What to Watch: High Country, Palm Royal, The Reckoning, Selling Houses Australia and 3 Body Problem

High Country

Tuesday, streaming on Binge

Australia is fast carving a name for itself as THE go-to locale for eerie thrillers set in remote locations.

Think The Kettering Incident, Scrublands, Black Snow — the list goes on.

There have been so many in recent years, the genre now has a name: “Aussie Noir” — and Binge’s latest series, High Country, certainly sits comfortably within that category.

Set in Victoria’s High Country — a spectacular, eerily beautiful spot most of us haven’t yet had cause to visit — it stars Leah Purcell as police officer Andie Whitford, a city cop who arrives in a small town to replace a retiring sergeant, played by Game of Thrones’ Ian McElhinney.

She’s looking forward to a change of pace, but it’s not long before she’s fallen headlong into investigating the disappearances of five missing people, all of whom have vanished in the wilderness that surrounds the town.

At the centre of the investigation is a strange man named Damien Starc (Henry Nixon), a former teacher who claims to have psychic abilities and information on the whereabouts of one of the missing persons.

Is he legit? A harmless crackpot? Or something far more troubling.

This series, from the creators of Wentworth, will keep viewers guessing till the end, and stars an incredible ensemble cast, including Aaron Pedersen, Sara Wiseman, Geoff Morrell, Nathaniel Dean and Linda Cropper.

Audiences will love trying to unravel the mystery alongside Purcell’s character, and something tells us this compelling mystery will have audiences hooked from the get-go.

Palm Royale

Wednesday, streaming on Apple TV Plus

Kristen Wiig is at the centre of this new series, playing “underdog” Maxine Simmons, a woman desperate to break into Palm Beach’s high society in 1969. She’ll do anything to hobnob with the Haves (not the Have-Nots, God forbid) at the Palm Royale country club, and this series follows her exploits. Stars an incredible cast, including Laura Dern, Allison Janney, Ricky Martin and Kaia Gerber. This series has all the hallmarks of a hit.

The Reckoning

Wednesday, streaming on BBC First/Binge

Steve Coogan is incredible in this. There’s only one problem: audiences may find the subject matter he’s exploring just too troubling to stick around for. In this four-part drama he plays UK entertainer Jimmy Savile, a man who for decades was feted and celebrated, until it emerged after his death that he had used his fame as a cover to commit extensive and horrific abuse. This is a tough watch. On the fence.

Selling Houses Australia

Wednesday, streaming on Foxtel and Binge

This long-running series returns for its 16th season, with Andrew Winter, Wendy Moore and Dennis Scott once more at the helm. It’s still a fabulously satisfying watch, especially episode one, which sees the team travel to the country to help a woman fix up an old church. What they do to breathe new life into the quaint property has to be seen to be believed. Still hugely entertaining after all these years.

3 Body Problem

Thursday, streaming on Netflix

This one’s shaping up to be massive for Netflix — and not just because it has Game of Thrones creators David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, plus Alexander Woo behind it. The story, taken from the books by Liu Cixin, has a legion of fans who can’t wait to see how the book’s expansive plot is brought to the small screen. It tells the story of a woman in 1960s China who unwittingly sets into motion a chain of events that will have catastrophic repercussions for modern civilisation. Sound grand in scope? You have no idea.