Winter be Bingeing 26' - New Zealand Spy - Season One

New Zealand Spy is my second New Zealand series of the week. That follows recent Kiwi series Blue Murder Motel, which has recently been renewed for a second season.

Ms.X also ended its run on Binge this, with New Zealand Spy streaming all six episodes on ABC iView right now.

Created by Paul Williams, written by and starring Williams, Rose Matafeo, Bret McKenzie, and Joe Thomas. The show premiered on TVNZ 2 on in April, and ABC recently.

The six-part comedy spy series, follows new recruits start at the New Zealand Intelligence Agency in the latter half of the 20th Century.

The cast also includes Claudia O'Doherty, Tim Key, Andy Lee, Tony Armstrong and Sam Campbell with Abby Howells, Guy Williams, Joe Daymond, Jackie van Beek, Jesse Griffin, Jay Ryan, Rhys Matthewson, Shavaughan Ruakere, Pax Assadi, Scotty Cotter and James Mustapic.

So like Blue Murder Motel, they lean into some Aussie talent, with Andy Lee, Tony Armstrong and Sam Campbell all giving Australian audiences some familiar faces. Or familiar voices if you used to listen to Hamish and Andy on the 2Day networks. Does anyone still listen to 2Day FM? Or RnB Fridays whatever it is.

Anyway I'm in love with Tony Armstrong. FACT. But I didn't love this. It felt a little B grade. Or maybe a lot B grade. I know it was trying to have fun and be playful. But this was a bit blah. Anyway. You can stream for yourself and make up your own mind.

It was easy winter comfort viewing. Blue Murder Hotel has to be my pick of Kiwi shows though of late.

That was good. Like Return to Paradise on ABC, just sent in NZ.

OK for now, enjoy the weekend. The nights/afternoons are getting longer. That means winter can fuck right off! Seeya!

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Ms. X - Miniseries

Ms. X just wrapped last night on Binge, or did it?

The miniseries for New Zealand's Three, produced by Plus6Four and South Pacific Pictures, the series focuses on a woman named Mia who teams up with an old friend from high school to scare Mia's cheating husband into being faithful, but it leads to something far more dangerous.

Mia teams up with a friend from high school to scare her cheating husband into staying with Mia. She is pulled into something far more dangerous: the criminal underworld, caught between the police, her everyday life and the cartel.

Starring acclaimed Logie award-winning Australian actress Melissa George and written and created by New Zealanders Hannah Marshall and David de Lautour.

Ms. X commenced late last month, concluding last night with episode six. It did end on a bit of a "is there more moment". However, I think Ms. X is done for now...

Alongside Home & Away favourite Melissa George, Simone Kessell stars as Saskia, with Dean O'Gorman as Oscar, Jonno Roberts, Oscar Kightley and Wentworth favourite, Robbie Magasiva as Tevita.

I enjoyed the first few episodes, however, there felt like a few filler episodes in middle there.

It did have some humour as well as being a crime based series.

I really wanted to like this more, but by the end I was a little over it to be fair.

Binge are struggling with content now. They should be streaming House of Dragon from HBO. Ever since Binge lost HBO, they have been struggling to keep up with Netflix, local streamer, Stan and newer players like Apple TV and Prime.

That said I am seeing through the poor man's Big Little Lies, Five Star Weekend. In September we will see what Binge has to offer at Foxtel's upfront. At least Colin from Accounts is back, with High Country to also return on the local front.

American Horror Story also returns in September.

On the topic of shows wrapping soon. Cape Fear concludes on Friday, with Power Book III: Raising Kanan wrapping next Friday, alongside Apple TV alien/mystery series, Sugar.

Until next time. 

Winter be Bingeing 26' - The F Ward - Season One

The F Ward follows a group of medical interns sent to the underfunded Pines Hospital in Sydney for one final chance to complete their medical training. Here, they must overcome their insecurities, their past, and their own expectations in a hot-house environment where the stakes are life and death. 

The F Ward landed on Stan the other week, following, The Killings at Parrish Station and TV movie, Beast. So Stan has been leading the way with Aussie drama of late.

Binge also just gave us, the return of Colin from Accounts for a final season, whilst ABC recently gave us Treasure & Dirt.

Anna Friel leads, flawed but excellent interns are sent to the underfunded, under-resourced Pines Hospital, where the interns must overcome the expectations and challenges of their medical careers. They face final chances where the outcomes are life and death stakes.

