The TV shows you'll be watching in 2014 Krew Boylan will play convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby in the Channel 9 telemovie Schapelle. Picture: Supplied/Channel 9 Source: Supplied A SWAG of Aussie biopics as well as starring vehicles for top Aussie actors head the list of the most exciting TV events of 2014. Rockers INXS, mining magnate Gina Rinehart, prisoner Schapelle Corby, drag queen Carlotta, and crime figure Tony Mokbel are all set for major telemovie treatment. Top-flight actors Asher Keddie, Rebecca Gibney, and Jessica Marais will star in highly anticipated new series. There are also high hopes for the Spicks and Specks reboot and another comedy series from Chris Lilley, centred on schoolboy Jonah Takalua. Channel 10s new Aussie drama Secrets and Lies has also created plenty of buzz with a sale to the UK and an American version already inked. The networks will bring back long-form hits including My Kitchen Rules, House Rules, The Block (two series), Big Brother, and The Biggest Loser. The list of talent shows will expand to include The Voice Kids and So You Think You Can Dance Australia on top of a regular series of The Voice and The X Factor. The future of Australia's Got Talent is up in the air. The massive rollout of local content from Seven, Nine and Ten as well as the ABC and SBS comes at a time when hit overseas shows are few and far between. Seven's The Blacklist and BBC drama Downton Abbey, Nine's The Big Bang Theory, and Ten's Under the Dome have rated big but it is slim pickings after that. Game of Thrones is a cult hit on Foxtel. "Aussie TV networks know that they have to invest in local programming if they want to achieve ratings glory," media analyst Steve Allen says. These days a US or British hit is merely icing on the cake. Here are the shows I'm most excited about in 2014 Fat Tony & Co (Nine) The less said about Underbelly: Squizzy the better so it is heartening that Nine is revisiting the real-life characters of the original Underbelly, including Tony Mockbel (Robert Mammone), Alphonse Gangitano (Vince Colosimo) and Carl Williams (Gyton Grantley) in this nine-part series. The Killing Field (Seven) Rebecca Gibney's Jane Halifax (Halifax fp) is nearly as beloved as mum Julie Rafter on Packed to the Rafters so it is great to see the Gold Logie winning actor stepping back into crime territory in this telemovie. Gibney plays the head of a police task force. Think of it as her Prime Suspect. The Real Housewives of Melbourne (Arena - Foxtel) Can the Real Housewives of Melbourne - Chyka Keebaugh, Gina Liano, Andrea Moss, Janet Roach, Jackie Gillies, and Lydia Schiavello - live up to the drama and bitchiness of their Beverly Hills, New York, Miami and Atlanta counterparts? I certainly hope so. Expect big hair, big money, and big plastic surgery. The Real Housewives of Melbourne: Andrea Moss, Janet Roach, Jackie Gillies, Chyka Keebaugh, Lydia Schiavello. Spicks and Specks (ABC1) The ABC was left with a black hole on Wednesday nights when Adam Hills, Myf Warhurst and Alan Brough called it quits after seven seasons of the music quiz show. The ABC has revived Spicks for 2014 with comedian Josh Earl hosting and Adam Richard and Ella Hooper as team captains. Party Tricks (Ten) Offspring fans rest easy. Asher Keddie isn't giving up Nina Proudman for this six-part political thriller. Keddie plays Kate Ballard and Rodger Corser David McLeod as political opponents, vying to be the next state premier. The twist is that the pair had a secret affair in the past. Schapelle (Nine) Convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby continues to fascinate the Australian public so there is no doubt that Schapelle, with Krew Boylan in the title role, is hotly anticipated. Former Neighbours and Stingers star Jacinta Stapleton is sister Mercedes. Khoa Do (Better Man) is an inspired choice to direct. Gina (Nine) I'm including this one on faith because the role of Gina Rinehart is yet to be cast. Gina's success or failure will hinge on the producers' willingness to dig deep and show a warts-and-all portrait of Australia's richest woman. INXS: Never Tear Us Apart (Seven) Luke Arnold (Winners & Losers) certainly looks the part as INXS lead singer Michael Hutchence and The X Factor's Samantha Jade is the spitting image of Kylie Minogue. The two-part miniseries has been produced with the full co-operation of surviving INXS band members. Luke Arnold who plays Michael Hutchence in Never Tear us Apart The Untold Story of INXS. Secrets and Lies (Ten) Secrets and Lies has a great hook. Ordinary dad Ben Gundelach (Martin Henderson) finds the body of a young boy and is immediately the top suspect in the murder. Now he has to do everything to clear his name. Already earmarked for a US version. New Chris Lilley Project (ABC) Angry Boys was a disappointment and Ja'mie: Private School Girl trod water but that doesn't stop curiosity about any new Chris Lilley project. Lilley's new series is centred on Jonah Takalua, first seen in Summer Heights High. The troubled schoolboy has returned to Tonga to live with his uncle and get his life back on track. Game of Thrones (Foxtel) I don't know about you, but I'm still reeling from that Red Wedding episode. Season 4 of this cult fantasy drama will be based on the latter part of George RR Martin's A Storm of Swords. Fans around the world can't wait. Game of Thrones. The Biggest Loser: Challenge Australia (Ten) The Biggest Loser needed to change things up and it has done exactly that with Challenge Australia. Trainers Shannan Ponton, Michelle Bridges and Steve 'Commando' Willis are out to turn Victoria's Ararat from one of Australia's fattest towns to its fittest town. Love Child (Nine) Jessica Marais is playing drag queen Carlotta in the ABC telemovie but it is this 8-part period drama from the makers of House Husbands that should prove her more enduring hit. Set in a Kings Cross in 1969, Love Child features Jonathan LaPaglia, Mandy McElhinney, and Ryan Corr and centres on the lives of medical staff and patients, of the Haven maternity hospital. Who Do You Think You Are? Andrew Denton, Rebecca Gibney, Richard Roxburgh, Jacki Weaver and Lisa McCune bring some major star power to the sixth season of SBS's genealogy show. Rectify (SBS) Aussie Aden Young plays Daniel Holden, a death-row inmate - sentenced for the rape and murder of his teenage girlfriend - who returns home after 19 years when DNA evidence proves he has been wrongly convicted. This six-part US drama also features local actor Adelaide Clemens. House Rules (Seven) The first series of House Rules was hit and miss - mainly let down by bland contestants - but it had enough potential to demand a second season. The Block concentrates on apartments which gives House Rules free run to concentrate on suburban homes. Expect a vast improvement.