About this season
Putting the "real" back into reality television, Australian Story is an award-winning documentary series with no narrator and no agendas — just authentic stories told entirely in people's own words.
Episodes (41)
1. The Man On The Mantelpiece
Aired 7 February 2011 • 30 min
Maggie MacKellar was a city dweller who seemed to have it all – a successful academic career, a devoted husband, a young daughter and another baby on the way.
2. On Your Bike
Aired 14 February 2011 • 30 min
When Doug Sunderland succumbed to the blues after losing his wife and being diagnosed with cancer, his GP told him to 'get back on his bike'. He did... and it 'saved his life', so much so, that he decided to ride around Australia solo, surviving on tinned food and sleeping by the road.
3. The Third Act
Aired 21 February 2011 • 30 min
For the last 48 years Jacki Weaver has been one of Australia's best loved actors. Now 63, she has achieved a stunning career high by being chosen as one of the Best Supporting Actress nominees for this year's Oscars.
4. Dogs Of War
Aired 28 February 2011 • 30 min
Wildlife photographer Jennifer Parkhurst's passion for dingos set her at odds with park rangers - and brought her to the brink of disaster...
5. Take No Prisoners
Aired 7 March 2011 • 30 min
On the eve of his retirement from public office, the nation's longest serving Director of Public Prosecutions, Nicholas Cowdery, reflects exclusively on his sixteen years in the top job.
6. Girl Most Likely
Aired 14 March 2011 • 30 min
Jade Hopper is a young woman on the cusp of the toughest decision of her life - to pursue her dream of becoming a world no. 1 tennis player or to court success from her law studies.
7. The Terminator
Aired 21 March 2011 • 30 min
Two years ago, former Navy clearance diver Paul de Gelder was testing new sonar equipment in Sydney Harbour when he was attacked by a shark and pulled from the water, barely alive.
8. Across The Night Sky
Aired 28 March 2011 • 30 min
Last year a Victorian court sentenced Robert Farquharson to a minimum 33 years jail for deliberately driving his three sons to their death in a dam on Father's Day.
9. Mr Quigley's Quandary (Part 1)
Aired 4 April 2011 • 30 min
Part 1 of the program about lawyer and politician John Quigley whose three decades in the public spotlight have drawn controversy, enmity and notoriety.
10. Mr Quigley's Quandary (Part 2)
Aired 11 April 2011 • 30 min
The conclusion to our story on Western Australian lawyer and politician John Quigley.
11. Under Her Wing
Aired 18 April 2011 • 30 min
Eight years ago Elizabeth Clayton was living in Fiji when she rescued a young man known as the 'chicken boy'. His name was Sujit and he'd been kept in a hen house as a child and then tied up for 22 years in an old people's home.
12. In The Jet Stream
Aired 25 April 2011 • 30 min
Band manager David Powell took the Melbourne rock band JET from obscurity to ARIA triumph and then onto the international stage. But fate was less kind to David – today he is lucky to be alive to tell his story.
13. Shattered
Aired 2 May 2011 • 30 min
On 22 July 2007, Peter Hodgkins threw a rock at a car from an overpass at Kiama, NSW, smashing the skull of beauty therapist Nicole Timbs and changing both their lives forever.
14. 15th Anniversary Special (Part 1)
Aired 9 May 2011 • 30 min
Part 1 of our celebration of 15 years of Australian Story featuring Ric Birch, Gina Rinehart, John Button and Estelle Blackburn, Pauline Hanson, Sam and Jenny Bailey, Nick Ross and Allan Fels.
15. 15th Anniversary Special (Part 2)
Aired 16 May 2011 • 30 min
The conclusion to our celebration of 15 years of Australian Story featuring Gayle Shann, Chris Sarra, Beth Heinrich, Greg Combet, Belinda Emmett, Bob Irwin, Gemma Sisia and Michael Ware.
16. Hearts Of Gold
Aired 23 May 2011 • 30 min
Brian Sherman rose to great wealth and success as a businessman. His son Emile is a co-producer of 'The King's Speech', winner of this year's best picture Oscar. But what really unites the family is their overwhelming passion for animal welfare.
17. Mind Of His Own
Aired 30 May 2011 • 30 min
Charlie Teo is a Sydney neurosurgeon, loved by patients but unpopular with some in the medical establishment. He is credited with prolonging the lives of many people with tumours that were considered inoperable.
18. The Girl From Boryslaw
Aired 6 June 2011 • 30 min
Sabina Wolanski was left alone in the world at 17 when her family were killed in the Holocaust. In 2005 she addressed a gathering of state dignitaries in Berlin, received a standing ovation and reduced journalists to tears.
19. Conviction (Part 1)
Aired 13 June 2011 • 30 min
For three and a half years, Newcastle pathologist Dr Simon Palfreeman has been shuttling between Australia and Bulgaria negotiating that country's complex and controversial justice system to try to help his 24 year old son.
20. Conviction (Part 2)
Aired 20 June 2011 • 30 min
The conclusion of our story on Dr Simon Palfreeman, the Newcastle pathologist on a mission to help his son who's serving twenty years in a Bulgarian jail.
