All the best television shows that are due in 2015

In Australia, the launch of paid streaming services such as Stan, Netflix and Presto is going to unleash some of the world's best new content. And from the traditional players on the landscape comes a slew of new programming, across all genres, which is, while untested, at least promising.

Some, such as Nine's Gallipoli and Showcase's Deadline Gallipoli, will be events of historic significance. Others, such as Transparent and Grace and Frankie, will land more gently but are among the year's biggest creative riches.

And beyond that, scores of new shows, from Vince Gilligan's Better Call Saul and Battle Creek, to edgy new local dramas, such as The Kettering Incident, Hiding and The Principal. On that cake the icing is surely House of Hancock, a serious drama that feels like it might end up seeming outrageously camp.

The Five Shows You Cannot Miss in 2015

The ex-PM (ABC)

House of Cards as a comedy? Go figure. The brilliant Shaun Micallef plays Andrew Dugdale, Australia's third-longest-serving prime minister, who is leaving office and must grapple with the challenge of life after The Lodge.

Deadline Gallipoli (Showcase)

The Gallipoli story, from the perspective of Australian war correspondents Charles Bean, Ellis Ashmead-Bartlett, Phillip Schuler and Keith Murdoch. Stars Sam Worthington, plus Hugh Dancy, Ewen Leslie and Charles Dance.

Gallipoli (Nine)

John Edwards and Imogen Banks deliver "a landmark television event" about a young soldier who is sent to Gallipoli, with a formidable cast: Lachy Hulme, Matt Nable, Anthony Hayes, Jeremy Lindsay Taylor plus Kodi Smit-McPhee.

Grace and Frankie (Netflix)

Friends co-creator Marta Kauffman delivers a highly anticipated comedy about longtime rivals Grace and Frankie (Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin) who are brought together when their husbands (Martin Sheen, Sam Waterston) announce they are in love.

Transparent (Stan)

A jangled, jagged family drama full of bold and profound notes from writer Jill Soloway about retired professor Mort Pfefferman, played by Jeffrey Tambor, who reveals to his family that he is transgender.

 

The A to Z of 2015's New TV

Australia: The Story of Us (Seven)

Billed as "more than 40,000 years in the making", this is a history series with a modern twist, exploring Australia's origins and "fresh insights into how Australians came to create the homeland they inhabit today".

Battle Creek (Seven)

Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and House creator David Shore deliver a police drama about two cops, a slick FBI agent (Josh Duhamel) as a streetwise cop (Dean Winters), who must partner up.

Better Call Saul (Stan)

The highly anticipated prequel to the critically exalted Breaking Bad, set six years earlier and focused on small-time lawyer Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk).

 

Bloodline (Netflix)

A thriller from Damages co-creators Todd A. Kessler, Daniel Zelman, and Glenn Kessler starring Ben Mendelsohn, Kyle Chandler, Sissy Spacek, Linda Cardellini and Sam Shepard.

Catching Milat (Seven)

A dramatised version of the investigation into the 1990s backpacker murders leading to the arrest and conviction of serial killer Ivan Milat, based on the book Sins of the Brother by Mark Whittaker and Les Kennedy.

CSI: Cyber (Ten)

Patricia Arquette plays the head of a cyber crime unit, tackling crimes which "start in the mind, live online, and play out in the real world." Also stars James Van Der Beek and Peter MacNicol.

800 Words (Seven)

Everwood meets SeaChange as George (Erik Thomson) deals with losing his wife by moving himself and his two teenage kids from Sydney to a small town in New Zealand. Created by James Griffin (Outrageous Fortune) and Maxine Fleming.

Glitch (ABC)

Patrick Brammall plays a small-town cop called to the local cemetery in the middle of the night to discover that six people have risen from the dead in perfect health. It's a novel twist on the zombie genre.

Gogglebox (Lifestyle Channel / Ten)

Cameras capture ordinary Australians as they watch TV. It isn't easy to get your head around, or to explain. But in an era of cookie-cutter formats, this one is as original an idea as you will find on TV.

Hiding (ABC)

James Stewart stars as a man who must take his family into witness protection after he testifies against his former employer, crime boss Nils Vandenberg (Marcus Graham). Also stars Stephen Curry, Kim Gyngell and Jacqueline McKenzie.

House of Hancock (Nine)

The true story of the Hancock mining dynasty, and the clash between daughter Gina (Mandy McElhinney) and her father's housekeeper-turned-wife Rose (Peta Sergeant). Also stars Sam Neill as Lang Hancock.

How To Get Away With Murder (Seven)

From the queen of American TV, Grey's Anatomy and Scandal creator Shonda Rhimes: a criminal law professor (Viola Davis) and her students find themselves enmeshed in a murder investigation.

 

I'm A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here (Ten)

Reality television series in which actress/comedian Julia Morris and Dr Chris Brown play masters of ceremonies as celebrities are parachuted into the African wilderness and left to fend for themselves.

Judith Lucy is All Woman (ABC)

Following her Judith Lucy's Spiritual Journey, comedian Judith Lucy is off in search of what it means to be a woman in modern Australia, "and what that means for men". Producers include Anna Bateman and Todd Abbott.

The Kettering Incident (SOHO)

From writers Victoria Madden, Louise Fox, Cate Shortland and Andrew Knight, a "mystery thriller with otherworldly overtones" starring Elizabeth Debicki, Matt Le Nevez, Anthony Phelan, Henry Nixon and Sacha Horler.

Mozart in the Jungle (Stan)

Edgy drama about a classical musician working in New York, starring Malcolm McDowell, Saffron Burrows, Bernadette Peters and Gael García Bernal. Based on the book of the same name by Blair Tindall.

 

The Mysteries of Laura (Nine)

Debra Messing stars as Laura Diamond "an extraordinarily gifted New York detective and extremely overrun mother of six-year-old twin boys". Also stars Josh Lucas.

The Odd Couple (Ten)

The iconic Neil Simon play-turned-TV sitcom is given a makeover with roommates Matthew Perry (as the slob sports writer Oscar Madison) and Thomas Lennon (as the neat-freak photographer Felix Unger).

The Principal (SBS) 

Alex  Dimitriades and Aden Young star in a drama from the producers of Rake and Jack Irish and the writers of East West 101 about a school with a history of conflict that must deal with the repercussions of a student's death.

Shark Tank (Ten)

A local version of the hit US series in which aspiring inventors parade their wares before a panel of multi-millionaire "sharks": Janine Allis, Andrew Banks, Steve Baxter, John McGrath and Naomi Simson.

State of Affairs (Seven)

Katherine Heigl (Grey's Anatomy) plays Charleston Tucker, a top CIA analyst who tackles high-pressure situations, reporting to the US president, Constance Payton (Alfre Woodard).

Untitled Comedy (Comedy Channel)

From producers Rick McKenna (Kath & Kim) and Laura Waters (Summer Heights High), a "no holds barred send-up of Australian culture, identities, celebrities and politicians" filmed in front of a studio audience.

Winter (Seven)

Crime series spun out of The Killing Field that focuses on Detective Sergeant Eve Winter (Rebecca Gibney) as she, and colleague DI McKenzie (Peter O'Brien) investigate the murder of a young woman.

* Stan and Netflix are streaming services which will launch in Australia early 2015.