S2015 E1 • The Final Days/How Could She?/Being Carl

The Final Days Sunday Night returns for 2015 with an intensely personal account from veteran reporter Mike Willesee on how he formed the profound belief condemned Bali 9 ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran had become ‘two decent human beings’. In this moving report, featuring previously unseen material from Mike’s 4-day assignment in Kerobokan prison, we discover Myuran tried to trade information about his drug bosses in Australia to beat the death sentence but was rebuffed. This searing story also features Andrew Chan writing a candid, heartfelt letter to his teenage self about what might have been. Sunday Night will also air what’s believed to be the last video to emerge from the jail featuring Andrew’s response to the previous round of executions. He wonders what it takes to get a second chance. As Australia rallies against their imminent firing squad executions, this is an important, unmissable story. How Could She? They’re two Aussie boys who lost their father to a grisly murder and now they may lose their accused-killer mum to a death sentence. Perhaps surprisingly the brothers say if that’s the punishment for the crime then their mother must face the consequences. It’s the life and death court-room drama in Bali you haven’t heard about. Steve Pennells has this incredible exclusive report on how a murder that claimed one parent may also claim the other. Being Carl Hit Aussie comic Carl Barron rarely gives interviews but when he sat down with Sunday Night host Chris Bath, the star of stand-up came ready to spill his guts on life, love and the tough job of kissing five actresses in his new movie Manny Lewis. Carl is at cross-roads in his life as he prepares to take the leap from selling out stand-up comedy shows to being a famous movie star. Get ready to smile with one of Australia’s favourite and funniest comedians.

Première diffusion : 8 mars 2015

S2015 E2 • Lonesome Losers/Is It Safe?

Lonesome Losers Sunday Night goes inside the music industry’s most bitter feud. Australia’s Little River Band was once one of the biggest groups in the world with hits including Reminiscing, Cool Change and Help Is On Its Way. But as members came and went the famous name changed hands and the original band members were left with little more than memories. In fact, there’s not a single member of the original Little River Band line up in the Little River Band that performs today. The question left for fans is; will the real Little River Band please stand up? Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler sits down with the current and former members to find out how LRB lost its identity. Is It Safe? If your loved one was attacked and killed by a shark would you want to come face to face with the creature? That’s the question Sam Young answers when he joins a team of fishermen and scientists on a quest to tag and track large tiger sharks off the coast of Queensland. Sam’s brother Zach was mauled by a tiger shark near Coffs Harbour two years ago. He’s been invited by the US shark tagging organisation, OCEARCH to join their expedition. In 2013, Sunday Night went to sea with OCEARCH tagging great white sharks off Cape Cod in north eastern USA. This is their first trip to Australia where they hope their real-time tracking technology can be used to help us know when large sharks are near our beaches. In an action-packed story, Alex Cullen rides with the shark taggers – and finds out whether this technology can actually save lives.

Première diffusion : 15 mars 2015

S2015 E3 • Coming Home/Words & Music

Coming Home In a world exclusive, Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock travels to one of the most dangerous war zones in the world to meet an Australian father-of-two who is fighting Islamic State. The Melbourne man gave up his comfortable life to join a local militia and make a stand against Islamic State fighters who have driven thousands of Assyrians from their villages in northern Iraq. With IS forces just two kilometres away, they’re in constant danger of attack. The attacks come mostly at night in the form of gunfire, mortars and suicide bombers. As Denham says in his report, this is as close as anyone would ever want to be to Islamic State. But for our Melbourne dad, volunteering as a foreign fighter was something he just had to do despite the concern and fears of his wife and family. The region he is defending is where he grew up as a boy before moving to Australia. But he has another worry. Australia’s new laws which prevent citizens joining foreign forces, no matter what side, means he now faces the possibility of jail when he returns home. Denham’s riveting report puts the spotlight on a war which Australia is well and truly engaged in. Words & Music Sunday Night has exclusive access to country legend Lee Kernaghan as he takes on the biggest project of his life. With more than two million albums to his name, 33 Golden Guitars and three ARIAs, Lee has found a new inspiration in of all places, the Australian War Memorial. Lee was so moved when he read the letters Australian servicemen and servicewomen wrote to their families in the event they never returned home that he wanted to put them to music as a special tribute. What resulted is a beautiful and poignant album and Sunday Night is behind the scenes as some of Lee’s mates – who just happen to be some of the biggest names in show business including Jessica Mauboy and Guy Sebastian – put their voices to the words of our diggers. It’s both moving and memorable.

Première diffusion : 22 mars 2015

S2015 E4 • I Am Sam/Strokes

I Am Sam It’s the intriguing case of Sam, a girl from Townsville with a seemingly ordinary life. For most of her 21 years, Sam had no idea of her extraordinary past – that she was at the centre of one of America’s longest running international kidnapping cases. For Samantha was born Savanna, and as a baby, she was kidnapped by her mother following a bitter custody battle with her father. Sam grew up in South Africa and Australia believing another man was her Dad. But the truth finally came out when her mother was arrested by the FBI and extradited back to America. Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler is in Charleston, South Carolina, with Sam for her mother’s trial and to find out whether she’ll finally meet her real father. Strokes For Australian stroke victims John Peard and Kylie Newlove, it was the news they’d been waiting years to hear – a new treatment that may help with their debilitating condition. The footy legend and mother of five put their faith in an experimental drug that’s being used in America. With no clinical trials to back up its use with people who’ve suffered a stroke, they were treated with Etanercept. The results are extraordinary and within minutes, both claimed they underwent a dramatic transformation. Sunday Night host Chris Bath was there to witness the moment John and Kylie say their lives were changed forever.

Première diffusion : 29 mars 2015

S2015 E5 • The Power of Ten (1)

“For our nation this is Sacred Ground. The site of the first battle ever to involve our ANZAC soldiers. I wanted to understand what it was really like,” Roberts-Smith explains. “It was a campaign fought on nothing but courage and determination. It was a battle that made heroes of many but 10 stand out. They are The Power of Ten. “For me, this is a personal mission to find out where they fought and what led to them being awarded the Victoria Cross.” Like the carpenter who single-handedly took wounded soldiers out of the firing line; the cricketer who used his skills with the ball to catch live bombs for 48-hours straight; and the lovesick young soldier told the only way to get a mother’s blessing to marry her daughter was to come back with a VC. “We’ve recreated their world in precise detail so we can fully understand their stories,” says Roberts-Smith. “It’s one of the ways we’ve been able to get a real understanding of what they experienced in the heat of battle and what drove them to carry out acts of incredible bravery.” Ben also tracks down the relatives of each of the Gallipoli VC recipients. He uncovers hidden secrets and reveals how the heroic actions of a century ago still play a powerful part in the lives of children and grandchildren today. “These are my heroes. They are my inspiration and it’s their stories that I want to share with Australia.”

Première diffusion : 12 avril 2015

S2015 E6 • The Power of Ten (2)

Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith heads to Gallipoli to follow in the footsteps of the ten ANZACs who became heroes amongst heroes, uncovering the details of their extraordinary stories.

Première diffusion : 19 avril 2015

S2015 E7 • First Blood/Home on the Road

First Blood In a major, exhaustive investigation Sunday Night has discovered Ivan Milat’s bloody, brutal trail began well before the backpacker murder spree. We’ve uncovered a hitherto unknown Milat crime – his first secret victim. Our breakthrough is a stunning surprise to the cops most intimate with Milat’s appalling crimes. It’s a shock to the family of the victim. And it’s an absolute gut-wrenching revelation for the man who did the time for Milat’s crime. We’ve unearthed and amassed compelling evidence and assembled persuasive testimony – notably the first person account of his brother Boris – that this was Milat’s first and defining violent crime. Importantly it contained signatures evident in the backpacker killings. Incredibly, another man was convicted for this crime and in an incendiary chapter in this powerful program, Sunday Night finds and reveals to him that Australia’s most infamous serial killer was responsible. The question for authorities, the families of the slain backpackers and the general public is that if Ivan had been held accountable for this first chilling crime, would criminal history have played as devastatingly and tragically as it did. Gold Walkley Award recipient Steve Pennells reports this explosive story. Home on the Road They don’t have bucket loads of money but the Cairns family consider themselves among the wealthiest Australians. Ten years ago they swapped their suburban lives for life on the road, on a bus. Mum, dad and 11 children all live and sleep on board and they wouldn’t have it any other way. The kids don’t go to regular schools, don’t have a fixed address and never stay in one place long enough to settle down. Guest reporter Kerri-Anne Kennerley finds the Cairns family deep in the outback and asks if all this freedom comes at a cost and if so, who’s paying?

