Apple TV+ Unveils Next Must-Watch Thriller: Release Date and First Look Revealed

Here's something for the true crime-and-thriller fiends: Apple TV+ has just pulled back the curtain on Last Seen, its next Australian-made suspense series. If you're after a new reason to hang onto that Apple subscription—and happen to like your TV bleak, obsessive, and packed with talent—this one might be a goer.

When and what?

First off: Last Seen drops on 9 September 2026. Yes, you read that right—not a typo, but a slightly odd choice to announce a first look this far out. The series is a six-parter, all filmed over in Victoria (the bit of Australia that isn't always sun-kissed or desperately trying to be Bondi Beach).

The backstory

This show is adapted from the rather grim, well-regarded 2011 novel The Dispatcher by Ryan David Jahn. The bloke doing the heavy lifting on the script is Kris Mrksa, who also exec-produces, with Christian Schwochow sharing exec duties. Both names you'll have seen crop up before if you pay proper attention to behind-the-scenes credits.

What’s the actual premise?

So, here’s the set-up, in case you’re unfamiliar with the book. Patrick Brammall plays police detective Ian Ridley, whose whole world properly collapsed after his young daughter Maggie disappeared eleven years ago—no trace, nothing to go on, just vanished. These days, Ridley’s working as a police dispatcher, so the closest he comes to actual front-line work is barking orders down the phone. But he’s never really let go of the idea that Maggie might still be out there; he’s clung to that single hope, no matter how ruinous it’s been.

Then, out of nowhere, a distress call comes in—from a teenage girl who, Ridley is convinced, is Maggie. Cue the gears grinding back into motion: family agony, old traumas, and, because we’re in properly compulsive thriller territory, Ridley throws every shred of sanity, ethics and personal safety into trying to track her down. It promises an unraveling-of-the-soul sort of story, along with the usual sideline in bad decisions and questionable policing technique.

Cast list – not short on heavy hitters

• Patrick Brammall (Gotham Award winner, been in more than a few decent Aussie dramas)
• Maxine Peake (seen her in everything from Black Mirror to Silk)
• Brendan Cowell (Dune: Prophecy, Love My Way)
• Daniel Henshall (memorably chilling in Mickey 17 and Snowtown)
• Jessica Wren (Mr. Inbetween)
• Zahra Newman (Thirteen Lives)
• Chloe Jean Lourdes (first big screen outing, so one to watch for future trivia rounds)

Apple likes its thrillers, apparently

This is Apple TV+ keeping up its current streak of programming that’s heavy on suspenseful blokes in trouble. Last Seen will be lining up next to the likes of Hijack (Idris Elba flexes, obviously), the rather good Slow Horses (winning armfuls of BAFTAs and Emmys), and the BAFTA-nominated Down Cemetery Road—not to mention more glossy talent on display, like Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson if you’ve been tuning in for those.

'Now working as a police dispatcher, the only thing that has kept him going is his implacable refusal to accept that she might be gone forever. When he receives a distress call from a teenage girl he is certain is Maggie, he will stop at nothing to find her and reunite his broken family, whatever the cost.'