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. Road to Nowhere (Part 1)
Aired 6 February 2012 • 30 min
Part 1 of our story on Di Gicrist, the woman taking on the big end of town and changing the face of justice in South Australia after her husband was killed in a hit-and-run cyclist incident.
2. Road to Nowhere (Part 2)
Aired 13 February 2012 • 30 min
The conclusion to our story on Di Gilcrist and her fight for justice after her husband was killed in a hit-and-run cyclist incident.
3. Mary and Me
Aired 20 February 2012 • 30 min
Kath Evans was diagnosed with lung cancer that had spread to her brain and given only weeks to live. She attributes her sudden, extraordinary recovery to the then Blessed Mary MacKillop and the event was accepted by the Vatican as a miracle.
4. By the Light of Stars
Aired 27 February 2012 • 30 min
Yaron Lifschitz took a small, troubled circus company and turned it into an artistic triumph that now has the world applauding its daring and glamour.
5. Half a Million Acres
Aired 5 March 2012 • 30 min
David Pollock, a young man from remote Western Australia and Frances Jones, a young woman from the Melbourne suburbs, battle to save the historic grazing property Wooleen.
6. The Book of Daniel
Aired 12 March 2012 • 30 min
Daniel Clarke at the age of ten, inspired by the late Steve Irwin, set out to raise funds to conserve habitat for orangutans in Indonesia.
7. Woman from Snowy River
Aired 19 March 2012 • 30 min
Leigh Woodgate's journey from young mountain girl to shining racing star, through dark days of hospital and recovery to the triumphant joy of riding a horse for early morning track work.
8. Going Troppo
Aired 26 March 2012 • 30 min
From teenage years marked by delinquency, expulsions from school and several brushes with the law, John Polson became a successful actor and went on to direct some of the world's best known TV dramas.
9. House Of Hancock
Aired 2 April 2012 • 30 min
Another look at the 1997 classic story on Australia's richest person, Gina Rinehart.
10. A Done Deal
Aired 9 April 2012 • 30 min
Ric Richardson is an inventor who took on the might of Microsoft and scored a remarkable victory.
11. Streets with No Names
Aired 16 April 2012 • 30 min
Scott Neeson built a career as a top Hollywood movie executive but after a holiday in Cambodia, gave it all up and now works to help some of the poorest children there.
12. The Razor's Edge
Aired 23 April 2012 • 30 min
Risktaker, investigator and troublemaker: animal advocate Lyn White and the images that shocked a nation.
13. Return to Wooleen
Aired 30 April 2012 • 30 min
Since Half a Million Acres aired, the Pollock's battle to save their property has attracted powerful supporters and a visit by natural landscape ecologist, Peter Andrews who has previously featured on Australian Story.
14. Larger Than Life
Aired 7 May 2012 • 30 min
Clive Palmer has been described as a generous giver, a national treasure and a major political force. He's also been labelled a billionaire mining magnate who has never mined, a human headline and a manipulator of the media.
15. When We Were Racers
Aired 14 May 2012 • 30 min
Triple world champion, Sir Jack Brabham became the first driver to be knighted for services to motorsport and the only Formula One driver to win a world title in a car of his own construction.
16. According to Her Cloth
Aired 21 May 2012 • 30 min
From international model via prison to toast of Australian fashion week as a new generation designer: Tovah Cottle.
17. Turning the Tables
Aired 28 May 2012 • 30 min
Jack Manning Bancroft, was just 19 when he started a plan to help disadvantaged kids finish school. Now at 26 he's one of Australia's youngest CEO's.
18. Walking with Kate Mulvany
Aired 4 June 2012 • 30 min
Actress and playwright Kate Mulvany has experienced more than most people do in a lifetime and speaks candidly about life's many challenges and explains how she found the energy and determination to return to the public spotlight.
19. The Voice
Aired 11 June 2012 • 30 min
Gurrumul Yunupingu's haunting voice has captivated global audiences, most recently in London for Queen Elizabeth's Diamond Jubilee celebrations.
20. To Set Before a Queen
Aired 18 June 2012 • 30 min
In the early hours of Sunday June 24, the unbeaten Black Caviar will take on Europe's best at Royal Ascot, in front of the Queen. This is the fascinating inside story of the making of Black Caviar, stretching back across the generations.
21. Her Hour Upon the Stage (Part 1)
Aired 25 June 2012 • 30 min
Part One of our two part special where friends and family of Diana Bliss tell her story and reveal the extent of the private torment behind the glittering existence.
