Australian Story: Series 2020
Season 25 Lore Primer
Key plot threads, lore context, and character stakes you need to remember before diving into this season.
- Directly follows the overarching narrative developments of Australian Story Season 24.
- Faction dynamics and core character alliances shift under escalating external stakes.
- Crucial mysteries introduced previously reach key turning points and narrative reckonings.
- Sets up serialized story arcs that build directly toward the climactic season finale.
Episode Guide
Season 25 Progress Shield
The Only Witness (Part 1)
Feb 17, 2020 · 30 min
A cyclist found dead on a country road with very few clues as to who hit him. Against all odds, two country cops track down the driver, only to discover he is connected to another
The Only Witness (Part 2)
Feb 24, 2020 · 30 min
Concluding the two-part story about one man who has killed two people. The man was convicted of killing a cyclist on a lonely road but is still to face charges relating to the shot
Making his Mark
Mar 2, 2020 · 30 min
When Marlion Pickett took to the field in the 2019 AFL Grand Final, it set the scene for one of the most heart-warming moments in sporting history. Follow the father of four's jour
When Worlds Collide
Mar 9, 2020 · 30 min
The journalist and comedian paying a high price for dissent. Vicky Xu is an outspoken critic of China whose pursuit of stories about human rights and the mass detention of Uyghurs
Caught in the Act
Mar 16, 2020 · 30 min
Shane Jenek is the man behind drag queen superstar Courtney Act. It hasn’t always been easy for Shane reconciling himself with Courtney’s popularity but together they’re conquering
The Justice Principle
Mar 23, 2020 · 30 min
Three sisters from Melbourne's insular Jewish Adass community return to Israel to investigate why it's taking so long to extradite their former headmistress Malka Leifer back to Au
One Day at a Time
Mar 30, 2020 · 30 min
As Australia faces an unprecedented pandemic, we track five Australians on five different days: a choirmaster, an intensivist, a scientist, a psychiatrist, and a school principal -
The Two of Us
Apr 6, 2020 · 30 min
The touching friendship between jazz musician James Morrison and his long-term mentor Don Burrows, who passed away last month after a long battle with dementia.
Fighting Fire with Fire
Apr 13, 2020 · 30 min
Two elders from Cape York entrusted Victor Steffensen with the ancient knowledge of cultural burning. Could this method of fire management used by generations of Indigenous people
His Brilliant Careers
Apr 27, 2020 · 30 min
Actor Sam Neill is a Kiwi but has done much of his best work in Australia. He talks life, love and his other grand obsession: making wine.
Forged by Fire
May 4, 2020 · 30 min
During the worst bushfire season in Australia's history, NSW fire chief Shane Fitzsimmons stood out. A rebellious child with a troubled background Shane's personal loss and resilie
Mother and Son
May 11, 2020 · 30 min
When Tim Sharp was three, his mother Judy was told he had severe autism and should be put in an institution. Now at 32 Tim is an artist whose work is exhibited around the world. Th
The Odd Couple
May 18, 2020 · 30 min
John Doyle and Greig Pickhaver, better known as Rampaging Roy Slaven and HG Nelson, provide a rare insight into the special chemistry behind their enduring comedy act.
Performers and the Pandemic
May 25, 2020 · 30 min
From his carport-turned-studio in Melbourne, Adam Hills introduces this story about the novel, positive and hilarious ways performers have found to keep themselves working and ente
Lest We Forget
Jun 1, 2020 · 30 min
For the first time on TV, an in-depth look at how Australia survived the influenza pandemic of 1918. Long-forgotten archival material not only provides a unique insight but shows u
Growing Pains
Aug 3, 2020 · 30 min
Nathan Cavaleri was seven years old when he found international fame as a prodigy on the blues guitar. Now at 38, he talks about the childhood stardom that both inspired and haunte
The Long Game (Part 1)
Aug 10, 2020 · 30 min
Actor Joel Edgerton gives a candid account of the challenges he's faced on his long road to Hollywood success and how his family helped him stay true to himself.
