The ABC has announced its 2027 content line-up, and two things are very clear: next year is going to be a big one for workplace dramas and crime series — old and new.
For one, Kitty Flanagan will don the baggy brown suit for the first time in two years, as she returns for the fourth season of beloved office comedy Fisk.
The comedian, who wrote the international hit alongside her sister Penny Flanagan, said they were partly inspired to revisit the story of Helen, a wills and probate lawyer, because they finally "understand what probate is and how it works".
"I have to admit, we've kind of been faking it for three seasons. We'd throw around the word 'probate' wherever it sounded right," Flanagan joked.
The sisters had no choice but to learn all about "the goddamn admin and probate" after their father died earlier this year.
"Don't expect Helen to fall in love ... suddenly develop a fashion sense ... [or] any great social skills," Kitty Flanagan said of Fisk's upcoming fourth season. (ABC/Origma 45)
"He was our biggest fan and was so proud of us and the show," Flanagan continued.
"I said to Penny, 'It would be crazy not to do another Fisk, now that we actually know what we're talking about'. And I think Dad would be delighted to know his passing inspired us to do this new season."
Also coming to the ABC next year is new drama The Great White, with Hollywood heavyweight Hugo Weaving transforming into a brilliant but disgraced barrister named Alan Armstrong, who's desperate to restore his reputation and get out of debt.
From the producers of Slow Horses and Apple Cider Vinegar, the series follows Armstrong as he joins an ailing law firm and takes on a dangerous dog case that ultimately sets him on a path of self-discovery.
Hugo Weaving's character is drawn into the world of animal law after reluctantly agreeing to take on a case he considers beneath him. (ABC/See-Saw Films)
But Flanagan and Weaving aren't the only familiar names returning to the broadcaster.
Rebecca Gibney, who last appeared in an ABC scripted show in 1995 — will front Rural Crime Unit alongside The White Lotus breakout star Morgana O'Reilly and relative newcomer Philip Lynch.
Gibney is set to play the uncompromising, big hat and high-heeled boot-wearing matriarch of a small-town called Gundawarra, where experienced local police officer Rita (O'Reilly) must work with city transplant Nick (Lynch) to solve crimes that run the gamut from missing livestock to industrial theft.
And yet, Gibney says this drama, set in the heart of country Australia, is far from a generic cosy crime series.
Rebecca Gibney sees Rural Crime Unit "as a peek into a rural Australian town that we may have all driven through, with characters that are sometimes larger than life but never boring". (ABC/Northern Pictures)
"When I read the initial description of Jolene and then the script, I knew I had to play her," the Packed to the Rafters and Halifax f.p. star said.
"There isn't a murder of the week, there are no dead bodies and while the two cops are certainly central to the story, this show is as much about the characters as it is about the crimes themselves.
"[And] there is a richness that is being so beautifully captured cinematically. It certainly has a Yellowstone feel, but with more than a touch of Priscilla and so uniquely Australian."
Fortitude Valley is another in the string of new crime offerings, but this series takes a darker approach to the genre, in a similar vein to 2026 hit Treasure & Dirt.
Set in Brisbane, it stars Hunter Page-Lochard (The Newsreader, The Sapphires) who will play a detective investigating the discovery of human remains in a recently demolished building.
Not only does the case become unexpectedly personal — solving it will involve coming up against a powerful property magnate, played by British actor Rupert Everett (My Best Friend's Wedding, Shrek 2).
"Fortitude Valley has always felt fresh to me, especially because of the cast," said star Hunter Page-Lochard. (ABC/Moving Floor Entertainment)
Page-Lochard, who also executive-produced the series and served as one of its writers, hopes the project will help other Indigenous creatives like him see a place for themselves in more contemporary Australian drama.
"That would be really special," he said.
Also riding next year's crime wave is Help Me!
Deadloch and Dustfall star Kate Box leads the series — billed as an off-kilter and darkly comedic thriller — playing a daughter forced to reconsider her fractured relationship with her eccentric mother (Sarah Peirse, The Letdown, Treasure & Dirt) after a woman slips them a note in a cafe begging for assistance.
Kate Box said her and Sarah Peirse's characters were "perfect sparring partners, bound by love, matched in smarts and a complete pain in each other's arse". (ABC/Lantern Pictures/Fremantle)
Box put the surge in emotionally charged thrillers to come next year down to an "awakening in our responsibility to scrutinise our part in the machine".
"I reckon the curtains are pretty far drawn on the systems we're encouraged to trust and outsource our thinking to," she said. "And feeling a bit emotional about that is a damn fine thing."
So, there are lots of new shows to come next year.
But it's not just Fisk returning
For the first time in four years, You Can't Ask That will be back on our screens.
Kirk Docker co-created the award-winning entertainment series, which sees everyday Australians ask unfiltered questions about taboo issues and gives people with lived experience the space to respond.
This time around, You Can't Ask That will focus on issues including scam victims, voluntary assisted dying and survivors of war. (ABC/Docker Media)
Docker said part of the reason for the show's return was to remind us we can still ask tough questions, "even though we're in a pretty conflicted world right now" — and that we can ask them of other people.
"If you talk to a chatbot, or if you ask Google something, you're going to get a summarised version … with no nuance, it's flat," he considered.
"When you hear it from [someone with lived experience], then you hear it from a second and a third person, and they don't agree, and they're different ages and ethnicities, you're reminded that life isn't monotone. It's spiky and thorny and interesting."
Similarly spiky and thorny and interesting, documentary competition series Race Around the World will also be returning, fresh off the back of its 2026 reboot.
It will again feature John Safran and Zan Rowe, the latter of whom is still coming to terms with the "phenomenal" response to the first season.
