Anna Torv is back on screen as a detective in the atmospheric Australian crime thriller Dustfall. The six-part series, based on Vikki Petraitis’s award-winning novel The Unbelieved, has already won over audiences at a major international festival and is now set to reach viewers worldwide through a new deal with Apple TV.
What Dustfall Is About
Dustfall is described as a “propulsive, atmospheric tropic noir” set on Australia’s Gold Coast. Torv plays Detective Antigone “Tig” Pollard, a seasoned investigator whose deep sense of justice is challenged by a world where victims are doubted, predators hide in plain sight, and the legal system too often falls short.
The story begins when Tig returns to her hometown of North Gap after years in the city. She uncovers a string of drink-spiking assaults, and the case takes a dark turn when one of the main suspects is found murdered. As Tig hunts for the truth, she is forced to confront long-buried secrets from her own adolescence.
The series is written for television by BAFTA nominee Dianne Taylor (After the Party), alongside Stuart Page, Belinda Chayko, and Beatrix Christian. All six episodes are directed by Emma Freeman, who previously worked with Torv on The Newsreader.
The Cast of Dustfall
Anna Torv leads an impressive ensemble cast that includes several well-known actors from Australian and British television and film.
Juliet Stevenson, a BAFTA and Emmy nominee known for Truly, Madly, Deeply, plays Olivia, the mother of Torv’s character. Other cast members include Peter Fenton, Bert LaBonté, Zoe Phillips, Kate Box, Lila McGuire, Harry Gilchrist, Ling Cooper Tang, Gemma Chua-Tran, Alice Ansara, Martin Sacks, Theo Haitana, Conrad Coleby, Ben Knight, Kirsty O’Connor, Jay Ryan, Ed Wightman, and Luke J. Morgan.
Release Schedule and Where to Watch
The release of Dustfall varies by region, so viewers around the world will need to check their local listings.
In Australia, the series premieres on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at 8:20 PM on ABC TV. All six episodes will be available to stream on ABC iview from that same date.
In the United Kingdom and Germany, the series will first air on BBC and ZDF respectively. It will be available on those networks for a year before arriving on Apple TV.
For viewers in the United States, Canada, and most other regions, Apple TV has acquired the worldwide streaming rights. The series will premiere on the platform sometime in 2027. An exact release date has not yet been announced.
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A Story from an Award-Winning Novel
Dustfall is adapted from Vikki Petraitis‘s novel The Unbelieved, which won the inaugural 2022 Allen & Unwin Crime Fiction Prize and the 2023 Readers’ Choice Davitt Award. Petraitis brought thirty years of true crime writing and investigating experience to her first work of fiction.
The novel follows Senior Detective Antigone Pollard as she moves to a coastal town and becomes entangled in a case involving sexual assaults and small-town secrets. The television adaptation shifts the setting to the Gold Coast and expands the story for the screen.
Series Mania Audience Award Win
Before its Australian premiere, Dustfall was screened at Series Mania in Lille, France, one of Europe’s biggest TV festivals. The series won the Audience Award in the International Competition, voted on by viewers attending the screenings.
Writer Dianne Taylor accepted the award and said winning was “hugely exciting”. The win drew significant international attention to the series, with reports noting it won by “a big margin”.
Apple TV Expands Its International Slate
Apple TV’s acquisition of Dustfall marks a shift for the streamer, which has traditionally focused on original programming. The deal brings a finished Australian series to a global audience, following a similar acquisition of the British comedy Small Prophets earlier in 2026.
Federation International handled the worldwide distribution of the series. Dustfall is a co-production between Soapbox Pictures and Moonriver Television for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, in association with the BBC, ZDF, and Screen Australia.
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