Première diffusion : 26 avril 2015

S2015 E8 • Moving Mountains/Deadly Deja Vu/First Blood: Testing the Truth

Moving Mountains Actor Hugh Sheridan’s personal mission to earthquake ravaged Nepal. The story begins as a family emergency as Hugh races to Nepal when brother Zach, who was hiking near the earthquake-hit Everest Base camp, goes missing. Soon after landing in Kathmandu, Hugh learns that Zach is safe. At that point Hugh, a World Vision Ambassador, resolves to do whatever he can to help in the relief effort while he and brother Tom wait to be reunited with Zach. They roll up their sleeves and join the massive operation clearing debris in the worst hit areas of the city. Australian Red Cross Ambassador Dr Andrew Rochford, who’s reporting the story, also provides assistance and insights into the way Nepal is dealing with this overwhelming crisis. Deadly Deja Vu The crash of Germanwings Flight 9525 six weeks ago in the French Alps has raised new and disturbing questions about the mental health of commercial aviation pilots. This special investigation reveals other passenger airlines have been deliberately crashed by mentally-disturbed pilots. Alex Cullen interviews an Australian investigator who sounded the alarm on a suicide-suspected air crash closer to home. His warnings have been ignored by the industry. If the airline industry had acted decisively after Silk Air Flight 185 slammed into an Indonesian River in December 1997 might the Germanwings disaster been prevented? First Blood: Testing the Truth As a result of our breakthrough Ivan Milat investigation last week, NSW police are reviewing our evidence and interviews to determine if Australia’s most notorious serial killer can be prosecuted for the cold blooded shooting and maiming of a taxi driver more than 50 years ago. This week, Ivan’s brother Boris and the man who was jailed for the crime put their incredible stories to the test on a polygraph machine. Boris also reveals the day he almost killed his younger brother.

Première diffusion : 3 mai 2015

S2015 E9 • Person of Interest/Andre’s Last Chance

Person of Interest After 24 years, is the brutal unsolved murder of a sweet country girl about to be cracked? Twenty-year-old Penny May Hill left mum, dad and a loving home to start work as a nanny in a new town a few hours away. Three days later her battered, near lifeless body was found dumped on the outskirts of town. She died two weeks later. Two coronial inquests have failed to solve the mystery of who killed Penny Hill. Now, a relentless cop, driven by Penny’s heartbroken parents and a determination that justice be done, is on the trail looking for the one clue everyone’s missed. His new lines of inquiry are angering Penny’s ex-boyfriend, who tells Sunday Night’s Alex Cullen in an extraordinary interview that he’s bewildered why police would suggest that he is now a person of interest. Andre’s Last Chance As many as a thousand Australians are trapped in their homes by extreme obesity. They are often too large to leave their beds and too ashamed to ask for help. Australia’s largest man weighed nearly half a tonne when he asked for help. Sunday Night goes on an incredible journey with the 35-year-old father who has a choice; lose hundreds of kilograms or lose his life. How did he gain so much weight, why wasn’t his problem with food and obesity dealt with earlier and what he’s doing to get rid of it is an unforgettable story of love, support and survival.

Première diffusion : 10 mai 2015

S2015 E10 • Getting Away With Murder/The New Big Thing/Flight Warning

Getting Away With Murder The former head of the Western Australian Police task-force responsible for catching the notorious Claremont killer has spoken out about the investigation that never hit its mark. The New Big Thing She's Australia's biggest Indie export and if you haven't heard of Courtney Barnett yet, you soon will. Flight Warning It’s a concerning lapse in the aviation industry policy but what should be done about surveillance of the mental health of pilots?

Première diffusion : 31 mai 2015

S2015 E11 • Lost and Found/The Ultimate Pit/Sneak Peek: Hoop Dreams

Lost and Found Four orphans abandoned at different times and in different locations by the same mother and they all grew up never knowing each existed. What are the chances they’d ever find each other? It took one defining twist of fate to trigger an incredible, against-all-odds trail of discovery and the most remarkable, heart-warming reunion you’ll see. In this deeply moving Sunday Night exclusive, Rahni Sadler tells how one baby, then another were left in public places so they’d be discovered. Later two toddlers, a brother and a sister – are left behind. Decades later one sibling’s yearning to know sets in train the most unlikely series of events all leading to the one moment none of the children ever dreamed possible – the ultimate family get-together. There’s only one piece missing. Is mum still out there and if so can they find her? Someone in the Sunday Night audience may hold the key. The Ultimate Pit For Australians, real estate and home renovations are national obsessions. So many home owners set off on what they think will be their dream renovation and encounter such financial and emotional pain vow never to do it again. Well, prepare yourself for the ultimate renovation agony: renovating America’s biggest house, while it’s still under construction. It’s a drama that all the money in the world can’t seem to crack. And that’s because money’s no object, only the best will do and the fussy owners keep changing their mind. Or at least one of them does. The one who thinks she’s in charge. Billionaire David Siegel doesn’t have a budget for his dream home and that’s lucky because his wife Jackie doesn’t pay much attention to the bills. She just wants the finest and grandest home in America. When she invited Sunday Night’s Alex Cullen back to the mega-castle he thought it would be a grand opening. Instead Alex finds a sprawling build still unfolding. It’s been going on for 11 years so much of the house is already dated and in urgent need of renovation. Apparently. Sit back and watch a billionaire couple go through the same ordeal many average renovators have to endure – only on a far grander, far-more laborious, bigger money-gulping, scale. Will they ever finish it? Sneak Peek: Hoop Dreams Plus we’ve got an eye-popping sneak peek at a story that will have all of Australia talking. One of the most amazing feats you’ll ever see.

Première diffusion : 7 juin 2015

S2015 E12 • Eyes Wide Open/Long Shot

Eyes Wide Open If you knew you were going blind, what would you want to see before it was too late? That’s a vital question confronting the three gorgeous, fun-loving White kids who’ve recently learned they are carrying the same genetic trigger that sent their mum blind in her early 20s. That means Beth White has never seen her children but she and husband David are determined they see as much as they can, while they can. The family’s spending the limited money they have chasing dazzling sights and experiences around the world, enabling the kids to build a big visual archive they can take with them into the darkness of their blindness. In this deeply moving and inspirational story, Sunday Night’s Peta-Jane Madam joins the Whites as they go star-gazing in the outback and on an adrenaline ride through New Zealand, building their catalogue. All the time medical science is racing against time to find a cure or a treatment for this extremely rare optical condition. Long Shot Will the sharp-shooters from Australia’s How Ridiculous sink the greatest basketball shot of all time? The four boys from Perth already hold the world record for the highest shot ever landed. But this is an epic new level with a bunch of new challenges. Sunday Night has taken the boys to the dizzying heights at the top of Gordon Dam in Tasmania. With an enormous reservoir on one side and a deep valley on the other, the dam has created its own microclimate that brings with it swirling, unpredictable conditions. Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock tells the extraordinary story of the internet sensation, charting How Ridiculous’ amazing parade of all-but impossible shots, and then sets them their biggest challenge by far. A shot of more than 120 metres – a distance so great they need a set of binoculars just to see the basketball ring. Can they do it? Well if they do, you’ll need to see it to believe it. Don’t miss this eye-popping Sunday Night event.