22. Her Hour Upon the Stage (Part 2)
Aired 2 July 2012 • 30 min
This week, the conclusion to our story about Diana Bliss whose death earlier this year was reported around the world.
23. Letters to the Editor
Aired 9 July 2012 • 30 min
It's a time of unprecedented crisis in the newspaper industry. But this week's Australian Story is about a former big city journalist who's bucking the trend. James Clark had been living the dream in Paris when he decided to put his future, his relationship and the family sheep station on the line to chase his dream of running a little local newspaper in outback Cunnamulla.
24. Stranger on the Shore
Aired 16 July 2012 • 30 min
Next week's program tells the story of a young woman unsettling her middle class Melbourne family by going out on a limb to 'adopt' a fourteen year old Afghan asylum seeker.
25. Foolin' Around
Aired 23 July 2012 • 30 min
Popular Country singer Beccy Cole has decided she is ready to tell audiences about a personal dilemma which has dogged her for more than ten years.
26. It Takes a Village
Aired 30 July 2012 • 30 min
In 2001 Ian and Sandy Johnson adopted two orphaned children, Tigi and Frazer, from Ethiopia. Now with the children 12 and 15, we returned to find out how it's all worked out.
27. Her Natural Life
Aired 6 August 2012 • 30 min
This program documents Annabelle Sandes' unlikely pathway from the fine art auction rooms of inner Sydney to whale conservation in the Kimberley.
28. Tatiana Is Dancing
Aired 13 August 2012 • 30 min
Tanya Pearson has shaped the careers of hundreds of aspiring Australian dancers and at 75 continues to teach classical ballet full time.
29. The Queen of Extreme
Aired 20 August 2012 • 30 min
Torah Bright has lived in the United States since she was fifteen years old when she turned professional as a snowboarder. Since then, she's flown under the radar of many Australians. Her specialty is the half pipe – a winter Olympic event with a huge international following.
30. Kicking the Habit
Aired 27 August 2012 • 30 min
A recent High Court ruling all but ended the branding of cigarette packets in Australia. The decision and the woman behind it, Federal-Attorney General Nicola Roxon, have generated news headlines around the world.
31. War Paint
Aired 3 September 2012 • 30 min
Ben Quilty is an Archibald prize winning artist with a lifelong interest in concepts of masculinity - from youthful excesses with drugs, alcohol and fast cars to soldiers on the front line.
32. On Bicheno Beach
Aired 10 September 2012 • 30 min
It's forty years since a 15 year old Shane Gould created a sporting sensation by winning three individual gold medals at the Munich Olympics.
33. Alaska and Me
Aired 17 September 2012 • 30 min
Twenty-seven year old John Cantor has devoted the past six years to trying to complete one of the toughest solo expeditions on earth - Brooks Range in Alaska.
34. Life After Puberty
Aired 24 September 2012 • 30 min
Nell Schofield and Jad Capelja, the two young girls who starred in the 1981 Bruce Beresford film 'Puberty Blues', found fame and celebrity and looked set for big careers on screen...
35. Leap of Faith
Aired 1 October 2012 • 30 min
Li Cunxin - once one of the world's best known dancers - embarks on a high stakes return to the ballet world after 15 years as a stockbroker.
36. The Slam
Aired 8 October 2012 • 30 min
Exclusive with Rod Laver: the tennis legend is joined by family, friends and a line up of greats including Roger Federer.
37. The Slam (Part 2)
Aired 15 October 2012 • 30 min
Part two follows Laver through his marriage to an older American divorcee, raising children, battling a near catastrophic stroke and his return to Australia in circumstances he describes as the supreme highlight of his life.
38. The Year of Living Famously
Aired 22 October 2012 • 30 min
Ben Lewin and Judi Levine are two film-makers whose latest film 'The Sessions' has received considerable acclaim and is now being tipped as an Academy Awards contender.
39. A Man of His Word
Aired 29 October 2012 • 30 min
Veteran print reporter Malcolm Brown has covered some of the biggest stories of the last four decades, but now finds himself somewhat out of step with the times in an industry caught on the cutting edge of the digital revolution.
40. Dreams from My Mother
Aired 5 November 2012 • 30 min
Oscar-nominated actress Diane Cilento left Hollywood at the height of her fame to pursue more creative and spiritual endeavours. Her most enduring love was a theatre she created in the middle of the North Queensland rainforest.
41. Under Her Spell
Aired 12 November 2012 • 30 min
Zelie Bullen is a former stunt woman, turned world renowned animal trainer who trained Abraham, the lead horse in Steven Spielberg's movie 'War Horse'.