The Newsreader

We meet Dale, Helen, and the rest of the News at Six team on perhaps the most critical night since Dale ascended to the desk- election night 1987. Hawke versus Howard. Dale and Helen are going to jointly co-host the election night coverage- almost six hours, unbroken, on air. Adding additional pressure, their direct competition is none-other than Geoff Walters, now making a well publicised 'comeback' on a rival network

The News At Six, and indeed the country, is rocked by a shocking, unprecedented event- a mass shooting in Clifton Hill. A huge and consequential story, it activates everything that compels Helen about the job. She wants to be first to cover the event from every angle- the details, the time line, the gun-rights debate, the motivations of the shooter. But when she races to air with confronting early footage of the aftermath, the News At Six is seen as exploiting the tragedy.

A global crisis is escalating- the stock market is in freefall. Parallel to that, Helen is plunged into personal free-fall when the office is contacted by a gossip columnist, who is planning to print an expose about Helen's troubled past- her teenage institutionalisation, and her subsequent estrangement from her family. Feeling hunted, Helen knows that the one person capable of shutting down the story is the embattled CEO, Charlie Tate.

The hype is building for 1988 Bicentennial. As the News At Six shoots an elaborate, patriotic ad, Geoff hosts a telethon supporting the first fleet re-enactment. When Geoff's coverage is interrupted by a striking protest, it thrusts Aboriginal activist Lynus Preston into the spotlight. Helen is convinced that Lynus will make for great television and could provide a vital Aboriginal voice amidst the pageantry. Needless to say, she is met with fierce opposition from Lindsay, until Dale pitches a compromise- for every minute of Lynus, he pledges to deliver three minutes of Princess Diana coverage...

With the Christmas season in full swing, the News At Six is approached by Geoff and Evelyn Walters' daughter Kay who offers to sell her story of her addiction to heroin. Lindsay sees an opportunity to close out the year with a show-stopper, and instructs them to get it at all costs. But when Helen and Noelene actually interview Kay, they are shocked at the depth of her desperation, and her anger at her parents…

It's the biggest television event of the year, possibly the decade- Australia Day 1988, featuring a full re-enactment of the first fleet sailing into Sydney Harbour, ceremonies with Prince Charles and Princess Diana... and one of the biggest protests ever seen in Australia. Amidst this, all our characters are hitting personal and professional cross-roads... Helen and Dale are under severe pressure to clarify their personal status to the world. But what to say? When Helen is offered a lucrative, dream contract to be an investigative reporter oversees, it only intensifies the urgency.