10. Wild Australia: After the Fires (ABC)
I tossed and turned about whether to include director Cian O’Clery’s hour-long, Hugo Weaving-narrated documentary about the Black Summer bushfires on this list – not because it isn’t well made and insightful, but because it’s a terrible example of burying the lede. The words “climate change” are mentioned for the first time 46 minutes in, which is an egregious mistake: context is important, as is understanding the nature of TV (i.e. that not everybody will watch until the end).
Trailer for Wild Australia: After the Fires
Otherwise, the production is insightful and compelling, in a very sad way, effectively comprehending the scale of what was lost during the worst wildlife disaster in modern history. Tempering the feeling of terrible emptiness is a desire to rebuild, with scientists, conservationists, volunteers and others cleaning up, studying the remains and hoping for a better future.