Paramount+ is stacking its Australian originals slate with four new commissions, led by a limited drama drawn from a real poisoning case that dominated headlines in Victoria in 2023. The projects were announced at Paramount Australia’s upfront and span drama, kids, unscripted true crime and creator-led comedy.
The four greenlights
- Mushroom Murders: There’s More to Unearth — a six-part drama starring Melanie Lynskey as Erin Patterson, the woman who murdered three of her relatives and seriously harmed a fourth with death cap mushrooms served in beef wellingtons. The series tracks the 97 days between the deaths and Patterson’s arrest, with Soapbox Pictures producing.
- Sam Kerr Kicking Goals — a live-action kids series based on books co-written by footballer Sam Kerr and Fiona Harris. It follows Kerr as a child pushing to become a professional footballer and streams on Paramount+ next year.
- Hedley Thomas Investigates — a six-part unscripted true-crime series in which the Australian journalist examines six real cases and offers fresh takes on what audiences thought they knew. Warner Bros International Television produces.
- The Inspired Unemployed Sketch Show — a comedy from Matt Ford and Jack Steele, covering relationships, Australian culture and millennial life with recurring characters and celebrity cameos.
The creative line-up around Mushroom Murders is weighted toward proven drama talent: Daina Reid directs and is among the creators, with writers Anya Beyersdorf, Dianne Taylor and Belinda Chayko, and executive producers including Xavier Marchand and Paramount Australia’s head of scripted Sophia Mogford.
Why the slate matters
This is local commissioning as a retention play. The anchor title converts a recent, widely known crime into appointment viewing with an international star; the kids title uses a name athlete and an existing book audience to pull family subscriptions; Hedley Thomas brings a known investigative brand; the sketch show targets younger, social-native viewers.
Media planners should see four audience segments being covered at once: true-crime adults, families with young kids, documentary loyalists and comedy fans. That spread reduces reliance on any single title and gives Paramount+ different angles for acquisition campaigns in the Australian market.
The Network 10 add-on
Paramount-owned Network 10 also used the upfront to stack unscripted and factual programming. Aussie Auctions follows homes under the hammer, Extraordinary Homes Australia looks at striking houses shaped by the landscape, and Dogs at Work — voiced by Melane Zanetti, the voice of Bluey’s mum Chilli — follows working dogs and their handlers. Two Denham Hitchcock specials round it out: The Falconio Witness returns to Peter Falconio’s outback murder 25 years later, drawing on investigators who had stayed quiet and a witness who says he saw events unfold, while The Hunt for Hamish tracks Hamish McLaren after his prison release.
What to do with this
The practical takeaway is simple: anchor a slate with one high-awareness story, then surround it with formats that keep different household members engaged. That structure makes launch marketing easier because the true-crime hook supplies the initial sampling spike, while kids and comedy provide longer-tail retention.
Source: C21media
