The Assembly (Australian TV series)

The Assembly
GenreDocumentary television
Based on
Les Rencontres du Papotin
by Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache
Directed byMelissa Maclean
Presented byLeigh Sales
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes19
Production
Executive producers
  • Melissa Maclean
  • Mark Fennessy
  • Therese Hegarty
  • Vanessa Oxlad
  • Julie Hanna
ProducerMark Fennessy
Running time60 minutes
Production companyHelium Pictures
Original release
NetworkABC TV
Release20 August 2024 (2024-08-20) –
present
Related
The Assembly (British TV series)
The Assembly (Canadian TV series)

The Assembly is an Australian television documentary series on ABC TV, which premiered on 20 August 2024.

Format

Hosted and mentored by Leigh Sales,[1] the documentary series focuses on a group of 15 autistic journalism students and lecturers at Macquarie University[2] as they prepare for and eventually interview some of Australia's best-known personalities.[3] The students have been given paid internship at the ABC.[4] The series' format is based on the French series Les Rencontres du Papotin (Chatterbox Encounters), created by filmmakers Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache[1] based on their magazine Le Papotin .[5] The concept has been adapted in 21 countries,[6] including Spain (100% únicos ), Canada (The Assembly) and Great Britain (The Assembly).

Production

The seven-part series is produced by Mark Fennessy's Helium Pictures for the ABC,[7] with production beginning in May. Fennessy also executive produces the Australian version alongside director Melissa Maclean, Therese Hegarty,[1] Vanessa Oxlad and Julie Hanna.[8]

Season overview

Season Episodes Originally aired
Season premiere Season finale
1 7 20 August 2024[8] 30 September 2024[9]
2 6 21 September 2025[10] 26 October 2025[11]
3 6 26 April 2026[12] 31 May 2026[13]

Episodes

Season 1 (2024)

No.
overall		No. in
season		Interviewee
Title		Original release dateAus. viewers
(national)
11Sam Neill[14]20 August 2024 (2024-08-20)577,000[15]
22Hamish Blake[16]27 August 2024 (2024-08-27)486,000[17]
33Anthony Albanese[18]3 September 2024 (2024-09-03)435,000[19]
44Delta Goodrem[20]10 September 2024 (2024-09-10)415,000[21]
55Adam Goodes[22]17 September 2024 (2024-09-17)415,000[23]
66Amanda Keller[24]24 September 2024 (2024-09-24)381,000[25]
77Becoming the Assembly[9]30 September 2024 (2024-09-30)298,000[26]

Season 2 (2025)

No.
overall		No. in
season		Interviewee
Title		Original release dateAus. viewers
(national)
81Richard Roxburgh21 September 2025 (2025-09-21)543,000[27]
92Guy Sebastian28 September 2025 (2025-09-28)457,000[28]
103Ray Martin5 October 2025 (2025-10-05)400,000[29]
114Julia Morris12 October 2025 (2025-10-12)418,000[30]
125Steve Waugh19 October 2025 (2025-10-19)500,000[31]
136Maggie Beer26 October 2025 (2025-10-26)471,000[32]

Season 3 (2026)

No.
overall		No. in
season		Interviewee
Title		Original release dateAus. viewers
(national)
141Andy Lee26 April 2026 (2026-04-26)508,000[33]
152Claudia Karvan3 May 2026 (2026-05-03)478,000[34]
163Jimmy Barnes10 May 2026 (2026-05-10)528,000[35]
174Dave Hughes17 May 2026 (2026-05-17)410,000[36]
185Jessica Mauboy24 May 2026 (2026-05-24)460,000[37]
196Ian Thorpe31 May 2026 (2026-05-31)454,000[38]

Reception

The first episode of The Assembly received an overnight average audience of 577,000 viewers,[39] alongside a national audience reach of 859,000 viewers.[15]

David Knox of TV Tonight gave the series four out of five stars.[18] Debi Enker of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote about the series' tone, "The tone of The Assembly, like other ABC factual productions, is warm. ... So in addition to being a worthwhile and engaging undertaking, it represents a breath of fresh air in terms of TV interviews, particularly those featuring politicians, but not confined to them.[40] The show has also been criticised as being inspiration porn, with further criticism over the fact that the journalism students, initially, were not to be paid.[41]