Première diffusion : 14 juin 2015

S2015 E13 • The Case Against Cosby/Mum, Where Are You?

The Case Against Cosby He was the lovable comic who broke down racial barriers, inspired generations of African-American performers and who was a top-rating visitor to Australian living rooms during his television heyday. Bill Cosby. But is the superstar of American comedy a sexual predator who drugged and raped dozens of women? According to the women featured in this devastating Sunday Night investigation, there is no doubt. They describe in startling detail a man who used his star power to woo them into his world only to attack them and send their lives spiralling into oblivion. These are harrowing stories among a catalogue of allegations detailed by more than 40 women. The sheer weight of these independently presented accounts is profoundly damaging to Cosby and yet he has not spent a moment in court to face these claims nor has he set out to clear his name with a detailed public rebuttal. Why did it take so long for these accusations to emerge and be taken seriously? And why haven’t the authorities investigated and prosecuted? The answers are as shocking as the horrific ordeals recounted to Sunday Night. Lawyer Gloria Allred, who continues to accumulate clients in this extraordinary drama, said: “If he is a sexual predator, he’s one of the worst in this nation’s history.” Mum, Where Are You? Tiny fragments of information and a simple twist of fate finally brought them together – total strangers who became one of the most heart-warming, united families we’ve ever encountered. They were the four orphans, abandoned by their mother in different locations and at different times decades ago, whose astonishing story of discovery featured on Sunday Night two weeks ago. Only one big part of the puzzle was missing. Where was their mother? Now, thanks to Sunday Night’s amazing network of viewer sleuths and amateur genealogists and our own dogged investigations, the amazing final chapter of this family-in-the-making can now be told. It is a profoundly moving, fascinating journey where vital questions are answered and deeply held emotions are unleashed.

Première diffusion : 21 juin 2015

S2015 E14 • A Face for Yaha/Back in the Building

A Face for Yaha He’s an adorable little boy with a big, effervescent personality and loving parents. But Yahya was born without a face. Sunday Night viewers fell in love with the Moroccan toddler when we first told his story last year. Now Yahya has been granted an extraordinary opportunity to live more normally. A crack team of Melbourne surgeons have dedicated themselves to an incredibly challenging, high-risk assignment – what one calls ‘cranio-facial neurosurgery at its extreme’ – to give Yahya something we all take for granted – a face. Lead surgeon Professor Tony Holmes said: “I think this one is about as difficult as it gets. A 9.5-out-of-10 degree of difficulty. Yahya may not die if we don’t operate but he might if we do.” In this enthralling, emotion-charged Sunday Night special, Dr Andrew Rochford takes us inside Yahya’s world and the inspirational effort to transform his deformities. We’ll meet the irrepressible Melbourne woman who worked to bring the toddler and his parents to Australia and into the hands of the same surgery team that deftly separated conjoined twins Trishna and Krishna. “I don’t see a deformed child I just see this beautiful little child, a beautiful little soul, that’s all I see,” Fatima Baraka said. We’ll hear the hopes and fears of Yahya’s parents and the concerns of doctors as long and complicated surgery turns into a marathon of skill and precision. And in the end a happy little boy will smile for the first time. Back in the Building Las Vegas was the scene of Elvis’ spine-tingling, explosive comeback in the late ‘60s and he came to dominate the city like no other performer before or since. Now The King is making another comeback and Elvis is all anyone’s talking about in the gaudy, flashy entertainment capital. Australia’s and indeed one of the world’s biggest Elvis fans, former Wiggle Greg Page, has assembled a stellar cast of Elvis’ closest – including former wife Priscilla, daughter Lisa Marie and good mate Jerry Schilling – as he guest reports this inside account of how Vegas is getting all shook up about Elvis Aaron Presley once more. Greg’s got one of the biggest Elvis collections going but even his impressive array of memorabilia is dwarfed by the material assembled and displayed in the rejuvenated and re-launched hotel where Elvis lived and performed. There are remarkable, deeply personal accounts from a remarkable time in music history and plenty of the King’s greatest hits.

Première diffusion : 28 juin 2015

S2015 E15 • Sold!/Raging Bulls

Sold! Many of the world’s largest nations are on a global hunt for farmland and a secure way to feed their populations and that race is rolling to and through Australia’s rich agricultural country. China’s leading the way, determined to acquire land, livestock, indeed, in many cases, the entire supply chain. Trouble is that for many farmers the shopping spree is coming at a time when they’ve been beaten by drought and crushed by debt so they’re in no position to repel the aggressive buyers or secure the best possible price for their life’s work. Sunday Night’s Chris Bath hitches a ride with a busload of cashed-up Chinese investors sizing up our big backyard and looking to snap up big chunks of Australia’s agriculture industry for their own. On the trail through central Queensland, Chris discovers heartbreaking stories of farmers on the brink and whose farms are vulnerable to acquisition. Many are concerned we’re selling off our own national capacity to feed ourselves. In this important Sunday Night investigation Chris also questions the shameful lack of information about who owns what in the bush. And as policy makers play catch-up with ownership registers and new rules for foreign buyers, Canberra’s newly signed Free Trade Agreement with China is also set to dramatically change the landscape. Raging Bulls As if bull riding wasn’t crazy enough. Now promoters of the sport have turned all the settings up to 11 and the result is one of the fastest growing, most ridiculously dangerous arena sports around. There’s more money, more fame and a whole new world of risk and pain. Breeders have decided to take nature into their own hands and build the perfect beast. They’re genetically engineering some of the meanest, most ornery animals ever to enter the ring and it takes a special kind of lunatic to take them on. Get aboard, Ben Jones. The Aussie has taken so many bone-crunching spills on his way to the top of the US Professional Bull Riding Circuit he’s decided to hold off replacing his teeth until his career is over. Sunday Night’s Alex Cullen enters the white-knuckle world of PBR where the winners are toothless grinners and the losers can pay a high price. Just ask up-and-comer Jordan Robb who’s now confined to a wheelchair after breaking his neck in a sickening fall.

Première diffusion : 5 juillet 2015

S2015 E16 • Olivia Mead/For Young and Old

Olivia Mead It’s a high stakes family wrangle over a mighty iron ore fortune made in the Pilbara. And no, it’s not the bitter feud involving Gina Rinehart and the Hancock billions. It’s the untold story from the other side of the Hancock partnership. The story of the teenage kid, neglected by her mega-rich dad, raised by a single mum and who’s been forced to fight for her rightful share of the giant estate. Olivia Mead is 19, drives a battered old car and works at a supermarket checkout. She’s also the daughter of a billionaire, the late Michael Wright who became one of Australia’s richest men thanks to the efforts of his own father Peter Wright, Lang Hancock’s sidekick in the massive and legendary Pilbara iron ore discoveries. Just as Gina Rinehart has been locked in a bitter feud with her own children over their entitlement to billions of dollars, another courtroom drama has been playing out involving the Wright family fortune. It’s pitted a skint but determined young woman against the might of an extraordinarily wealthy family. This is the exclusive story of how Olivia Mead – neglected by her father – fought, won but still continues to fight for the respect she deserves and that part of the Wright fortune she’s due. For Young and Old It’s one of the most remarkable and heart-warming transformations we’ve ever filmed – when the very old meet the very young, fading memories, fractured concentration and the terrible mental dislocation of Alzheimer’s and dementia simply leave the room. And the success of this simple interaction may change the way the world deals with degenerative elderly illnesses. Sunday Night has travelled to Seattle in the US, to see firsthand the delightful consequences of this joyful experiment bringing the different generations together to slow or halt – even for a short time – the debilitating effects of Alzheimer’s and dementia. At Providence Mount St Vincent, the Intergenerational Learning Centre houses a nursing home and a pre-school, where the children receive care and attention from the elderly – and the elderly feel a renewed sense of worth. But there’s a more magical payoff – the residents experience profound relief from their symptoms. Five days a week, the children and residents come together in a variety of planned activities such as music, dancing, art, lunch, storytelling or just visiting. Denham Hitchcock meets some of the residents of The Mount including the spry 102-year-old George, and Dorothy, an Alzheimer’s sufferer whose life has been transformed. It’s an unmissable and deeply moving Sunday Night special report.

