News

The Newsreader returns for its third and final season, a detailed exploration of media, power, and personal identity. Set in 1989—a year bridging the idealism of the 80s and the tech-driven narratives of the 90s—the series examines news events and subtle cultural transformations. The story intertwines real-life news events with fictional narratives, positioning characters at the center of societal change.

The drama follows Helen Norville and Dale Jennings, co-anchors whose personal and professional paths have separated since the previous season’s conclusion. Helen explores global stories while experiencing emotional distance. Dale leads national news broadcasts while wrestling with personal challenges related to his sexuality—a complexity beneath his polished exterior.

Their relationship—filled with professional tension, personal connection, and unspoken history—reveals how individual identities intersect with media expectations and cultural dynamics of the time. Through Helen and Dale, the series explores how personal experiences are shaped by external pressures and cultural contexts.

U.S. audiences know Sam Reid as Interview With the Vampire‘s Lestat, but they’re about to meet the character he’s known for in his homeland of Australia. Reid plays Dale Jennings opposite Anna Torv‘s Helen Norville in The Newsreader, an award-winning original series from Australia’s ABC TV that first debuted in 2021. Its third and final season premieres on February 2, 2025 in Australia, but Interview With the Vampire‘s streaming home, AMC+, is bringing The Newsreader to eager fans next week as part of a new licensing agreement. Starting Thursday, December 19 and going through January 23, Sundance Now will release one episode of The Newsreader Season 1 per week. Sundance Now titles are available to AMC+ subscribers. As of the time of publication, Sundance Now and AMC+ will only have Season 1, but Season 2 could possibly come to the streaming service in the future. (Season 1 was previously available on The Roku Channel...

The Australian drama in which Sam Reid starred just before he debuted as Interview With the Vampire‘s Lestat de Lioncourt is suddenly available to stream for free in the U.S. The Newsreader, starring the great Anna Torv alongside Reid, is set in a Melbourne newsroom in 1986 where news anchor Helen Norville (Torv) battles misogyny in the workplace that would have her believe any show of emotion is a professional failure. Reid plays producer Dale Jennings, who’s aching for his chance to prove himself as anchor material but anxiety and self-doubt threaten his chances. The Newsreader airs on Australia’s ABC network and is available to stream on ABC’s iView, BBC iPlayer, and Prime Video in other countries. Season 1 was available on The Roku Channel in the U.S. for a while, but I made the mistake of waiting too long to check it out. It’s...

Exclusive: Daniel Gillies, known for roles in The Vampire Diaries and Virgin Rivers, is joining the cast of Roku’s acclaimed Australian drama The Newsreader.

The Canadian-born, New Zealand-raised actor is taking a series regular role and will join the likes of Anna Torv, Sam Reid, William McInnes and Robert Taylor in the second season of the series, which is set in the cutthroat world of 1980s TV news in Melbourne, Australia.

We hear Gillies will play Charlie, whose billed as a a privileged first-born son of an aging newspaper mogul, desperate to make his own mark in the world.

Season two of the period drama is currently in production, with season one available in the U.S. through Roku, which took rights earlier this year from distributor eOne and launched it through the Roku Originals brand. Written and created by Michael Lucas (Offspring), it comes from Werner Film Productions,...

If you want to go inside a newsroom, you don’t want to miss Australia’s award-winning drama, The Newsreader, coming to the U.S. via the Roku Channel. The series follows glamorous, talented, and overlooked (in the chauvinistic world of TV news) newsreader Helen Norville (Anna Torv) and junior reporter Dale Jennings (Sam Reid) and their personal relationship as well as the public pressures of reporting some of the most iconic news stories of 1986. “I love the way it ended,” Torv tells TV Insider. “We just didn’t know how it was going to end for actually a long time. Michael [Lucas] would write and we’d talk and he’d write and write. There was a whole lot of different variations. We knew [what] we were moving towards, but we didn’t know what it was going to be. And when we got there, it was like, ‘Oh, that’s just right.

Newsreading isn’t for everyone, as a young reporter is warned in the multi-award winning Australian drama series, The Newsreader. The series, starring Anna Torv and Sam Reid, debuts in the U.S. as a Roku Original on Friday, March 18, and TV Insider has an exclusive first look at the trailer. The six-part series is set in the frantic world of broadcast news in 1986, and it follows the unconventional relationship between Torv’s star female news anchor, Helen Norville, and Reid’s ambitious young TV reporter, Dale Jennings. But if Dale is going to become a newsreader, like Helen, it’s going to take some work. Watch the trailer above for a look at their relationship, what he has to work on, people talking about the two reporters, and more. Plus, is Dale hiding something? Courtesy of Roku It’s that relationship between Helen and Dale that will draw viewers...

“South Park” is celebrating its upcoming 25th anniversary with the announcement of a new episode set to premiere on March 2, as well as a 30-piece orchestral rendition of its hit song, “Chocolate Salty Balls.”

The song was featured on the show’s first season, and went on to claim the No. 1 spot on the U.K. charts. It was written by “South Park” co-creator Trey Parker, who, along with Matt Stone, went on to write the Tony Award-winning musical “The Book of Mormon.” “Chocolate Salty Balls” was originally performed by the late Isaac Hayes, who played the character of Chef on the series for its first nine seasons.

“South Park” launched on Comedy Central on Aug. 13, 1997, co-created by Stone and Parker. Parker, Stone, Anne Garefino and Frank C. Agnone II are the show’s executive producers. Producers are Eric Stough, Adrien Beard, Bruce Howell and Vernon Chatman.

Watch the orchestral...