With rating season coming to a close Foxtel still has some great content for December
With the premiere of Supergirl and new reality seasons as well as interesting documentaries, there’s going to be something to see.
Larry Kramer In Love And Anger
HBO Documentary
showcase
Tuesday, December 1 at 7.30pm
Australian Premiere
Author, playwright and AIDS activist Larry Kramer takes centre stage in this candid portrait that examines the monumental effect of one of the most important – and controversial – figures in contemporary gay America, a political firebrand who gave voice to the outrage and grief that inspired gay men and women to fight for their lives. The film utilises personal photos, archival footage of GMHC and ACT UP, scenes from the semi-autobiographical plays The Destiny of Me and The Normal Heart, and three decades of interviews in which Kramer opens up about his past, as do those who know him best. Filmmaker and friend Jean Carlomusto also takes viewers inside Kramer’s 2013 stay in the ICU, as he recuperates from complications of a liver transplant brought on by years of living with HIV. Juxtaposing footage of Kramer angrily protesting with scenes of him being lovingly cared for in the hospital by his partner David, Larry Kramer In Love & Anger celebrates a multifaceted figure, known for his quick temper as much as for his endless passion.
Celebrating Max – 15 Years In 15 Days
Starts Tuesday, December 1 and continues until Tuesday 15 December
Max Sessions will run at 10 am and 9 pm Daily
Top 100 Run daily from 11 am
MAX
On December 1 MAX turns 15 and we are celebrating for 15 days! Join us every day for the Best of MAX Sessions, featuring music icons including Coldplay, Jimmy Barnes, K.D LANG, John Butler Trio, Neil Finn, Powderfinger, Slash and The Angels and we have compiled 15 of the best Top 100s to keep you entertained each day including One Hit Wonders, Home Grown Legends and BBQ Anthems.
The Unseen Time Team Specials
History
Tuesdays from December 1 at 7.30pm
Australian Premiere
For the first time on Australian television, History presents a brand new collection of very special archaeological assignments undertaken by Sir Tony Robinson and the Team. We present eight never before seen digs which include: Flanders: The Lost WWI Bunker Swords; Skulls and Strongholds; The Lost Dock of Liverpool; The Real Knights of the Round Table; Codename: Ainsbrook; Dover Castle; The Mystery of the Roman Treasure; and Castle of the Saxon Kings.
The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills
Season 6
Arena
Wednesdays from December 2 at 8.30pm
Australian Premiere
Express from the US
The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills returns for season six with jaw-dropping bling, wild fun, shocking drama and a few surprises along the way as Lisa Vanderpump, Kyle Richards, Yolanda Foster, Lisa Rinna and Eileen Davidson are joined by new housewives Erika Girardi and Kathryn Edwards. This season, Yolanda’s struggle with Lyme disease continues as she goes to extremes in search of a cure, which leads the other women to question her actions. Longtime friends, Lisa Vanderpump and Lisa Rinna, are also in the crossfire as gossip and secrets erupt into a deeply personal conflict between the two. New to the group, Kathryn tries to befriend Erika, but they quickly become embroiled in their own drama and sparks fly when they start speaking the truth. Kyle is just trying to keep her head above water while expanding her store, maintaining friendships with the women and dealing with unexpected personal matters. Reeling from the recent death of her father-in- law, Eileen seeks a much-needed apology after questions and details about her marriage arise from another housewife. Whether driving Ferraris in Italy, staying at a glorious house in the Hamptons or receiving VIP treatment at the world’s tallest building in Dubai, nothing will keep the Beverly Hills housewives from shedding tears and hurling accusations while still keeping up impeccable appearances.
The Sleeping Beauty: Behind The Curtain With The Australian Ballet
Foxtel Arts
Wednesday, December 2 at 7.30pm
Two Hour Special
Local Production
Australian Premiere
Available on Foxtel Anytime
An insightful documentary detailing what it takes to showcase one of the world’s most loved ballets. All the elements dancers, directors, choreographers, set designers, costume, stage managers and crew play an integral part when putting on a world-class ballet performance.
Simply Nigella
LifeStyle FOOD
Wednesdays from December 2 at 8.30pm
Australian Premiere
Simply Nigella introduces viewers to a new pared-down approach to cooking and eating. With a handful of dishes per show, Nigella will talk about what the recipes mean to her as well as giving tips to find the easiest way to cook them. With feasts for special occasions sitting alongside tasty everyday meals, Nigella will deliver a true sense of balance between lightness and lushness. From healthy everyday breakfasts and substantial weekend brunches to quick-to-make, lighter suppers that de- stress, and ’bowl food’ that comforts, Nigella brings us recipes that will be both a pleasure to cook and eat.
