Rake Fifth, Final Season & Increasing Australian Drama Content

Australian dramas have been few and far between of late and cancellations and unclear futures hang over even the most popular series like Wentworth.

With Wolf Creek looking like being shelved due to allegations against lead star Jarrett, Stan have got some catching up to do (again) with no word on a second instalment of the brilliant Romper Stomper.

Matt Okine's comedy series The Single Guy also seems to have run it's course with one solo single season however apparently some new titles are in the works.

Channel Ten has really struggled in the drama scene for a while now, The Wrong Girl was great but never drew much of an audience, enter Playing for Keeps. Yes it's trashy, but hey they came in at the right time of the year. With the AFL Grand Final smashing the NRL TV audience the producers choose the more popular (and maybe less controversial) to follow.

Channel Nine is lost without Underbelly, however like Playing for Keeps on Ten, newcomer Bite Club is actually a good tense thriller. Unfortunately it's a one season idea, which spun out over multiple seasons or even a second season, may struggle to work.

We will wait to see how the series fairs as unlike Seven and Ten, without nightly dramas like Home and Away and Neighbours to get the local content hours up, they need content and stat.

Finishing up very soon is two popular series, one 800 Words, which I have never watched and never will on Seven and the popular and critically acclaimed Rake.

I struggled with the first episode of Rake this season with the move from Sydney to Canberra but with Jane Turner stealing the show, I am now laughing out loud at shit stolen directly from the corridors of power in the nations capital.

Canberra is actually a shit show right now, SoMo is no more than another flash in the pan leader, Bill Shorten has zero likability and Pauline, Katter and our final solution senator show Canberra has a knack for attracting the truly insane.

A Place to Call Home also is about to call it quits on Foxtel with Secret City to return for hopefully another brilliant outing. Foxtel has lead the way in drama for years now, it's a shame their Sky News makes the whole company unlikable. The Right at Night is truly frightening and I can not accept their choices, or understand why, unless you like live sport why people are still wasting their money on the most expensive streaming/pay per view service in Australia.

Speaking of Foxtel and all things Murdoch's Fox (or did he sell the entertainment part and keep the biased news/propoganda machine?) Mr Inbetween (an Australian show, picked up on US, FX) has just started and has a truly terrific cast. This might have to be an over Summer series to catch up on. Like Mystery Road from ABC, I am saving that for Christmas/New Years and cannot wait, I enjoyed the second film, so I am excited for this.

So Australian TV, keep the goods coming, it's a strong finish to the year!