Première diffusion : 12 juillet 2015

S2015 E17 • Murder She Wrote: Debi Marshall's Story/Sunday Night Farewells Chris Bath

Murder She Wrote: Debi Marshall's Story True crime author Debi Marshall didn't plan on spending her life writing about serial killers and investigating some of Australia's most brutal unsolved crimes, then the man she loved was murdered. In her exclusive interview with Mike Willesee, Debi revealed how she launched her own investigation into the 1992 murder of Ron Jarvis and tracked down the man she considered the prime suspect - Stephen Standage. Sunday Night Farewells Chris Bath Veteran journalist Chris Bath has hosted her final show for Sunday Night after an incredible 220 episodes. Chris Bath decided to step away from her news reading, reporting duties and hosting roles after 20 years with the Seven Network.

Première diffusion : 26 juillet 2015

S2015 E18 • Tessa/The Vanishing

Tessa Tessa James had the world at her feet. She was an established star on Channel 7’s award-winning Home and Away. Like many of her alumni, she had decided to try her luck in Hollywood. Big screen roles and fame beckoned. But in the blink of an eye, Tessa found herself in a real life-and-death drama her Home and Away scriptwriters would find difficult to conjure. Soon after arriving in Los Angeles filled with nervous expectation, Tessa felt unwell, then found a suspicious lump and before she knew it she was home with a confronting diagnosis. She had cancer. A cancer that without aggressive treatment would likely kill her. Suddenly she found herself traveling a very similar perilous and disturbing path alongside her father. Steve James had, a year earlier, been diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma – a variant of Tessa’s cancer – and was undergoing round after round of punishing, debilitating chemotherapy. In this profoundly intimate and moving Sunday Night, Tessa, her parents, and the love of her life – husband and NRL star Nate Myles – take us inside her fight for survival. We’re there every step of the way to witness how they all banded together to help Tessa – and dad Steve – face cancer and fight for their lives. Oh, and some big Hollywood mates are there to help and encourage their little mate as well. The Vanishing When prospectors Raymond and Jennie Kehlet travelled to remote Western Australia in March, they’d hoped to hit the jackpot. They travelled deep into the outback to a place called Sandstone – a lonely, desert landscape dotted with mine shafts and dramatic scenery. Instead of finding treasure, tragedy struck. They disappeared, leaving behind fretting family and almost no clues. It’s not the first time people have simply vanished in this profoundly isolated and treacherous part of Australia. A police investigation eventually found Ray dead down a mine shaft. But his discovery raised more questions than answers. And where’s Jennie? In this special Sunday Night investigation into a deeply perplexing outback mystery we speak, for the first time and at length, to the person who last saw Jennie and Ray alive.

Première diffusion : 2 août 2015

S2015 E19 • Exposed!/Tim Cahill: Made in China/Twin Peak

Exposed! Imagine Googling your name and finding nude or intimate pictures of yourself splashed across the internet for the world to see. Worse still, it’s not only your photos but your name, address, where you work and other personal information. All posted without your consent. Revenge Porn has become one of the most disturbing trends on the internet; a tactic where jilted ex-lovers and hackers post private photos of women, to shame them online. It’s humiliating. It’s violating. Now a fight back has begun. A global movement of women determined to wrest back control, regain power and bring the men responsible to justice. On Sunday Night, PJ Madam gains extraordinary access inside one of America’s toughest prisons, a maximum security jail located outside San Diego. Inside she confronts Kevin Bollaert, the first person ever to be convicted of running a revenge porn site. He’s serving 18 years. It’s a compelling and tense interview within prison walls. We’ll meet three women, including Adelaide’s Amy Cornes, who’ve all been the victims of internet-humiliation and who are all taking on the creepy, faceless operators behind the shaming sites. This exclusive story will come as a timely warning to all parents and a vulnerable internet generation. Tim Cahill: Made in China China loves Tim Cahill. And Tim Cahill is loving life in China. Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler goes on an access-all-areas tour with the Aussie superstar as he opens a window on the extraordinary, secretive world of the new force in global football – the China Super League. In a surprise move, our most celebrated player signed to Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua in February. Was it for the money? Tim Cahill reveals to Sunday Night exactly why he made the move in the face of much more lucrative deals. In China, football is a passion on a whole new scale. Tens of millions are obsessed. President Xi Jinping is a soccer fanatic and wants China to host and win a World Cup. Starting from the ground up, 6000 schools in China have a dedicated soccer teacher and that number will rise to 20,000 by 2017. With his own youth program in Australia, Tim’s new club is seeking his advice to help with their development strategies. On the field, the veteran player is wowing local crowds, demonstrating why he’s been described as the most exciting player Australia has produced. We go inside a Chinese Super League game and lift a lid on the unbridled enthusiasm of the crowd. As he opens up about his life in China, Tim Cahill gives his most candid interview yet, providing a rare glimpse into his private life, his thoughts on the FIFA controversy, his World Cup prospects and his efforts to build brand Cahill in a global enterprise. You will be transported into the captivating world of superstars, super money and super crowds as China aims for world domination. Twin Peak One set of twins is something to behold. But four sets of twins. All naturally conceived and all in quick succession. That’s crazy! Well Emma and Loma Uhilla now have nine kids under the age of seven – three sets of girls twins, a boy and a girl and their eldest who arrived all by himself. The odds for this family are about 23 million to one. Sunday Night spends a bleary-eyed week with the Uhilla family to witness the controlled chaos, love and fun of an extraordinary outcome. Dr Andrew Rochford, who has twins of his own, has been spending time with the family and along the way he’s picking up priceless parenting tips. According to Dad, Loma, the secret is in the routine. Loma’s playing the long game. Sometime in the future he’ll be cared for by a team of doting sons and daughters. In this delightful Sunday Night family portrait Andrew Rochford put’s his own twin experience to the test, undertaking to care for the Uhilla tribe while mum and dad are treated to a rare night out. How will he go?

Première diffusion : 9 août 2015

S2015 E20 • Show Us the Money: A Global Investigation/The Great Paleo Challenge

Show Us the Money: A Global Investigation It’s estimated a massive $380 billion generated by companies operating in Australia escapes taxation here every year, through opportunistic and exploitative practices that seriously deprive everyday taxpayers of better schools, hospitals and roads. It also means state and federal governments have to look to measures like increasing the GST to pay for services. Why should they? Why don’t they crack down on the giant tax avoiders? A team at Sunday Night has spent the last four months tracking and investigating the complex global web of epic tax avoidance by the biggest multinationals based in Australia and overseas. For the first time on Australian television we hear from the whistleblower who blew the lid on how companies shift billions of dollars out of reach of Australia’s taxman and into tax havens in Europe. But while the companies continue to do what they do, this mild-mannered father-to-be is facing jail for doing what he believes needed to be done to stop the tax lurks. With the federal government facing increasing budget deficits and calls for a five per cent rise in the GST, Sunday Night reveals the secretive and lucrative shift of billions of dollars of Australian earnings to the tax haven of Singapore. Who are these companies and how do they get away with it? This story spans five countries across the world including Australia, and includes documents obtained by Sunday Night which will shock many Australians. The Great Paleo Challenge What better way to test the claims of a diet, than to try it yourself! Sunday Night’s Great Paleo Challenge sees reporter Mike Willesee forego a lifetime of indulgences to hit the Paleo diet under the mentorship of chef, author and Paleo evangelist Pete Evans. The My Kitchen Rules co-host is known for his passion and writing on the benefits of the Paleo regime. Mike Willesee puts these claims to the test and also tests Pete Evans on the criticisms of the diet. For 10 weeks, Mike has given up his lifetime love of ice cream and soft drink and aversion to vegetables to follow the rules of Paleo – unprocessed foods, no dairy, no grains, small to moderate amounts of properly sourced meat and fish and lots of leafy green vegetables. We’ll get Mike’s candid assessment of The Paleo Way but we’ve got science in on this as well. He’ll undergo a series of tests throughout what he suspects will be a torturous ordeal to measure the impact of the dietary changes. There’s no scientific test to measure grumpiness and the agony of ice-cream withdrawal but we’re sure Mike will keep us well informed of his discomfort.