Just For Laughs Australia
Season 3
The Comedy Channel
Fridays from December 4 at 9.30pm
Australian Premiere
Local Production
Just for Laughs Australia is hosted by one of Australia’s favourite comedians Dave Thornton, and showcases a top line-up of local and international stand-up talent performing. Live at the Sydney Opera House watch performances from Wil Anderson, Dave Hughes, Tom Ballard, Akmal, Cal Wilson, Gretel Killeen, Cam Knight and more.
[V] Island Parties
30 Minute Special
Sunday, December 6 at 5.00pm
Australian Premiere
Local Production
Summer’s almost here and as the weather heats up Channel [V]’s Island Party return to rock Sydney Harbour. Once again this party season Channel [V] will host exclusive performances with some of the hottest acts from Australia and around the world against Sydney’s most iconic backdrop, the Harbour Bridge. Summer’s almost here and as the weather heats up, Channel [V]’s Island Parties return to rock Sydney Harbour. Once again this party season Channel [V] will host exclusive performances with some of the hottest acts from Australia and around the world against Sydney’s most iconic backdrop, the Harbour Bridge. With last year’s headliner’s including the Hilltop Hoods, Mark Ronson, The Wombats, Charli XCX and Royal Blood, this year’s Island Parties are set to once again deliver killer tracks and pumping tunes with the first [V] Island Party kicking off with electro-pop duo Galantis on the decks.
The Sleeping Beauty
Foxtel Arts
Sunday, December 6 at 7.30pm
2.5 Hour Special
Local Production
Australian Premiere
Don’t miss the world premiere of David McAllister’s production, The Sleeping Beauty. Beautifully lavish sets and costumes, design, choreography and never before seen staging techniques all manifest in excellence when spiced with Tchaikovsky’s vivacious score. Recorded in Melbourne, The Australian Ballet’s world class dancers will leave you in awe.
Supergirl
Season 1
FOX8
Sundays from December 6 at 8.30pm
Australian Premiere
Supergirl is a superhero story with a twist! Kara ZorEl (Melissa Benoist) is Superman’s cousin and, after being sent away from Krypton at the age of 13, she is left in the care of the Danver family who teach Kara to be careful with her powers. Now 24, Kara works as an assistant to the very demanding Cat (Calista Flockhart) at CatCo, a magazine conglomerate. After many years of being on earth, and hiding who she truly is, Kara must learn to embrace her powers after revealing them during an unexpected disaster.
Grimm
Season 5
FOX8
Mondays from December 7 at 8.30pm
Australian Premiere
After Season 4 ended with two huge cliffhangers, Grimm Season 5 will pick up with Nick (David Giuntoli) coping with the death of his former love Juliette (Bitsie Tulloch) and the return of Agent Chavez (Elizabeth Rodriguez). He also has to deal with being a single father – Adalind (Claire Coffee) is definitely having Nick’s baby.
George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces Christmas
One Hour Special
The LifeStyle Channel
Monday, December 7 at 9.30pm
Australian Premiere
George Clarke looks at the extraordinary world of small builds & meets the people who are taking unpromising spaces and creating amazing places to live & work. In this Christmas special, he is visiting a flat-pack tin church and a luxury converted chapel, as well as catching up with some of George’s best builds of the year.
Shaynna’s World Of Design
LifeStyle HOME
Mondays December 7 at 8.30pm Two-Part Special
Australian Premiere
Local Production
Shaynna Blaze has an offer she can’t refuse – to create an exclusive signature range of interior lighting to rival the world’s best. It takes her on a high-stakes journey through the glamorous design capitals of Milan, Venice, New York and her hometown of Melbourne. Along the way Shaynna shares her secret inspirations and design principles, not just for lighting, but for everything in a home. With her reputation on the line, Shaynna needs to blaze a trail of pure magic – magic we can all perform. You’ll never see your home the same way again.
Getting On
Season 3
showcase
Tuesdays from December 8 at 7.30pm
Australian Premiere
“The end is near” for the unconventional, lovable staff of the Billy Barnes Extended Care unit, as Getting On – the hilarious and poignant comedy from the creators of Big Love – returns for its third and final season. Set eight months after Season 2’s cliffhanger finale, the new episodes find Dr Jenna James (Laurie Metcalf) determined to put the corporate-hospice scandal behind her while pushing her research ambitions further than ever before. While Nurse DiDi (Niecy Nash) emerges as a union leader amidst a family drama that finds its way onto the ward, newly married Nurse Dawn (Alex Borstein) struggles to make sense of her new responsibilities and uncertain future, continuing to circle the orbit of male Supervising Nurse Patsy (Mel Rodriguez), who’s looking to embrace a new lifestyle. With all this playing out against the backdrop of Billy Barnes’ threatened demise, the fight to keep the ward (and hospital) alive brings in new blood and some familiar faces, eventually outing everybody’s dirty little secrets and ending in a series finale that is, literally, explosive!
