‘Last Seen’ on Apple TV, starring Maxine Peake, premiered on Wednesday, 9 September 2026, landing six episodes of Victorian bushland dread as the streamer’s first series shot entirely in Australia.
The six-part drama was the first Apple TV+ series made entirely in Australia, shot in Victoria and set there too, and it arrived with a glowing verdict attached, as reported by The Guardian.
Critic Luke Buckmaster called it a “classic, twisty thriller with a killer premise”.
‘Last Seen’ Apple TV review centres on one phone call
Ian, played by Patrick Brammall, was a former cop working Australia’s 000 emergency line, the local equivalent of 911 or 999. His daughter Maggie vanished 11 years earlier and was presumed dead.
Then a call came through that he became convinced was hers.
Brammall arrived fresh off Colin from Accounts, and this was a very different gear. Ian was six months sober, separated from his ex-wife, and holding together a life that had been quietly falling apart since Maggie disappeared.
Answering emergency calls for a living made the setup almost cruel.
Around the same time, the remains of a small child turned up in Victorian bushland not far from where Ian lived. Everyone assumed they belonged to Maggie.
Kris Mrksa, who adapted the series from Ryan David Jahn’s novel The Dispatcher, had no interest in letting that assumption sit comfortably.
Buckmaster did not hedge on the show as a whole:
“This is riveting television, and one of the standout shows of the year.”
What Maxine Peake brings to ‘Last Seen’ on Apple TV
Peake played Jenna, one half of a couple whose ideological views sat somewhere in fundamentalist territory.
She and her husband Henry, played by Brendan Cowell, lived on an isolated farm with their teenage daughter Sarah, and the show kept their corner of the story deliberately hard to read.
Buckmaster singled out what Peake did with the role:
“Peake is also terrific as Jenna, carving out an enigmatic and deeply conflicted space, and bringing great weight to simple lines.”
Her British CV, spanning Shameless, Silk and Black Mirror, made Peake the most recognisable name in a largely Australian ensemble. Casting her as an outsider on a remote Victorian farm gave the show a face audiences knew in a place they did not.
That praise extended across the board. Buckmaster described it as a “superbly acted show, buttressed by top-notch writing”, adding that “all the characters are so interesting and richly layered”.
Christian Schwochow directed all six episodes, keeping the Victorian landscape looming over the human mess unfolding inside it.
Where to stream ‘Last Seen’ on Apple TV in South Africa
Apple TV+ carried the series in South Africa from the same Wednesday, 9 September 2026 premiere date, days behind the platform’s Ryan Reynolds comedy Mayday, with the rest of the six-part run rolling out from there.
A second season has not been confirmed, leaving the Victoria shoot standing as the streamer’s first and so far only fully Australian production.