Première diffusion : 16 août 2015

S2015 E21 • What Really Happened/Part II: The Great Paleo Challenge.

What Really Happened It’s the story that captivated the world and as the latest sensational twist in the Oscar Pistorius saga unfolds, Sunday Night has a major exclusive with Reeva Steenkamp’s parents, June and Barry. Pistorius was due to be released from prison and begin a form of home detention this week after serving 10 months of a five year sentence for culpable homicide. His release was suspended at the last minute for a review. In an emotional interview, June and Barry tell reporter Steve Pennells how they’re coping with the tragedy and why they believe Pistorius should remain behind bars. For the first time they also reveal what they believe really happened on the night their daughter was shot and killed by Pistorius and why they fear the Olympic sprinter has got away with murder. Part II: The Great Paleo Challenge. It’s the experiment that’s got Australia talking, outraged some and saw others ask ‘would it work for me?’ and jump in to test the Paleo diet for themselves. But we’re only half way there. Can the self-declared ‘lab-rat’ Mike Willesee go the distance or will he revert to his appalling lifelong diet of soft drink, ice cream and almost no vegetables? And if he does make the finish line, has the new diet made a lot of difference to his health and wellbeing or not? Once again Pete Evans is there to answer Mike’s questions about the benefits of the Paleo way and the criticisms of it. We’ll here counterpoint from those who think there are aspects of the regime that are concerning. But in the end it was one sceptical bloke’s decision to put himself to the Paleo test. The results will surprise and once again ignite important conversations about how we eat.

Première diffusion : 23 août 2015

S2015 E22 • Boomtime!/The Dallas Solution

Boomtime! It’s one of nature’s most powerful and impressive shows. More than 100 lightning bolts strike the surface of the earth every single second. Up to a billion volts in each and every strike, four times hotter than the surface of the sun. And scientists are discovering the phenomenon is increasing at a rapid and alarming rate. In this Sunday Night special event we look at the shock and awe of lightning. The science, the adventure, the tragedy and a dangerous future filled with more and more of it. Being struck by lightning is more common than you might think. Five to 20 deaths in Australia each year and hundreds of injured. Jayden Morrissey was one of those statistics. He was a typical 15 year old Aussie kid who loved the beach and surfing. He was walking up the beach on the NSW mid-north coast with two mates when he was struck and killed instantly. Lightning is also as damaging as it is deadly. More than half of the world’s bushfires are caused by lightning. Power grids go down. Electronics are fried. Billions of dollars in damage. As the planet warms, lightning strikes are rapidly increasing. Experts predict there will be 50 per cent more strikes by the end of the century. What does this mean for us, and the planet? Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock unlocks those secrets. He and the Sunday Night team travel deep into the jungle of Venezuela to a place that gets struck by lightning more times than anywhere on earth, 40 thousand times a night. They go to Florida to watch scientists create lightning with rockets fired into cloud to try to hatch ways of managing the growing boom time in lightning. We even speak to a man in South Carolina who claims to have been struck 11 times. The Dallas Solution Searching for a solution to domestic violence that claims the life of one woman a week in Australia, Sunday Night host Melissa Doyle heads to Dallas where a breakthrough program is achieving remarkable results. Deep in the heart of Texas, authorities have joined forces to take a zero-tolerance approach to violence against women. Specialised police units, a dedicated court and trained counsellors have seen domestic violence homicides there drop from 31 to three in only three years. The Sunday Night team was the first allowed to film proceedings inside Dallas County Criminal Court 10 where trailblazing Judge Roberto Canas is taking an uncompromising approach to offenders. This judicial initiative is about to be trialled in Queensland and Victoria. Men who are reported for violence are arrested and taken straight to jail. Few choose to plead not guilty and face trial, most face up to their crimes and for that Judge Canas suspends their sentence and sends them into a six-month intervention program where men are forced to confront their demons and take responsibility for their actions. An astounding 94 per cent of these men have not reoffended. As Australia struggles to confront the scourge of violence against women there are powerful lessons in this program for those looking for solutions here. Mel’s story goes to the heart of this extraordinarily complex and distressing issue – and offers up real answers.

Première diffusion : 30 août 2015

S2015 E23 • Frozen Families/Birddog

Frozen Families It’s being sold at cocktail parties and it’s being promoted and supported by some of the world’s biggest companies as a way of managing work demands and family plans. It’s radical modern motherhood – women freezing their eggs while they wait for the perfect partner or chase the ideal career. It’s already become a billion-dollar phenomenon in the United States and it’s catching on in Australia. But are egg freezing companies selling an unachievable dream of having it all and are employers unfairly leveraging the hopes and aspirations of their female staff? Sunday Night investigates the fastest growing phenomenon in an already booming fertility industry. As more and more women sign up for the program and hand over tens of thousands of dollars for their procedures and storage, there are profound questions about the viability and certainty of the process. Ideally, eggs should be harvested from women in their mid-20s for the best possible chances of a pregnancy later on, but it’s being pitched to clients much later in life when the prospects of motherhood can diminish significantly. In this special report, Sunday Night’s Peta-Jane Madam investigates whether the claims of this multi-million dollar industry stack up and whether vulnerable women are being preyed upon. Birddog Forget Happy Feet, we’ve got an entire island of penguins who are deliriously chuffed from their feet all the way to their beaks and who owe their survival and safety to the most unlikely of heroes. One’s a knockabout chook farmer, the other’s a trusty, loyal dog named Oddball. In what is likely to be the cutest story we’ll bring you this year, a rapidly diminishing fairy penguin colony under siege by hungry foxes is brought back from the brink by a determined and practical cocky named Allan Marsh. Swampy had seen his Italian sheepdog diligently protect his free-ranging brood of chickens from the slyest of foxes so when he heard about the plight of the Fairy Penguins on Middle Island near Warrnambool in Victoria, the solution was obvious. Obvious to Allen. Not so obvious to the bureaucracy managing the state’s wild places. Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock tells the heartwarming story of how common sense and watchdogs prevailed and this threatened island community got its happy ending. Oh and the feel-good Australian movie of the year, starring Shane Jacobson as Swampy.