Russell Howard’s Good News
Season 10
The Comedy Channel
Thursdays from December 10 at 9.30pm
Australian Premiere
Topical comedy show hosted by Russell Howard, who offers his unique perspective on the big stories dominating the news outlets from online and print to broadcast.
The Real Housewives Of Cheshire
Season 2
Arena
Sundays from December 13 at 8.30pm
Australian Premiere
The Real Housewives Of Cheshire documents the lives and dramas of a group of strong determined women each cast for their envious lifestyles, loveable families and compelling narratives. The Housewives love extremes, drink free-flowing champagne, live in beautiful homes and wear the most fashionable and outrageous outfits, shoes and jewellery. The women are all interconnected by their social circle. Cheshire is a small place so ‘keeping up appearances’ and geography dictate that, in many cases, the Housewives are forced to be friends, enemies or ‘frenemies’ at the same time. Throughout the series, the Housewives are put through a rollercoaster of emotions including love, hurt, hate, betrayal, good and poor fortune but are bound together by a shared humanity and group experiences.
The Supervet Christmas At The Clinic
One Hour Special
The LifeStyle Channel
Monday, December 14 at 9.30pm
Australian Premiere
In this hour-long Christmas special Noel has a new and extraordinarily challenging case to test his skills – Fievel is the adored young Labrador of Fiona and Dan. His hips are so bad he needs a total hip replacement on both sides. But this is only the beginning, as Fievel’s treatment continues Noel discovers further complications leading him to become one of Fitzpatrick’s longest-term patients. The programme will also catch up with some of the pets and families who have benefited from Noel’s pioneering techniques and inventions. We’ll find out what happened to Scooby the Labrador cross who lost a leg in his fight against cancer, Jasper the puppy whose legs were so deformed he needed two pioneering operations if he was ever to run free, and Pixie the cat who gained a bionic limb to help her survive.
Top 25 Christmas Favourites With Marcia Hines & Cameron Daddo
Friday, December 25 from 9 am
Smooth
Two Hour Special
Australian Premiere
Foxtel Smooth has Christmas wrapped up a very special holiday playlist to get you into the spirit of the season. Grab a glass of eggnog, put on your best reindeer sweater and snuggle up with your loved ones and the Smooth Top 25 Christmas favourites with Cameron Daddo and Marcia Hines. All the Christmas classics are here, from Bing Crosby and Band-Aid to Mariah Carey and Michael Buble. Happy Christmas from all your friends at Foxtel Smooth.
Nightingale
HBO Film
showcase
Wednesday, December 30 at 7.30pm
Australian Premiere
An official selection of the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival, this HBO Films presentation is a fascinating portrait of one man’s descent into the delusions of a fractured mind. Told with incisive imagery, energy and humour, Nightingale is a compassionate depiction of isolation in the midst of a world ruled by social media. David Oyelowo gives a spellbinding, roller-coaster ride of a performance as Peter, the sole character in the film, a war veteran who lives in a nondescript ranch home with his mother, and shares an ongoing monologue with himself, and the audience, via his laptop computer’s video recorder. Unhinged by dark memories, an unhealthy obsession with a former Army friend, and his banal life working at a supermarket and living in a house unchanged for decades, Peter admits he recently “snapped” and killed his mother. The crime has a perversely liberating effect on Peter, who sees in his mother’s demise a licence to remodel their home and, especially, invite his Army pal Edward over for dinner. Unable to get a commitment from Edward, and further agitated by a series of phone calls from his mother’s concerned friends and his sister, Peter descends into a lonely, paranoid world where delusion and reality collide. As suspicions about his mother’s fate escalate, Peter finds himself caught in a claustrophobic web of his own making, helpless to reverse the consequences of his recent actions and doomed to pay a severe price for his crime.
From Broadway To La Scala
Foxtel Arts
Thursday, December 31 at 7.30pm
2.5 Hour Special
Local Production
Australian Premiere
Available on Foxtel Anytime
From Puccini to Rodgers and Hammerstein, Bizet to Gershwin and Verdi to Cole Porter, this unique concert experience will feature many of the greatest songs, arias and duets of the last two centuries, performed by four of Australia’s most highly acclaimed contemporary singers. Renowned for their charisma, stagecraft and musical versatility, tenor David Hobson and bass-baritone Teddy Tahu Rhodes will join musical theatre star Lisa McCune and the breathtaking soprano Greta Bradman to thrill audiences with a seamless blend of classical elegance and theatrical glamour. Accompanied by Australia’s leading orchestra under the musical direction of Vanessa Scammell, From Broadway to La Scala will transport audiences with a richly entwined repertoire of all time classics, drawn from two of the world’s most enduringly popular musical genres. Recorded in November at Sydney’s iconic Opera House.