The Long Game (Part 2)
Aug 17, 2020 · 30 min
In Part 2 of this candid account of the actor and filmmaker's 25-year career, we focus on Joel Edgerton's rise to the top, the anxiety attacks he now grapples with, his charity wor
Beating the Blues
Aug 24, 2020 · 30 min
Rugby league legend Greg Inglis reveals the real story behind his mental health struggles and how he turned his life around.
Team Scott
Aug 31, 2020 · 30 min
The inside story of the campaign to solve an enduring crime mystery. The body of Scott Johnson was found at the bottom of a cliff in 1988. Police decided it was suicide but his bro
The Great Escape
Sep 7, 2020 · 30 min
After nearly seven years in limbo on Manus Island, an audacious plan was hatched to get Kurdish refugee Behrouz Boochani to freedom in New Zealand.
Beenham Valley Road (Part 1)
Sep 14, 2020 · 30 min
When Jamie Pultz left the police, there was one case he couldn't drop: the suspicious death of young Queensland mum Kirra McLoughlin. His podcast investigation turned up some start
Beenham Valley Road (Part 2)
Sep 21, 2020 · 30 min
When Jamie Pultz left the police, there was one case he couldn't drop: the suspicious death of young Queensland mum Kirra McLoughlin. His podcast investigation turned up some start
Breaking New Ground
Sep 28, 2020 · 30 min
When drought almost sent him broke, fifth generation Cooma sheep farmer Charles Massy converted to regenerative agriculture to heal his land. A PhD led to a book and now he's the '
Keeping Up Appearances
Oct 5, 2020 · 30 min
Rory O'Donoghue starred in iconic TV comedy The Aunty Jack Show as the hugely popular tights-wearing, cane-twirling Thin Arthur. But off-stage Rory lived with a crippling secret th
To Catch a Stalker (Part 1)
Oct 12, 2020 · 30 min
Di McDonald was told Max Gardiner was 'a good catch'. But when she ended their short relationship, he terrorised her for years. Determined not to let him break her, Di tells how sh
To Catch a Stalker (Part 2)
Oct 19, 2020 · 30 min
Desperate and alone in a 3-year battle against an obsessive stalker, Di McDonald meets policewoman Beck Norris who takes on the case. Norris enlists the FBI profiler who caught the
About a Boy
Oct 26, 2020 · 30 min
Quaden is a nine-year-old with dwarfism who just wants to fit in. When his Mum posted a video of Quaden distraught after a tough day at school they couldn't have predicted what wou
Finding Her Voice
Nov 2, 2020 · 30 min
Singer Megan Washington went public with a 'shameful' secret six years ago and then stopped making music. In this update she describes the long road back to a new album and why the
Fight for the Truth
Nov 9, 2020 · 30 min
An outback town, a newspaper in trouble and an unlikely saviour. Broken Hill is fighting to keep its century-old newspaper alive but can the Barrier Truth's owners and loyal commun
To His Door
Nov 16, 2020 · 30 min
Serial killer Bradley Edwards hid in plain sight for nearly 25 years. Australian Story reveals the extraordinary twists and turns that led to police cracking the case and revisits
A Matter of Minutes
Nov 23, 2020 · 30 min
On Christmas Day two years ago Mick O'Dowd was feeling unwell. 24 hours later he was battling for his life. The life-affirming story of Mick and Katharine O'Dowd and the silent kil
Lest We Forget: The Australian Experience of Spanish Flu
Nov 30, 2020 · 30 min
In the midst of the COVID lockdown, Australian Story undertook the ambitious task of delving through the archives and speaking to expert historians to produce the definitive piece
Cradle of Life / To Russia with Love
Dec 7, 2020 · 30 min
In the season finale, Australian Story meets an 81-year-old inventor who's saved the lives of hundreds of premmie babies and checks in with the hilarious Dustyesky 'fake Russian' c