Première diffusion : 6 septembre 2015

S2015 E24 • Creedence Clearwater Revealed/Slum Town Symphony/Perfectly Blunt

Creedence Clearwater Revealed They were brothers and high school friends stitched together by a love of music and driven by a desire to ‘climb the mountain’ to the top of the world. With John Fogerty’s freakishly gifted song-writing skills, Creedence Clearwater Revival did just that with hit after hit – Proud Mary, Down on the Corner, Who’ll Stop the Rain, Looking Out My Back Door. As the ‘60s became the ‘70s they reigned with their catchy, clever, swampy rock. Then they blew up. Not just any old band break-up, Creedence Clearwater Revival exploded in a storm of law suits, threats and hatred. It became the toxic band collapse against which most others are measured. The musical genius John Fogerty couldn’t and wouldn’t perform the hits he created for decades. The rancour and ugliness continues to this day. Now, as John Fogerty releases his definitive account of the life and times of CCR, Sunday Night’s Peta-Jane Madam gains amazing new insights into the remarkable creative forces that made the band huge and the diabolical personality and management issues that drove them apart. But will one band members tragic revelation be enough to bring them back together before it’s too late? Slum Town Symphony They have nothing. Nothing but a mountainous garbage tip, the dollar-a-day work that comes with it and a hand-to-mouth life in the shanty town next door. And yet they’re joyously happy and love their life. That’s because it’s filled with beautiful music courtesy of one of the most unlikely and heartwarming ensembles ever brought together under a baton. Thanks to remarkable talents of one local resident, oil tins, chemical drums, forks, spoons, bottle tops and other discarded junk are transformed into violins, trumpets, drums and just about any other symphony instrument. And thanks to the dedication of a music teacher, kids are getting a chance to develop their skills and a future in music. There are even some prodigies among the group. Sunday Night spent a week with the musicians of the junkyard orchestra and their families, discovering what extraordinary beauty is possible from the barest means. Today Paraguay’s junkyard orchestra tours the world, sometimes performing in classical concert halls and sometimes with major international rock bands like Metallica. They haven’t been to Australia – yet. So Sunday Night is thrilled to introduce you to these extraordinary musicians and their triumphant, uplifting story. Perfectly Blunt James Blunt burst from obscurity to become one of the biggest selling artists of the new millennium. His soulful songs have sold more than 20 million copies worldwide and are still on high rotation. Popularity, however, became the problem. High exposure and the high rotation of his heartfelt hits brought a backlash. More like a tidal wave. James Blunt went from being loved to being loathed. But, as fans of Seven’s The X Factor are discovering, James can give as good as he gets. He took on the haters and won, using his quick wit to turn the tide on social media trolls. James has become something of a cult hero in the Twitter-sphere for his withering comebacks. Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler travels to the Spanish island of Ibiza, James’ home since he topped the charts with You’re Beautiful. It’s a wild ride through the clubbing mecca – surprisingly James’ natural habitat, as he reveals his feelings about the backlash, the inspiration for his songs and the benefits of not taking yourself too seriously. And James doesn’t have to try too hard to put all the criticism into perspective. Prior to his music career, James was a Captain in the British Army and served in the Balkans during the Kosovo War. He opens up about the devastation he witnessed and the difficulty of returning to normal life.

Première diffusion : 4 octobre 2015

S2015 E25 • Peter Garrett – The Power And The Passion/My Friend The Shark

Peter Garrett – The Power And The Passion He was a flailing, screaming wild man on stage. Leading legendary Australian rock band Midnight Oil, Peter Garrett was an imposing presence on stage and off. He was outspoken about contentious and provocative issues. He was a fierce agitator. A committed activist. And then he became one of them. A politician. And even more confronting for his legions of fans he became a Minister responsible for prosecuting many of the issues he railed against as a rock star. That begs the question Sunday Night’s Melissa Doyle puts to Garrett in this access-all-areas profile of the big man: ‘Were you a better politician as a musician or as a politician?’ His candid answers to this question and a catalogue of others probing his careers as an unlikely rock star and, in many ways, an even more unlikely politician make this Sunday Night report arguably the most revealing portrait of Peter Garrett ever assembled. As he prepares to publish his memoir, Garrett goes where he’s never gone before. He speaks openly and emotionally about the harrowing death of his mother in a house fire he survived. He heads back to Selina’s, one of Sydney’s rock’n’roll beer barns, that launched an extraordinary parade of music acts that went on to conquer the world. But he’s perhaps at his most candid and incendiary when he looks back at his polarising parliamentary career. He has plenty to say about his former boss Kevin Rudd and it’s not pretty. He talks openly about the low-point of his political service – the so-called Pink Batts scandal. And yes, he addresses that now infamous encounter concerning NSW clubland. That envelope offered to him he first recalled was filled with cash and then in a startling retraction he changed the story. What really happened? This is a stunning warts and all profile of a complex and fascinating Australian. My Friend The Shark So, you’re a day out to sea and from your vantage point at the back of the boat you can see close to two dozen sharks. You’re told that somewhere among that toothy throng there are some of the most feared sharks of all – Tigers. Would you get in the water? That was the startling question confronting Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler as she travelled to some of the world’s shark hot-spots with a woman determined to change the way we think about these intimidating creatures. Young Australian Madison Stewart adores sharks. She’s in her element when she is eye to eye with them, stroking them and giving them affection. It’s what she does. That’s why they call her Shark Girl. Following controversial shark culling programs in WA and calls for nets or new and enlightened technologies to protect swimmers from sharks in some of Australia’s other danger zones, Sunday Nightexplores an alternative view of sharks. They’re just big goldfish says Dive boat captain Jim Abernethy. Tiger Sharks are like ‘stoner teenagers’ and ‘have heaps of personality’, says Madison Stewart. Amazingly, Rahni took the plunge and yes it changed her mind about sharks. It’s a heart-stopping adventure featuring some of the most stunning natural imagery you’ll ever see. But will it change the way you think about sharks?

Première diffusion : 11 octobre 2015

S2015 E26 • Inside Reclaim Australia/How Do You Mend a Broken Heart?/Half the Man

Inside Reclaim Australia They say they’re proud Australians who want to protect their Australian way of life. Opponents say they’re a bunch of dangerous extremists dividing Australia, inflaming hatred and fear of Islam and intimidating those who follow that faith. Reclaim Australia has been making a lot of noise but very little is known about how this provocative movement came to be, its internal operations and precisely who is in charge. For the first time Sunday Night goes inside Reclaim Australia to meet the trio of suburban novices who started the movement and the hard-core campaigners who joined in and ramped up the rhetoric and the intensity of its campaigns. Sunday Night reveals the three were brought together by a shared belief that the Lindt Café siege in Sydney was an act of Islamic extremism and despite the fact that they had no experience in activism, protest or political organisation they decided to make their voices heard. They tell Sunday Night’s Alex Cullen they were stunned by the numbers of like-minded people who swarmed to their on-line rallying site. Those supporters would soon include some of the most hard-line, organised and active anti-Islam agitators in the country. It begs the question: who was ultimately in charge? The novice mums and dads who started the ball rolling or the battle-hardened extremists who packed in as the movement gained momentum. This is a startling, eye-opening insight into a corner of Australian society that is deeply confronted by multiculturalism and Australia’s Islamic community. Are they minority fringe-dwellers or are their concerns shared more broadly? Sunday Night viewers will have a chance to have their say after viewing this exclusive, inside story. How Do You Mend a Broken Heart? The legendary Barry Gibb, the last surviving member of the stellar super-trio the Bee Gees takes us on an emotional journey down memory lane this week. Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler accompanies Barry on an intensely personal tour through Redcliffe, the little beachside town north of Brisbane where he and his brothers Robin and Maurice shared an idyllic though sometimes rebellious childhood. It’s a bittersweet experience. Barry is still wrestling with the loss of his beloved younger twin brothers Maurice and Robin, who were integral to the sound and world-wide success of the Bee Gees. Over five decades the trio sold more than 200 million records. They wrote and recorded 70 chart hits for themselves and other superstars – including 19 number ones. Despite the epic success, Barry admits in this deeply intimate tour of his formative years that the boys were never happier than when they kicking around their sunny Queensland home making mischief and dreaming of making it big in music. The story continues Sunday Night’s candid relationship with Barry that began back in 2012. Our cameras capture the moment Barry sets foot in his childhood house for the first time since he left Redcliffe all those years ago, and follow him to the local Speedway track where the brothers first performed and to the town jetty where a life and career-defining decision was made all those years ago. And of course it’s a trip with an excellent soundtrack. Half the Man Sunday Night first met Australia’s most obese man, Andre Nasr, last year. At the time he was Australia’s heaviest man – weighing in at a massive 468 kilos. He had been admitted to hospital with a life-threatening infection and many of the health issues that accompany morbid obesity and his prospect of living for much longer were extremely grim. Andre knew he had a life-or-death decision to make and in a desperate bid for survival he contacted obesity specialist Dr Nic Kormas and pleaded for help. Dr Kormas agreed to take on his case, but perhaps more importantly, Andre decided to tackle his life-long habit of massive overeating head-on. Fourteen months later Andre is finally out of hospital and is almost half the man he was before. In an extraordinary display of determination, and with the right people by his side, Andre has move from moribund, bed-ridden giant to being back on his feet, working out at his home gym and avoiding the foods that took him to the brink. He’s aiming to stay the course and he’s set new challenges to hit his ultimate weight goal. His new lease on life has come at a cost. He has severed ties with his mum and dad because he believes that is one of the best chances he has at achieving his goals. Andre reveals all to Dr John Darcy on Sunday Night.

