BritBox has officially launched in Australia, giving Australian viewers the chance to enjoy the largest streaming collection of British drama and comedy on demand, all in one place.
The catch is that many BBC and ITV shows are already licensed to existing Australian TV channels like BBC First, UK TV and streaming services including STAN, Foxtel and Free to Air catchup apps which means key shows like Coronation Street and Eastenders are missing from Britbox Australia.
It remains to be seen whether BBC and ITV slowly let a lot of the content licences expire and try to lure those viewers to Britbox, or let their shows stay fragmented across different Australian streaming and Pay TV platforms.
A partnership between BBC Studios and ITV, the arrival of BritBox in Australia is the next step in the global expansion of the subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) streaming service, following its success in the US, Canada and the United Kingdom.
BritBox Australia say they will offer subscribers a unique experience, with content specifically curated for local audiences, including classic and contemporary British series, and exclusive and premiere titles, spanning drama, crime, mystery and comedy.
BritBox is now available to Australians for $8.99 per month, or $89.99 for a 12 month subscription, after an introductory 7 day free trial. BritBox is available via web, iPhone, iPad, Android smartphones and tablets, Chromecast, Apple TV (4th gen and newer), Samsung Smart TVs, LG Smart TVs, Telstra TV, and Fetch. Notably there isn’t an Android TV app yet.
BritBox will be the only place to watch the entire available collection of classic and contemporary Doctor Who from 1963-2019, which could be a good option if you’re a fan of Doctor Who and need to self isolate for any period of time after a Covid-19 test! This will be the largest collection of the iconic title available to stream in one place in Australia and will feature all 13 Doctors, from the First Doctor William Hartnell right through to Jodie Whittaker and including Tom Baker, David Tennant, Peter Capaldi and Sylvester McCoy.
As part of its exclusive content mix, BritBox will have access to a wide range of premiere shows including the reboot of All Creatures Great and Small, featuring Nicholas Ralph, Rachel Shenton and Callum Woodhouse. Since premiering in the UK earlier this year, this reboot of the popular original has been a ratings hit and will be available only on BritBox from launch.
In addition, BritBox Australia is working with its global team to bring BritBox original series’ direct to Australian audiences, the first of which will be the newly commissioned series of sketch satire comedy, Spitting Image, from original show creator Roger Law, returning after a 20 year break. All available episodes will be on the service from launch, with all remaining episodes from the series currently airing made available express from the UK.
BritBox will also include exclusive crime dramas A Confession (Martin Freeman and Imelda Staunton) and Appropriate Adult (Emily Watson and Dominic West), in addition to complete seasons of award winning drama series such as Vera (Brenda Blethyn), Endeavour (Shaun Evans and Roger Allam) and Prime Suspect (starring Helen Mirren). Australians will also be able to stream complete seasons of Shakespeare & Hathaway, Father Brown, Victoria and Lewis.
Content ‘first on’ and available exclusively to BritBox from today will include: Mystery Murder on the Blackpool Express; lifestyle show Your Home Made Perfect presented by Angela Scanlan; and Agatha and the Curse of Ishtar, the fictional mystery about crime writer Agatha Christie. In addition, police procedural drama, The Mallorca Files, will be another ‘exclusive to BritBox’ series available from December 2020.
Australians will also be able to stream their favourites across a variety of different genres and enjoy some of Britain’s best talent all in one place, including Mr Bean (Rowan Atkinson), Blue Planet and Planet Earth (Sir David Attenborough), Kingdom (Stephen Fry), The Vicar of Dibley (Dawn French), The Office (Ricky Gervais), Top Gear, Luther (Idris Elba), Absolutely Fabulous (Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley), Midsomer Murders,
Blackadder and plenty more.
Moira Hogan, Country Manager of BritBox in Australia, says:
“Our aim is to be the place to discover hidden gems or find your new favourite series. We’ve delved into the rich catalogues of BBC Studios and ITV to deliver thousands of hours of classic and contemporary mystery, crime, drama and comedy titles for launch. This is just the start, with plenty more favourite British series, territory premieres, exclusives and originals to be released on BritBox each month.”
Only half works. Only half the shows. Its crap
There is an Android app… I’m looking at it right now in Play store…
It’s not that there’s no Android phones app. It’s that there’s no Android TV app.
Who cropped the header pic, to remove the 4th and 5th Doctors ?
Just a bit too expensive for what’s on offer
Get back to me if they get the Goodies!