21. Love and Other Drugs
Aired 27 June 2011 • 30 min
When Sally Nielsen's fiance Sam Goddard suffered a catastrophic stroke, she ignored the advice of some of those closest to her and stuck by him. Now her efforts have produced an amazing medical breakthrough.
22. Desperate Remedies (Part 1)
Aired 4 July 2011 • 30 min
Penelope Dingle was a former model and actor married to TV science guru Peter Dingle. At the age of 43 she was diagnosed with a common cancer regarded as highly curable if it’s caught early...
23. Desperate Remedies (Part 2)
Aired 11 July 2011 • 30 min
The conclusion to the story of Penelope Dingle whose untimely death had shattering and unexpected repercussions for those closest to her.
24. City of Angels
Aired 18 July 2011 • 30 min
Alisa Latto was born with a life threatening genetic condition – one shared by her two siblings and her mother, Rosemary... This story follows her difficult journey to motherhood.
25. Trust Me Mr Chandler
Aired 25 July 2011 • 30 min
International banker Sascha Chandler had a secret he'd been harbouring since childhood. Two years ago he decided to deal with his demons and joined forces with a dogged NSW detective to bring to justice one of the country's most elusive and dangerous predators.
26. A Measure of Courage
Aired 1 August 2011 • 30 min
Captain Hec Waller and Ordinary Seaman Teddy Sheean both saw service during the darkest days of the Japanese advance towards Australia during World War II. Despite their heroism neither was ever nominated for the Forces' highest accolade, the Victoria Cross.
27. A Plague On All Their Houses
Aired 8 August 2011 • 30 min
An encore edition of our bittersweet story of Queensland vet Ben Cunneen and his co-worker, Natalie Beohm who were exposed to the Hendra horse virus with devastating consequences.
28. Ita Tells Me So (Part 1)
Aired 15 August 2011 • 30 min
Ita Buttrose and those closest to her go on the record with their recollections of a trail blazing career and a momentous period in Australia's social history in Part One of a candid, moving, and surprising double episode.
29. Ita Tells Me So (Part 2)
Aired 22 August 2011 • 30 min
In Part Two Ita Buttrose talks candidly about men, dating, loneliness, family, media ethics and grabbing life by the throat, at any age.
30. The Trials of Jonty Bush
Aired 29 August 2011 • 30 min
In the space of a few years Jonty Bush lost two of her closest family members in separate and unrelated crimes. Instead of succumbing to grief and anger, she took up the challenge to change the world and in the process changed herself...
31. Paint the Town Black
Aired 5 September 2011 • 30 min
Not since the mighty Phar Lap has a horse captured the public imagination like Black Caviar. She remains unbeaten after thirteen runs and has been declared the best racehorse in the world.
32. Brand New Day
Aired 12 September 2011 • 30 min
Three years ago Gavin Larkin used his marketing nous and high profile contacts to create a national day of awareness called R U OK? Day. But not long after the launch, the super fit indomitable Gavin was anything but okay...
33. The Courage of Her Convictions
Aired 19 September 2011 • 30 min
When Catherine Smith was found not guilty of attempting to murder her own husband it was a turning point in one of the most extraordinary cases in Australian criminal history.
34. Scared Straight
Aired 26 September 2011 • 30 min
TV Drama legend Sue Masters teamed up with 'Bra Boys' Maccario de Souza and his friends Mark Matthews and Richie Vas to work on a big screen documentary about big wave surfing, alcohol fuelled violence and the sequence of events that finally frightened the young men into cleaning up their lives.
35. For the Holy Grail
Aired 3 October 2011 • 30 min
A repeat of the program about Australian scientists Dr Jennifer MacDiarmid and Dr Himanshu Brahmbhatt and one of medicine's holy grails finding a way to treat cancer without toxic side effects and avoiding drug resistance.
36. Under Her Spell
Aired 10 October 2011 • 30 min
Zelie Bullen is stepping into the international spotlight as the woman who trained 'Abraham', the lead horse in Spielberg's production of the Tony award winning play 'War Horse'.
37. Bad Blood (Part 1)
Aired 17 October 2011 • 30 min
Part one of the program that centres on the notorious case of Jeffrey Gilham, in jail for life for the murders of his own parents.
38. Bad Blood (Part 2)
Aired 24 October 2011 • 30 min
The conclusion to the program about the notorious case of Jeffrey Gilham, currently serving a life sentence for the murders of his own parents in Sydney nearly twenty years ago.
39. Something About Me
Aired 31 October 2011 • 30 min
Kristina Keneally made history by becoming the first female Premier of NSW. What few realise is the family experience that she says led her into politics and toughened her for the brutal crossfire of public life.
40. The Planet They're On
Aired 7 November 2011 • 30 min
Nazeem Hussain and Aamer Rahman have become two of the hottest young comedians on the Australian comedy scene.
41. When William Met Sarah
Aired 14 November 2011 • 30 min
Film critic Margaret Pomeranz introduces this encore edition on the very special personal and professional bond shared by filmmaker Sarah Watt and her husband actor and writer William McInnes.