Première diffusion : 18 octobre 2015

S2015 E27 • Beauty and a Beast/Where Prisoners Rule

Beauty and a Beast It’s been a long and deeply painful wait for action and answers to one of Australia’s most baffling and enduring mysteries: what happened to model and bride-to-be Lucille Butterworth? Her heartbroken partner and loving brothers are hoping today’s sophisticated, thorough and dedicated police work will overcome the appallingly sloppy and inept police work of the past that saw Lucille dismissed as a runaway, compelling leads left unpursued and vital clues ignored. In this powerful and revealing investigation Sunday Night’s Mike Willesee follows the trails ignored or rejected by Tasmanian police after Lucille went missing from a bus stop outside Hobart in 1969. Sunday Night has gathered new information and new accounts from key characters – including some who haven’t spoken publicly before – that gives compelling perspective on this coldest of cases. As a major coronial investigation of the case probes the errors of the past and identifies a key person of interest, Lucille’s family and friends are hoping that finally their agony will end, her body will be found and her killer brought to justice. Where Prisoners Rule It’s a desperate and lawless place where all the rules have been shown the door – along with the guards – because in Bolivia’s seething San Pedro prison, the prisoners are in charge. And yet here you’ll find mums and their children living alongside murderers, rapists and drug runners, inmates buying and selling their simple cells or comfy apartments, aspirational neighbourhoods, even dozens of restaurants and shops. Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock enters this extraordinary upside down world where cocaine labs churn out product, the prisoners meter out a code of criminal justice and where kids play video games and come and go to school. Sunday Night films secretly inside the prison as Australian author Rusty Young braves the scenes of his worldwide best-seller, Marching Powder. Rusty’s book shined a light on this hidden netherworld and while he’s certain the publicity it generated did some good, he’s sure he’s made some enemies which makes his return visit dangerous and uncertain. The Bolivian government has threatened to close down this prison in the heart of the capital La Paz, but still it seethes and thrives with a prison population of 3000 fighting for space in a facility originally intended to house a few hundred. This is a stunning, tense tour of a hidden society. Forget everything you’ve ever learned or assumed about life inside jail.

Première diffusion : 25 octobre 2015

S2015 E28 • The Contraceptive Controversy/Race to the Clouds/Eyes Wide Open – New Hope

The Contraceptive Controversy It’s been hailed as a no-fuss, straight-forward and safe contraceptive solution. Women who no longer wanted to fall pregnant could have this simple device implanted without surgery in a 15-minute procedure and it would effectively sterilize them, permanently. No more pills, no more troublesome IUDs. It was hoped this approach, developed in part by an Adelaide specialist, would revolutionize female reproductive health around the world. So far 750, 000 women have been sold on its safety and reliability and had it implanted. But thousands of those women are now reporting major complications, excruciating pain, haemorrhaging and punctured organs. Some have seen the implant migrate to other parts of their body or shatter into small pieces. Many have fallen pregnant. Some women have died. In this global investigation, Sunday Night exposes the dangerous, even fatal flaws in this popular contraceptive and explores nightmare cases where women have been forced to undergo multiple, highly invasive operations to deal with its complications. We examine the experience of one Australian patient who fell pregnant three times despite the manufacturer’s claims of near certain prevention. Sunday Night’s Dr Andrew Rochford discovers many of these women are fighting back, determined to hold the manufacturer to account and to get the device withdrawn from the market. And they’ve got a powerful ally on their side. Legendary consumer advocate and determined campaigner Erin Brockovich is on the case with a withering assessment of the company behind the device, the regulatory flaws that allowed it to be declared safe without proper independent study and that now prevent many women from suing the manufacturer for damages. Race to the Clouds Strap in for the ride of your life. For 51 weeks a year, Pikes Peak, one of the highest mountains in Colorado, is a sleeping giant, peacefully smiling down upon the tens of thousands of visitors who take in the spectacular scenery. But for that other week, the giant is awake, daring the bravest of the brave in one of motorsport’s most perilous challenges – a race to the summit around the twisting, turning, cliff-clinging road to the summit. Mistakes are fatal and Sunday Night reporter Denham Hitchcock came as close to danger as you could get. During race practice, Denham witnessed a tragic accident that saw one young motorcyclist Carl Sorenson lose his life. Carl was not the first to die here doing what he loved and he won’t be the last. This year we buckle-up alongside local female driver, Lori Wood in her “four-wheeled missile” and hold our breath for the high-speed antics of Aussie daredevils Nathan Barker and Jeff Denmeade. It’s a battle of wills, of pushing to the edge of the envelope without spiralling over a massive, deadly drop. It’s an exhilarating Sunday Night adventure story. Eyes Wide Open – New Hope They were on a rollicking adventure to see as many of the world’s wonders as they could before they could see them no more. A few months ago, Sunday Night introduced audiences to the White family from Sydney. Mum, Beth, has been blind since her early 20s with a rare form of Retinitis Pigmentosa. She and husband David hoped the children wouldn’t inherit the genetic condition, but they did. Kathryn, Samuel and Matthew would go blind by the time they reached adulthood. Instead of being overwhelmed by their future, the Whites scrimped and saved and set off on a trip to see and do all they could before the children’s blindness set in. Following our story, public donations enabled a medical team to fire up urgent research. Now, that’s brought real hope. In a world first, they’ve isolated the gene that caused the disease and they’ve begun applying their discovery in treatment for the children. It means they’re one step closer in a long battle to restoring their sight. This medical breakthrough has the potential to help thousands of others suffering genetic eye conditions. For the White family, it’s a race against time. Will the treatment arrest their deteriorating sight before it’s too late?

Première diffusion : 1 novembre 2015

S2015 E29 • Michelle. Our Belle./Australia on Ice/Look World, No Hands!

Michelle. Our Belle. She took Australian racing’s ultimate prize, proved the doubters wrong and told them to ‘get stuffed’ anyway. She smiled her dazzling smile, she hugged her brother Stevie and we all fell in love with Michelle Payne. When Michelle rode the bush-trained, 100-1 roughie Prince of Penzance past the winning post in Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup she confounded a few of the horse’s owners who wanted a bloke to ride the gelding, she smashed through ‘chauvinist’ racing’s glass ceiling and announced a new royal order in the Sport of Kings. Queens rule. With millions of Australians fixed on this pocket powerhouse, the book opened on her extraordinary story. The nine brothers and sisters, the scarring loss of her mother, a family raised among horses by a battling father, the injury that almost ended her career. The national spotlight was thrown on an amazing and highly-competitive bunch, but there’s a great deal we still don’t know about this trailblazing Aussie. Sunday Night’s Melissa Doyle sits down with the remarkable Michelle Payne for an extensive interview on the highs, the lows and the secrets that have taken her to the top of her game. Australia on Ice It has become the most pervasive and, arguably, the most destructive drug ever to be unleashed. Ice. And it’s rapidly climbed the ladder to infect and often ravage families from all levels of society. Northern Territory Police Minister Peter Chandler is responsible for the officers who enforce drugs laws in the Top End and yet even he hasn’t been able to keep methamphetamine from reaching his own family and gripping his eldest son. Peter and his wife Robyn have watched ice turn their boy into a desperate thief and they worry the drug will kill him. Young mum Casey Veal lost her beautiful baby boy to an ice-addled home invader. NSW Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione says no-one is immune. So, what can be done to stop this horrific drug from claiming a generation or more? In this comprehensive Sunday Night investigation, Derryn Hinch goes deep into Australia’s ice underbelly to explore the devastating dynamics of this drug. But he also goes searching for answers and finds hope in courtrooms and communities across the country. Sunday Night goes inside a specialist drug court to see how it’s changing lives and heads bush to find people coming together to take on the ice menace. Look World, No Hands! It’s infiltrated our lives to the point that we’ve all developed a love/hate relationship with technology. It’s great when it works but when something goes wrong it usually goes wrong at the worst possible time. So, would you hand the wheel – in fact all the operating switches and pedals of your car – over to a computer and trust it to drive you safely from A to B? Would you trust a computer with your life? Questions we’ll soon be answering as the companies that already dominate and determine the way we live, race to develop, test and release the driverless car. And so an industry that’s spent all its time developing the relationship between car and driver – and spending billions on the idea that your car defines who you are – will change forever. Already, petrol heads and old-school car lovers are crying foul. How dare Google and other hi-tech companies steal control of the car and rob motoring enthusiasts of their passion and identity. The tech-whizzes behind the revolution say it’s just the way it will be – convenience is the key and time-poor, traffic-jammed commuters will be liberated to do other things while their cars do the driving. Alex Cullen refs the battle between the developers and the drivers in this revealing look at the very near future.

