Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire (Tuesday on ABC) could be the best Australian docuseries of the year. The first movie-length episode is incredibly moving and vivid, as the Sydney Luna Park death ride is recreated down to the smallest detail. The testimonies from eyewitnesses are truly harrowing, and will leave you haunted.
This is a slightly different investigation for the brilliant Caro Meldrum-Hanna, who also fronted Exposed: The Case of Keli Lane (2018), because the time the journalist gets access to a mountain of evidence from deceased artist Martin Sharp. Back in 1979, everybody automatically accepted the word of authorities, but today it would appear that the NSW Police have questions to answer about this supposed “accident”. Must-see.
Another true crime docuseries is the two-part Ivan Milat: Buried Secrets (Sunday on Seven), which is not available for preview. It explores whether there were “up to 20 more potential victims” and “the search for new clues is launched using state-of-the-art laser mapping technology”. Fingers crossed.
Australia in Colour
The first series of Australia In Colour (SBS on Demand) was the best docuseries of 2019 as it colourised old black and white footage, and then re-assembled them into a more inclusive history of Australia. Now there’s a second series, and while the sequel is not quite as compelling as the original, it is still fascinating.
Cricket is fascinating for many, but not me, so I had no interest in watching the well-received docuseries The Test: A New Era for Australia’s Team. The only sport that ever gets my attention is AFL, so Making Their Mark (Amazon Prime) has definitely made my radar.
Winners: Richmond celebrate in Making Their Mark
Making Their Mark focuses on a diverse cast that includes Indigenous Carlton player Eddie Betts, Fijian West Coast Eagles player Nic Naitanui and Richmond boss lady Peggy O’Neal. There are plenty of F-bombs from players and trainers, but special mention should be made of the lone coach who sticks to just saying “bloody”. Pleasingly, there is also not one mention or sighting of bloody Eddie McGuire. (Although his production company did make it.)
See also: As Making Their Mark arrives, more to come from Amazon Prime
Murder Among the Mormons (Netflix) is about how a search for historical documents led to a series of bombings. Much of the first episode covers a letter that supposedly revealed that a lizard revealed the location of the mythical “gold plates” (aka Mormon Bible) as opposed to an angel.
Apparently, this led to a “crisis of faith” for some believers, but by the time the bombs started going off, I was going off to sleep. Any Netflix show with murder in the title will rate, but this is pretty dire stuff. Get back to me if they ever find those gold plates.