‘Harper’, one of the men who murdered his wife. Lily arrives at Hell On Wheels to learn more about Durant, her deceased husband’s employer, and his railroad. Elam (Common) finds solace in the arms of another social outcast, Eva (Robin McLeavy), a prostitute.

8:30pm – Monday, January 28 on ABC2

Louis Theroux spends time with a small and very committed subculture of ultra-nationalist Jewish settlers in the occupied territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Louis wants to understand the lives of people who put both themselves and their families in danger, and also seem ready to attract the criticism of the rest of the world, in order to plant the flag for a bigger Israel that will encompass new lands.

In this program, Louis joins pioneer settlers who claim new hilltops for Jewish occupation and also spends time with those who live cheek by jowl with Palestinians in Hebron and East Jerusalem.

Louis discovers a group of people who consider it their religious and political obligation to populate some of the most sensitive and disputed areas of the West Bank, especially those with a spiritual significance dating back to the Bible.

Throughout his journey, Louis gets close to the people most involved with driving the extreme end of the Jewish settler movement – finding them warm, friendly, humorous, and deeply troubling.

9:30am – Monday, January 28 on ABC2

In this new week day series of Play School, we explore the theme of dinosaurs.

Young children love learning about dinosaurs. They like to stomp about and roar like dinosaurs and they also enjoy hearing stories, singing songs and looking at pictures of these fantastic creatures of long ago. During this new week day series, there are many creative opportunities to enthral all those preschoolers interested in dinosaurs, and they’ll have lots of fun roaring and stomping about like dinosaurs along with the presenters.

Review Episode: Monday, January 28 at 9.30am on ABC4Kids During episode one of this five day series on dinosaurs, Alex Papps and Leah Vandenberg create a swampy forest, make a Gigantosaurus, and dig for pretend dinosaur bones in the Play School sandpit.

Preschoolers will also see other young children pretending to be dinosaurs during Through the Windows segment; Alex reads Stomp! by Ruth Paul; and Alex and Leah sing dinosaur-inspired songs.

9:00am – Tuesday, January 22 on ABC2

Preschoolers’ favourite gardener, dirtgirl, returns to ABC4Kids this summer.

dirtgirlworld is a music-centric series with a distinctive blend of animation, photomontage and illustration and takes children to a world where the real and unreal collide. dirtgirl grows awesome tomatoes, knows the names of clouds, drives a big orange tractor and has a backyard full of friends.

There’s scrapboy, her best friend who’s a whiz with junk. There’s grubby with her worm’s eye view, ken the weevil, roger the rooster and the chicks, hayman the monosyllabic scarecrow, and the green thumbs – real kids in real gardens having fun.

dirtgirlworld invites the young audience to a place where the real and unreal hang out together. The series has an environmental focus, contemporary and exciting music for children, and provides an invitation for people who want to encourage their children to step outside and have a go.

Episode one: Morning: Tuesday, January 22 at 9.00am on ABC4Kids Every morning, dirtgirl bounces out of bed as soon as she hears roger the rooster crow. That rooster is a natural alarm clock and dirtgirl has a lot to do this morning. There are chickens to feed, eggs to gather, spinach to water and fresh stuffing for hayman. All before breakfast.

For the chickens it’s a mushy mix, for grubby … a big bowl of dirt is her fast-breaking fare. Ken discovers egg shells are quite tasty while scrapboy decides breakfast is his favourite meal!

7:30pm – Saturday, January 26 on ABC2

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World premiered in 2003 and received 10 nominations for Academy Awards, including best picture. It was directed and co-written by celebrated Australian director Peter Weir. The movie was drawn from the 20-volume series of seafaring novels by Patrick O’Brian which follow the exploits of Captain Jack Aubrey (Russell Crowe) and his close friend, surgeon Stephen Marurin (Paul Bettany).

The True Story reveals the extraordinary real-life stories of an invincible warship – and the swashbuckling nobleman who inspired the classic movie of combat on the high seas.

9:30pm – Friday, January 25 on ABC2

By day Pattaya is a sun-soaked family beach resort, which attracted seven million tourists last year. It’s home to the world famous ladyboy cabaret shows that see young ladyboys flock to the city seeking fame and fortune. But by night, those that don’t make it on stage flaunt their flesh in Pattaya’s infamous red-light district.