Première diffusion : 8 novembre 2015

S2015 E30 • Saved/Life is Beautiful/The End of the Adventure

Saved Australians who have holidayed in Thailand will have seen it or sensed it. Appallingly, some even participate in it. But when Aussie tradie Tony Kirwan saw the exploitation rampant in Thailand’s booming sex industry he didn’t turn a blind eye. He decided to end it, one child at a time. Tony sold his electrician business, moved his family to Bangkok and committed himself to rescuing underage girls from sex slavery and human trafficking. His organisation Destiny Rescue has now organised or facilitated the rescue of more than 1300 girls from the sex trade and given them shelter, education and the opportunity to rebuild their lives. Tony and his band of rescuers work in close co-operation with local law enforcement to liberate girls, shut down clubs and bring the stand-over merchants to justice. In this unflinching and dangerous assignment, Sunday Night’s Denham Hitchcock takes us into the clandestine corners of Thailand’s sleazy, inhuman sex industry to explore the extent of what can only be described as slavery. Then we’re there as Tony and his crack team put effect to months, even years, of precise planning and rescue children from seedy nightclubs and brothels. We see girls saved, lives fundamentally changed for the better and the exploiters arrested. Around the world, the International Labour Organisation estimates 27 million men, women and children are enslaved. This story focusses on one determined group trying to make a difference in our own neighbourhood. They’re led by dads who want Australian men to be the heroes, not the villains. Life is Beautiful She’s seen and suffered the very worst of humanity and yet Perth grandmother Hetty Verolme believes life is beautiful, to be celebrated and squeezes the most out of every second of every day. At 85, Hetty has an indomitable exuberance and she’s aiming to teach us all her life lessons for happiness. Hetty survived one of Nazi Germany’s most infamous institutions, Bergen Belsen concentration camp. But she also helped more than 40 other children to survive the brutality and deprivation of Belsen with her enthusiasm, love and encouragement. She created distractions for the kids, organising games and shows. She hatched more than a few brazen schemes to steal food, confound the guards and undermine the authority of her captors. At just 14, Hetty was nicknamed ‘The Little Mother’. Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler travels back to Bergen Belsen with Hetty for this inspirational story of hope despite the odds. Our cameras are there when Hetty is reunited with some of the children she helped to save, 70 years after they left the camp. Now Hetty spreads her message of hope to children across Australia. No matter what has happened to you, always believe that tomorrow will be a better day. The End of the Adventure In many ways they were Australia’s ultimate grey nomads. But where they went, they didn’t need campervans. They travelled to the country’s most hidden, unseen corners in their helicopter and if there were any signs of anyone else within hundreds of kilometres, their destinations weren’t remote enough. Richard and Carolyn Green took Sunday Night on one of their special adventures a few years ago. Reporter Alex Cullen was struck by their love of the outback, their passion for the environment and their determination to see it their way. Richard captured many of their hideaways with his striking photography in his relentless effort to acquaint Australians with the importance of their natural wonders. Now the adventure is over. Richard, Carolyn and another ground-breaking adventurer and devout environmentalist, John Davis, perished when their chopper crashed on the way home from a bush gathering of coal-mining protesters. Alex explores the trio’s legacy with their mutual friend and fellow adventurer, Dick Smith, and John’s widow, Felicity. We also examine claims Richard pushed the envelope as a chopper pilot and courted trouble with the aviation regulators.

Première diffusion : 15 novembre 2015

S2015 E31 • An Australian in Paris/A Fatal Distraction/The Happiest Days

An Australian in Paris Emilie Gassin had fallen in love with Paris. The young Australian musician settled in the city seven years ago to carve out a career performing and recording. Her career was growing strongly as was her following and her circle of friends. The gifted singer/songwriter was living her dream. Then terror struck in the heart of Emilie’s community and took two of her mates. One was among those gunned down by terrorists inside the Bataclan concert hall, the other shot at a neighbourhood café sipping coffee with his girlfriend. It was a senseless, brutal wave of coordinated assaults on one of the world’s great cities and its people and it shocked the world. In this powerful and compelling Sunday Night exclusive, Emilie recounts the harrowing events of the night, the frenzied efforts to find her friends and heartbreaking discovery that they had perished along with scores of other Parisians. Sunday Night’s Melissa Doyle also sheds new light on the events that unfolded inside the Bataclan concert hall, as a survivor recounts for the first time her desperate efforts to elude the rampaging gunmen to stay alive. Ultimately though, this is a story of hope and redemption through Emilie’s efforts to help heal her beloved new city, alongside other musicians and artists who are all determined the terror attacks will not change the heart of Paris or the French way of life. A Fatal Distraction It’s inconceivable, isn’t it? How can a loving mum or a doting dad forget they’d left their baby in the back of their car? Well, it’s a heartbreaking occurrence that’s far more frequent than you might expect. And according to experts, any parent is vulnerable to this tragedy because our brains can play tricks on us, even when it comes to the safety of the ones we love and care for the most. On the cusp of another baking summer, Sunday Night examines the phenomenon of Forgotten Baby Syndrome that’s claimed a number of little lives in Australia, and an average of 37 babies and toddlers each year in the United States. Sunday Night’s PJ Madam explores the cases of two American mothers who forgot about their baby sons in almost identical circumstances. Both children died. Lyn Balfour lost her nine-month-old son Bryce after leaving him in her SUV for seven hours while she worked. Stephanie Salvilla left her five-month-old son Gannon in the car for eight hours. Neuroscientist Professor David Diamond explains how this phenomenon could happen to anyone. It’s not bad parenting, he says, it’s the way we’re wired. He explains that sometimes our memory fails us even when it comes to things as precious as children. It’s an argument he’s taken to court in the United States and in Australia in defence of parents who lost their children in this way. With the hot months already here, this is a must-see special investigation for all parents. The Happiest Days He’s done it all. Directed box-office blockbusters, critically-acclaimed ground-breakers, won a room full of awards including an Oscar, and managed to harness and guide the talents of some of the world’s (make that Australia’s) most challenging actors into some of Hollywood’s most memorable performances. Ron Howard has ascended to the very top of one of the world’s most cut-throat and competitive businesses. Yet he remains the nicest of guys. And, the world still thinks of him as the adorable square Richie Cunningham from the long-running hit TV series Happy Days. In this remarkable open and candid interview with Sunday Night’s Rahni Sadler, Ron Howard opens up on a number of new fronts. He reveals the real reason he took on the role of Richie, he marvels at the talent of the array of Australian stars he’s worked with and talks about how even he, a heavyweight Hollywood director, struggles to get movies he wants to make funded and made. It’s been a very tough week for the world. Time for some Happier Days.

Première diffusion : 22 novembre 2015