Arka Das, Paula Arundell, Susie Porter, Jeremy Sims all have some interesting roles. Whilst Ioane Sa'ula as Jimmy Seufale, Love My Way's, Daniel Wyllie as Dr Curtis Parker, Lola Bond as Ellie O'Neill, Alex Fitzalan as Josh Wilson, Emily Barclay as Lisa Juracek, Rishab Kern as Yosef Perera & Annie Boyle as Ava Foley lead.

Alex Dimitriades also joins an episode as Stefan, a partying random, who ends up married with kids.

Ioane Sa'ula is super sexy, following his introduction through Bump. Which is interesting as the Bump creators, also created this Sydney-centric, The F War.

It was also excellent to see Kiwi, Emily Barclay back on the screen. 

I am excited at the state of Australia TV as we head into the Logies for 2026. Whilst the network TV is rubbish right now, with Ten celebrating rebooting Australian Ninja Warrior and Seven excited to pinch I'm a Celebrity Get Me Outta Here in 2027.

That brings us to the upfronts. With SBS going first on Tuesday September 1st at, Sydney Town Hall. Followed by Foxtel (usually including Binge announcements - that said Wentworth's reboot news is all out and about) on Thursday September 3 The Cutaway, Barangaroo, with Nine (at the same new venue as Foxtel) on September 17.

Nine should include Stan's new titles too. Or returning ones, which The F Ward could 100% be back.

Until next time, there is also a bit of Kiwi TV on at present. Look out for some titles from across the ditch ASAP!

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Treasure & Dirt - Season One

Treasure & Dirt is set in the scorched, dust-choked opal mining town of Nulla, where the brutal beheading of local miner pulls big-city detective Ivan Lucic (Dorman) into a labyrinthine case with no easy answers. 

Assigned to him is ambitious rookie detective Nell Buchanan (Hewson) who knows Nulla's lawless, corrupt underbelly far better than he does. Together, they’re drawn into a strange, surreal underworld of secrets, greed, and old sins that won’t stay buried. 

Treasure & Dirt is the latest Aussie drama on ABC. Following Bad Company, Urzila and Ground Up comedies, it's time for drama to return to Sunday nights on Aunty.

Produced by Easy Tiger, who happening to be filming the third season of Scrublands up the road from me. 

Based on the novel written by Chris Hammer. This six episode wonder landed on Sunday, with all episodes up on iView.

ABC has given drama a miss for a large chunk of 2026. So it's good to have drama back on the national broadcaster.

Alongside Dorman and Hewson, we have some familiar Australian faces. Sarah Peirse as Patricia Richter,

Elena Carapetis as Billie, Glenda Linscott as Packenham, Kelton Pell as Ray Penuch, Ling Cooper Tang as Lady Mayoress Lydia Tallon, Mark Mitchinson as Mayor Doug, Steve Le Marquand as Garry Ahern, Kris McQuade as Colleen Delaney, Bessie Holland as Carole & Nic Darrigo as Dazzler.

Treasure & Dirt is a bit batshit crazy, set in a strange, dessert like Australian setting. It started strong, it is well acted, however it lost me a little in the middle of the run.

I am happy for ABC to be back with some drama on Sunday nights and iView. So if trippy, gritty, dirty Aussie crime dramas are for you, give Treasure & Dirt a crack this weekend.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - The Agency - Season Two

Betrayed, compromised, and haunted by the woman he couldn’t save, CIA agent Martian’s world unravels as a mole hunt plunges London Station into chaos. As loyalties fracture, the truth becomes a weapon – and Martian’s only way out is deeper in. 

Series stars Michael Fassbender, Jeffrey Wright, with Jodie Turner-Smith and Richard Gere. 

Streaming on Paramount+, This was a Showtime title, however now it appears to have dropped the Showtime tag. Also the second landed, with all ten episodes dropping at once.

The Agency is a remake of the acclaimed French television series The Bureau.

Season two really ramped up as the episodes continued along. With Christian Ochoa Lavernia, Keanush Tafreshi, Medalion Rahimi, Raza Jaffrey, and Tessa Ferrer joining for the second season.

Keanush Tafreshi is one handsome guy too. Mamma Mia!

With no news on season three yet, read on with care if you binged all ten episodes like me in the last month. Yes it landed a month ago. Let's hope we get news on the future of The Agency ASAP!

During King Sacrifice, the finale, Henry is released from custody and informed of both Martian’s confession and Richardson’s death. 

The CIA plans to exchange an imprisoned Quds Force financier for Danny. A conservative mullah who opposes the exchange orders the IRGC to instead stage an escape attempt and kill her. The attempt fails and Danny escapes on foot to a rural gas station outside of Mehriz and calls for extraction. She reluctantly kills the suspicious owner when he calls the police and is rescued by Mossad operatives. 