Thirty-one-year-old Too is a bar hostess; selling her body in order to change it. She longs for the operation that will make her a complete woman. Too hopes she will meet a Western customer who will give her a chance at a better life.

Meanwhile Brits David and Scott continue to date their ladyboy lovers. Scott is planning to relocate from the north of England to Pattaya, where he’ll open a bar with his fianc�e Paeng. For Scott, Pattaya is a vibrant accepting city, while David can’t ignore the rampant sexual exploitation that he himself indulged in when he was newly divorced.

One of the lucky ladyboys is 22-year-old March, a backing dancer at Alcazar, the largest cabaret venue in town. March has yet to have a sex-change operation. At night she adorns herself with sequins, glitter and lipstick to perform on stage for the tourists, but March leads a double life: by day she’s a student, forced to wear a male uniform to attend Bangkok University.

9:55pm – Thursday, January 24 on ABC2

Maven (Justin Chubb) is about to announce the opening of the fourth wonder of Jinsy: The Arbiter Maven Bridge. On the verge of its completion, however, island eco-warrior, Edery Molt (guest star Kevin Eldon), abseils in and raises the Glamorous Arrow to protect the rare She-Hair-Hair mushroom that’s grown in the bridge’s path.

There’s nothing Maven can do, except invite Edery over to dinner to try and persuade him to drop the Glamorous Arrow. Things start to look up when Sporall (Chris Bran) discovers an Ool Bat in the Tower, a favourite of the eco-warriors, and something of a bargaining tool for Maven.

9:30pm – Thursday, January 24 on ABC2

The multi award-winning and critically acclaimed hit comedy comes to ABC2. Peep Show follows the private worlds of Mark (David Mitchell) and Jeremy (Robert Webb), two twenty-something flatmates living in south London.

Simon, Dobby’s ex-boyfriend, invites Mark, Jeremy, SuperHans and Dobby to join him and his friends for a paint balling weekend. Jeremy gets talking to Neil, one of Simon’s colleagues, and after reassuring Neil that he’s a qualified life coach, advises him to leave his wife. Neil, guided by Jeremy, ends his five year marriage. But when Neil realises that he’s made a terrible mistake, Simon’s friends hold Jeremy responsible.

Meanwhile, Mark becomes worried that Simon is using the weekend as a cover, and that his real intention is to get back with Dobby.

However, Mark spends so long obsessing over Simon that he fails to notice that it’s Jeremy who’s starting to fall for Dobby.

So when the paint balling game begins, emotions are already running high, at which point, SuperHans decides to take a huge amount of recreational drugs.

9:00pm – Thursday, January 24 on ABC2

With some of the best stars from the world of comedy, including Robin Williams, Ross Noble, Russell Kane, Tim Minchin, Drew Carey, Frank Skinner and Dara O’Briain, Set List challenges them to a comedy gig like no other, full of weird concepts and challenging juxtapositions. Set List is a brand new fully improvised stand-up show in front of a live audience, which takes the cream of the comedy circuit and presents them with the ultimate challenge: come up with a brand new comedy routine on the spot – based on topics handed to them as they approach the mic.

The audience can also add their own set list wildcards for good measure and each bizarre, left-field phrase will be projected onto a screen behind the comic so the audience and the viewer at home can follow along. Set List will also show exclusive footage from both backstage and the green room. This backstage footage will intercut the main onstage performances and provide revelatory moments where we watch our comedians squirm, congratulate each other, and discuss and comment on each other’s routines and the extreme jeopardy of the Set List.

8:30pm – Thursday, January 24 on ABC2

Jamie (Sean Michael Verey – Skins, Casualty, The Bill) and Laura’s (Scarlett Alice Johnson – EastEnders, Adulthood) parents meet for lunch to discuss the future of their families. Laura and Jamie are rightly apprehensive about a family summit, but even they couldn’t have foreseen how badly this was going to go.

Meanwhile, whilst making up the numbers on Beth’s (Yasmin Paige – Submarine, The Sarah Jane Adventures) double date, Virgin Mike (Dylan Edwards – Misfits, Peep Show) faces a sexual dilemma when he’s offered a threesome with stunning Carrie-Ann and her handsome gay friend, Aaron.