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Seven Network banks on reality franchises and three new dramas

‘Holey Moley.’

The Seven Network is counting on new and returning franchises and three new Australian dramas to maintain ratings momentum next year.

Unveiling its 2021 schedule today, Seven trumpeted The Voice, Holey Moley, Ultimate Tag, Big Brother, Farmer Wants a Wife, Australia’s Got Talent and the renewal of SAS Australia.

The network also revealed it will revive Fremantle’s Australian Idol, which last screened on Network 10 in 2009. Production on the reboot is due to start mid-year and it will premiere in February 2022.

The dramas are Endemol Shine Banks’ RFDS ; Roadshow Rough Diamond’s Australian Gangster, which finally makes the schedule after a three-year delay due to legal issues; and the second season of Every Cloud Productions’ Ms Fisher’s Modern Murder Mysteries, a co-commission with North American streamer Acorn TV.

Among the new factual entertainment shows, Blink TV’s Australia: Now and Then, will ask celebrities, comedians, musicians, actors and others: Was Australia any better in the 1970s, 80s and 90s than it is today?

CJZ will produce Homicide: With Ron Iddles (6 x 1 hour), which will follow the veteran Victorian homicide detective as he relates how he solved multiple crimes. Iddles appeared in CJZ’s The Good Cop, which screened on Foxtel.

In addition to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games the broadcaster has secured the rights to the 2022 Beijing winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Despite being refreshed this year, My Kitchen Rules and House Rules are being ‘rested.’ Conspicuously absent from the line-up are this year’s flops Between Two Worlds, Plate of Origin and Pooch Perfect.

The line-up includes Fam Time, Seven Studios’ narrative comedy created by Michael Horrocks, which stars Michala Banas and Duncan Fellows.

‘Ultimate Tag.’

Seven West Media CEO James Warburton said: “Our new content led strategy of outsourcing proven international formats has delivered this year with an incredible resurgence led by the phenomenal performance of Big Brother and Farmer Wants A Wife.

“Coupled with the return of a sensational AFL season, we’ve led every demographic since June. We’re in front in 25-54s and lead 16-39s by a massive 5.4 share points. That’s a solid transformation, despite the obvious challenges this year.”

Based on a hit US format, Eureka Productions’ Holey Moley will see mini-golfers compete on an outsized obstacle course. Greg Norman will serve as the resident golf pro, with Sonia Kruger as the host and US actor/comedian Rob Riggle and Matt Shirvington as the commentators.

As announced, ITV Studios Australia’s The Voice is moving to Seven after nine seasons on the Nine Network. Sonia Kruger, who also hosts Big Brother – another former Nine show – will host the new season.

Produced by Endemol Shine Australia (ESA), Ultimate Tag will see everyday Aussies try to avoid pro-taggers. Seven’s Abbey Gelmi and Shirvington will host and commentator Bill Woods will cover the action.

Five new farmers – Sam, Andrew, Matt, Will and Rob – will search for love in Farmer Wants a Wife, a Fremantle and Eureka co-production which was Seven’s biggest new local show of the past two years.

Postponed from this year due to COVID-19 and hosted by Ricki-Lee, Fremantle’s Australia’s Got Talent will see some of the best acts in the country take on Got Talent champions from around the world.

‘RFDS.’

The broadcaster renewed Screentime’s SAS Australia after Monday’s premiere episode attracted 1.2 million viewers nationally, ranking as the top entertainment show for the night and No. 1 for 25-54s.

Stephen Peacocke, Rob Collins, Emma Hamilton, Justine Clarke, Kate Mulvany and Ash Ricardo star in RFDS, which follows the professional and personal lives of the pilots, doctors, nurses and support staff who work at the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Co-created by Imogen Banks, Mark Fennessy and Ian Meadows, the eight-part series is produced by Banks and Sara Richardson, written by Meadows, Claire Phillips, Adrian Russell Wills and Jon Bell. The directors are Jennifer Leacey, Jeremy Sims and Wills.

At the virtual upfronts Seven screened a trailer of the Gregor Jordan-directed Australian Gangster but said that while the drama is based on actual events it could not reveal more.

The slate also includes more The All New Monty specials, ITV Studios Australia’s game show Beat the Chasers and renewals of Greenstone TV’s Highway Patrol and in-house productions Home and Away (the most watched show on 7+), Better Homes and Gardens and Border Security.

Among the imported shows will be ITV’s The Pembrokeshire Murders, Cineflix Productions’ The Clown and the Candyman and Around the World in 80 Days, a co-production between the UK’s Slim Film + Television and France’s Federation.