Martian adapts the plan to assassinate Viking and impersonates Jansen to fly to the CAR, threatening his colleague into playing along. Wanting Viking dead, the Director allows the mission to proceed. Instead of giving Viking a custom gift wristwatch packed with explosives, Martian plants C4 in a portable chess clock which detonates just as Viking determines he is an imposter at the end of a game of bullet chess. 

With Viking seemingly dead and without any backup, an injured Martian tries to shoot his way out of the Valhalla compound but is captured himself. 

An unidentified Russian confirms he is being kept alive as they know who he is. Bosko orders him to be recorded as dead, pending confirmation.

What will become of Martian AKA Michael Fassbender? With Showtime (or now just Paramount+) down to four series. Surely they will keep this alive. With The Chi about to wrap, Yellowjackets to wrap when it returns and apparently Dexter's latest spin-off is apparently to stream it's second season this year.

More TV incoming soon. Two new Aussie series have landed. The F Ward on Stan, whilst Treasure & Dirt is on the ABC.

NOT another streaming Movie - The Odyssey

The Odyssey is the film everyone is talking about, which also sits at just under 3 hours. Just.

Written and directed by Christopher Nolan, following on from his monster box office smashes. Following the fab, The Dark Knight trilogy (2005–2012), The Prestige (2006), Inception (2010), Interstellar (2014), Dunkirk (2017),Tenet (2020), plus the Barbie combo film, Oppenheimer (2023). 

An adaptation of Homer's ancient Greek epic poem the Odyssey the film stars Matt Damon as Odysseus, the Greek king of Ithaca, as it chronicles his long and perilous journey home after the Trojan War and his encounters with mythical beings as he attempts to reunite with his wife, Penelope, portrayed by Anne Hathaway. 

Spiderman Tom Holland also stars, along with Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Samantha Morton, Zendaya, & Charlize Theron. It's a blockbuster size cast!

Nolan depicted a realistic interpretation of Greek mythology, drawing inspiration from the epic historical films Andrei Rublev (1966) and Ran (1985), as well as the films of special effects artist Ray Harryhausen. 

With an estimated budget of $250 million, The Odyssey is among the most expensive films of Nolan's career, and the first to be shot entirely on IMAX's 70 mm film cameras.

So far, The Odyssey has received critical acclaim, with particular praise for Nolan's direction, despite sparking debate over its inaccurate historical design, casting choices, and controversy surrounding filming in the occupied city of Dakhla.

It has grossed $264 million and set numerous records for Nolan, including for some IMAX pre-sales that were released a year in advance.

So is the film worth three hours of your time?

Look I had a big Saturday before I sat in a Hoyts Lux session Sunday afternoon. So I was comfortable, with free popcorn and a nice cool soda water. It was warmer again on the weekend right? Is winter done already?

Anyway this is going to be the biggest film of 2026. It's epic, it's a must see on the big screen, IMAX sales are off the chain, Christopher Nolan is saving cinema all over again like, Barbie/Oppenheimer times in 2023!

Tom Holland/Zendaya's upcoming Spiderman, may do well at the box office later this month, but this is the film to beat.

3 Stars.

Winter be Bingeing 26' - Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed - Season One

Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed stars Tatiana Maslany as a divorced fact checker who falls into a web of murder, blackmail, and youth soccer.

Yet another, original, fun Apple TV title.

Paula Saunders (Maslany) is a divorced fact checker living in Sunnyside, Queens in a contentious custody battle with her ex-husband Karl. Amidst her legal troubles, she pays for the online services of webcam boy Trevor and vents to him about her personal life. One night, Trevor is beaten and kidnapped on-camera; soon, Paula is receiving calls for ransom money. Police detectives insist to Paula that this is likely a scam, but then Trevor is found dead. Paula is roped into the mystery of Trevor's death as secrets from her past come to light.

Joining Maslany are, Jake Johnson, Dolly de Leon, Charlie Hall, Kiarra Hamagami Goldberg, Jessy Hodges, Jon Michael Hill, Nola Wallace, Brandon Flynn and Murray Bartlett.

It's a damn fine cast and a super original tale. It goes all over the place, but this comedy/thriller is a load of fun.

Apple TV is getting ready to launch back into Ted Lasso, their biggest original title, whilst Cape Fear, Silo and Sugar all continue to slay on Friday's.

Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed, takes you into the wild world of cam boys, crime and murder. This is an easy show for me to recommend. It is over too soon, I hope by the closing seconds of episode ten, we get a second season. Time will tell. Apple TV is usually good renewing their series, or letting you know where you stand as a viewer. However, I am still awaiting Loot's fate month's after it concluded.

Have a good weekend!