THE NEWSREADER S3 - thur&fri 9pm bbc 2 - TV PACE. NO SPOILERS

[Blondeshavemorefun]

The ABC's award-winning series The Newsreader is back for a third (and reportedly final) season, taking us behind the scenes of the fictional News At Six newsroom once again.

Not only have the first two seasons been great entertainment, they've also been a surprisingly accurate look back at the 80s and some significant moments in Australian and world history.

As with seasons one (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-16/the-newsreader-bases-its-drama-on-historical-events/100358880) and two (https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-11/fact-checking-the-newsreader-season-2/102832660)

Anna Torv and Sam Reid are back for a final season of the award-winning drama, as Helen and Dale go head to head in the shifting news landscape of 1989

Wit’s a new season of The Newsreader comes the return of Australia’s favourite fictional TV presenters. Don’t worry Mike Moore ( we still love you, but Helen and Dale are where it’s at now.

The former co-news anchors – played by Anna Torv and Sam Reid – were once in a “will they or won’t they” relationship that very much culminated in they did.

Things have changed, however, and by the time the third season begins they’ve parted ways, and are now working for different networks.

Although some things remain the same: namely their work ethic, each tenaciously furthering their careers while – continuing the show’s now-familiar format – real-life events provide dramatic scaffolding.

Deploying newsrooms as central settings allows the screenwriters (Michael Lucas, Christine Bartlett, Adrian Russell Wills and Niki Aken) to incorporate past events – including, this season, the Exxon Valdez oil spill (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2014/mar/24/exxon-valdez-oil-spill-disaster-arctic) and the Tiananmen Square massacre (https://www.theguardian.com/world/tiananmen-square-protests-1989) – while depicting how they were reported and narrativised; how history itself was made.

Dale and Helen will both be hosting shows during the plum 6pm time slot, thus placed in direct competition.

This is a surprise for Dale, though he takes the news almost annoyingly well – I wanted drama, conflict! – and the pair remain friends.

Dale continuing to explore his bisexuality and Helen seeking professional support for her mental health

Dale (https://the-newsreader-tvshow.fandom.com/wiki/Dale_Jennings) is now considered News at Six's (https://the-newsreader-tvshow.fandom.com/wiki/News_at_Six) 'King of News', with Helen's international reporting having been met with great acclaim, but as a cynical network move sees the two former lovers pitted in direct competition, their kinship will be tested as never before.

Over the course of 1989, Helen and Dale will compete to cover a cascade of historical events from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, to the boycotts of South Africa's Apartheid, and the fall of the Berlin Wall.
Season

S1

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4596727-the-newsreader-bbc2-sunday-9pm-tv-pace-only-no-spoilers

S2

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/telly_addicts/4935511-the-newsreader-s2-thur-9pm-bbc-2-tv-pace-no-spoilers

just catching up, in the middle of episode 4
episode 3 was excellent.
i remember noellene from previous series, when she was always excellent.
this is such a good series

E5 tonight

Love this and have binged it on iPlayer so won’t say more here.

whichever episode i watched it was very good but i am not sure the expression Depression and anxiety was used in 1989

No one watch last night? I was at work but watching now. Lindsey is a sly blackmailer

E5 recap

https://lovedaywriting.com/2025/02/12/the-newsreader-season-3-episode-5-on-the-brink/

Sometimes I think dale think he’s too smug and the top prize and can’t be replaced

he can

It was sad when at the wedding the two men got to Dance with the b&g and the floor cleared

but that was gay was like this. Even sometimes now and so wrong

I assume Lindsey will publish the pics /story and dale live will be ruined and lose job

where I see it that
Helen has bared her soul on tv and people will understand her mh

lookong forward to tonight’s last episode no 6

Oh wow. Last nights was so good. A total car crash via dale

loveky ho see that Helen was there for him and she had the power to control who used dale

glad Lyndsey got his god riddance

Recap e6

https://lovedaywriting.com/2025/02/22/the-newsreader-season-3-series-finale-the-fall/

Just caught up with the last too . I thoroughly enjoyed it ,a shame there's no series 4.

It was terrific. I don’t think there was a single duff character/actor in it.

The actors who play Noelene and her partner are both absolutely superb. Look forward to seeing their careers develop.

I just got ground down a bit by Dale, wafting about like a side parted ghost.

i was so happy with the ending. it was great

Dale just looked so happy reporting from Berlin....walls really had come down!

such a good comeuppance for Lindsay

we were thinking of starting again in the first series!

Lindsay was just the most ghastly character.
Dale looked so much better in Berlin, talking like a normal guy instead of a robot.

Really enjoyed this. They both looked great in that last studio scene. I was interested in the gay storylines - how people were forced to live false lives and how both Helen and Beth (? Was that her name? The daughter) were prepared to be beards for Dale over the episodes. I felt sad for him at that wedding (which was 80s-TASTIC btw) when he saw his ex and the ex’s bf dancing together and supported them but still couldn’t live his truth.

The guy who played Rob is also in a Aussie series on iPlayer called 5 rooms which is great

I bloody love Five Bedrooms. They do comedy drama so well in Aus. I loved Offspring too.

Yah. You finally come out of the woodwork 😂😂

I really enjoyed the. Shame won’t be a s 4

Just finished the last two. What an ending! I'n glad they both came out on top. I'm sad that's the end of it but it brings it to a perfect close, really. It deserved to end on a high, and the final song is one of my absolute favourites. Going to look for Five Bedrooms now.

5 bedrooms is fab. I’ve done threads on them. Think got up to s3/4

Just finished watching the last two episodes. Great ending, fantastic to see Lindsay get his comeuppance but what a fantastic baddie he was! Glad to see Dale drop the act of how he thinks he should be and just be himself. His on screen meltdown was wild too. It was lovely to see him and Helen at the end, they clearly shared a special bond. Sad it’s ended but absolutely loved all of it.

Seeing the late 80’s and 90 stuff wouid have been great and seeing dale meet someone and been accepted as gay wouid have been a great ending