Zan Rowe said she started getting the sense Race Around The World "couldn't be more perfect for the times" while filming the most recent season. (ABC)
"It was a massive unknown because it was almost 30 years since the original series," she said.
"I'm curious to see if the [response next time] will be even bigger now audiences know they can travel around the world for 100 days making these stories, albeit in very stressful conditions."
The presenter will also helm a sixth season of Take 5 with Zan Rowe in 2027.
While Rowe can't say who will next appear on her celebrity music interview series (which has featured the likes of Shania Twain and Guy Pearce), she did say this: "If some of the people [we've started talking to] come to fruition, they're gonna be huge."
Shocking absolutely no-one, Hard Quiz is returning next year too, for what will be its 12th season.
Tom Gleeson admitted he initially thought there'd only be two seasons or so in Hard Quiz. "It seems like we've got a bottomless well of interesting Australians," he mused. (Supplied)
Host and comedian Tom Gleeson predictably said he was "quite happy" to continue making the show forever — or at least until ABC executives tell him to stop.
"But I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon, because Hard Quiz is propping up the whole schedule," Gleeson joked.
Also next year, rage will mark its 40th anniversary, which will of course be celebrated in a manner befitting a program that's shaped generations of music lovers.
For the newshounds, an ABC News documentary will explore The Rise and Fall of Alan Jones.
As for those who prefer their entertainment in audio format, there'll be plenty more Expanse.
Take a look at some of the other shows coming to the ABC in 2027:
Scripted
The upcoming Tim Ayliffe (right) adaptation boasts a cast including the likes of David Lyons (left), David Harewood, Yael Stone and Anthony LaPaglia. (ABC)
- John Bailey — The Enemy Within: Based on Tim Ayliffe's best-selling novel, a war correspondent with the requisite demons stumbles on a conspiracy after taking on a routine reporting job.
- Pilli Sisters PI: For the most part, sisters and Indigenous private investigators Marlee and May (Tasma Walton and Ursula Yovich) make a great team solving mysteries — but there's one case they haven't been able to crack: their younger brother's disappearance. A decade on, new leads emerge.
Some returning favourites: Dog Park, Return to Paradise and Ground Up
Documentary
Journalist Richard Baker is set to lead an investigation into cults, in a new three-part docuseries based on his original podcast. (ABC/Joel Loxton)
- Pray Harder: An exploration of coercive control and abuse in Australian cults.
- Wild Wild Whips: Three families fight for redemption, power and a last crack at glory at the National Whip Cracking Championships.
- Old People's Home for Four Year Olds and Family: 10 seniors are paired with four-year-olds and their parents in this slight twist on the old crowd favourite.
- Terra Futura: A look at what planet Earth could look like 3.8 billion years from now.
- Kumarangk: Sacred Women's Business: Unpacking the legal battle over the Ngarrindjeri women's sacred site in South Australia.
Some returning favourites: I Was Actually There, The Assembly, Muster Dogs, Kitchen Cabinet, Todd Sampson's Why?, Dr Ann's Secret Lives, Grand Designs Australia, Gardening Australia and Media Watch
Arts, music and events
Some returning favourites: The Piano, triple j Live at the Wireless, the ABC Classic 100 Concert, Portrait Artist of the Year and Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Entertainment
Some returning favourites: That Blackfella Show, Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont Spelling Bee, Urzila, Tonight at the Museum, Spicks & Specks, The Weekly and Gruen
Children's and family
Years have passed, and there may be a new batch of students in Little Lunch: New Class, but the emotional hurdles the kids face remain unchanged. (ABC/BBC/Gristmill)
- Little Lunch: New Class: Ms Gonsha welcomes a new batch of students to her class, 10 years on from the original crowd favourite mockumentary series.
- Emma's Dance Club: A quirky new scripted series in which Emma Watkins starts a dance club in a country town, introducing four local kids to the magic of movement in the process.
- Happy House: An animation following a share house full of animal influencers.
- Imagine This: Off the back of the hit ABC podcast, this high-energy STEAM series asks kids to let their imaginations run wild.
- Dirrell Lullaby: Written and performed by Alice Skye, this Indigenous lullaby explores connection to Country, featuring stories with deep meaning to Skye's Wergaia speaking communities in the Wimmera Mallee.
Some returning favourites: Do Not Watch This Show, It's Andrew!, Flower & Flour, Little J & Big Cuz, Dance with Tom, Caper Crew, Knee High Spies, Good Game Spawn Squad and Play School
Audio
- NRL podcast: Josh "Sauce" Mansour, Kennedy "Cherry" Cherrington and Andrew "Bop" Fifita chat everything Rugby League in twice-weekly episodes.
- The People Versus: Chaser co-founder Julian Morrow helps consumers get better deals by isolating bad practices in "big business", featuring real stories each episode.
- Straight to Tape: The team behind Like A Version record mini sets of three to four songs from local and international artists live to analogue tape in just one take.
- DEMO: A new series launching in Ausmusic Month in which triple j Unearthed delivers live stripped-back performances from emerging Australian artists.
Some returning favourites: ASSASSINS, The Dead Can't Sue, No-One Saw It Coming, Rewind, The Case Of, Unravel, Another Cuppa with Granny Bingo, Conversations, The Slop, The Grill, Ladies, We Need to Talk, The Hook Up and All in the Mind
News and current affairs
- Alliance: The seven-decade relationship between the US and Australia, in focus.
Expect to see all your favourites from News return, including: National Forum, ABC Your Say, 7.30, Australian Story, Foreign Correspondent, Four Corners, Insiders and Planet America