These days, difficult women are all the rage. Not the case in 1986. At least, that’s the message behind this award-winning drama set in an Australian news station. The titular newsreader is Helen (Mindhunter’s Anna Torv): slick, glam, extremely competent and desperate to cover harder-hitting stories (Thatcher’s premiership; the quickly worsening Aids crisis). These requests for more – more gravitas, more responsibility, more attention – are not exactly welcomed by her irascible, vaguely pervy boss, Lindsay (a man). In fact, they are greeted with a barrage of misogynistic abuse that, in the opening episode on BBC Two, culminates in her sacking. In response, Helen goes home and overdoses – our first clue that this outwardly formidable woman suffers from serious mental health issues. Not just difficult, then, but “unstable” too.
Weirdly – considering the show’s title and 2022-friendly themes (women having a hard time, men being horrible) – Helen is not The Newsreader’s protagonist. That role is filled by Dale (Sam Reid), a conscientious journalist and fledgling reporter who dreams of graduating to the main desk. Sadly, Dale is disastrously bad at reading the news – awkward, flustered, unable to pace himself – something he showcases to the nation when he temporarily takes over Helen’s job during her absence.