Awards

Year Award CategoryNominee(s) ResultRef.
2025 TV Week Logies Best Factual or Documentary Program
The Assembly
 Nominated
[42]
2026 TV Week Logies Best Factual or Documentary Program
The Assembly
 Won [43]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Whittock, Jesse (9 May 2024). "The Assembly, Groundbreaking Interview Format that Sent Michael Sheen Viral, Set for Australian Remake". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  2. ↑ Rugendyke, Louise (15 August 2024). "Leigh Sales on the bold show that puts 15 autistic students in charge". TV & radio. The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: Nine Entertainment. Archived from the original on 15 August 2024. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  3. ↑ Laidlaw, Kyle (10 May 2024). "ABC announces 10 additional new series still to come in 2024". TV Blackbox. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  4. ↑ Vann-Wall, Silvi (12 June 2024). "ABC offers internships to cast of The Assembly". ScreenHub. Creative Hubs Group. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  5. ↑ "Les rencontres du Papotin", 16 August 2022. press release, francetvpro.fr (in French)
  6. ↑ Collard, Nathalie (27 January 2026). "Facteur A: Plus qu'une simple émission de télé". La Presse (in Canadian French). Montreal. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  7. ↑ Whittock, Jesse (25 November 2024). "The Assembly Renewed at Australia's ABC as Producer Helium Touts Value of "Rare Jewels" in Unscripted TV". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on 24 December 2024. Retrieved 28 December 2024.
  8. 1 2 Knox, David (22 July 2024). "Airdate: The Assembly". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  9. 1 2 Knox, David (30 September 2024). "The Assembly: Sept 30". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  10. ↑ Knox, David (22 August 2025). "Returning: The Assembly". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  11. ↑ Knox, David (22 October 2025). "The Assembly: Oct 26". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  12. ↑ Knox, David (29 March 2026). "Returning: The Assembly". TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 April 2026.
  13. ↑ Knox, David (28 May 2026). "The Assembly: May 31". TV Tonight. Retrieved 19 August 2026.
  14. ↑ Ellis, Scott (15 August 2024). "Actor Sam Neill fields fabulous questions on 'The Assembly'". Now To Love. Are Media. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  15. 1 2 Knox, David (21 August 2024). "Tuesday 20 August 2024". TV Tonight. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  16. ↑ Knox, David (26 August 2024). "The Assembly: Aug 27". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  17. ↑ Knox, David (28 August 2024). "Tuesday 27 August 2024". TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  18. 1 2 Knox, David (18 August 2024). "The Assembly". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 August 2024.
  19. ↑ Knox, David (4 September 2024). "Tuesday 3 September 2024". TV Tonight. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  20. ↑ Knox, David (9 September 2024). "The Assembly: Sept 10". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  21. ↑ Knox, David (11 September 2024). "Tuesday 10 September 2024". TV Tonight. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  22. ↑ Knox, David (16 September 2024). "The Assembly: Sept 17". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  23. ↑ Knox, David (18 September 2024). "Tuesday 17 September 2024". TV Tonight. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
  24. ↑ Knox, David (23 September 2024). "The Assembly: Sept 24". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  25. ↑ Knox, David (25 September 2024). "Tuesday 24 September 2024". TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 September 2024.
  26. ↑ Knox, David (1 October 2024). "Monday 30 September 2024". TV Tonight. Retrieved 1 October 2024.
  27. ↑ Knox, David (22 September 2025). "Sunday 21 September 2025". TV Tonight. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  28. ↑ Knox, David (29 September 2025). "Sunday 28 September 2025". TV Tonight. Retrieved 29 September 2025.
  29. ↑ Knox, David (6 October 2025). "Sunday 5 October 2025". TV Tonight. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
  30. ↑ Knox, David (13 October 2025). "Sunday 12 October 2025". TV Tonight. Retrieved 13 October 2025.
  31. ↑ Knox, David (20 October 2025). "Sunday 19 October 2025". TV Tonight. Retrieved 22 October 2025.
  32. ↑ Knox, David (27 October 2025). "Sunday 26 October 2025". TV Tonight. Retrieved 28 October 2025.
  33. ↑ Knox, David (27 April 2026). "Sunday 26 April 2026". TV Tonight. Retrieved 29 April 2026.
  34. ↑ Knox, David (4 May 2026). "Sunday 3 May 2026". TV Tonight. Retrieved 5 May 2026.
  35. ↑ Knox, David (11 May 2026). "Sunday 10 May 2026". TV Tonight. Retrieved 12 May 2026.
  36. ↑ Knox, David (18 May 2026). "Sunday 17 May 2026". TV Tonight. Retrieved 18 May 2026.
  37. ↑ Knox, David (25 May 2026). "Sunday 24 May 2026". TV Tonight. Retrieved 25 May 2026.
  38. ↑ Knox, David (1 June 2026). "Sunday 31 May 2026". TV Tonight. Retrieved 23 July 2026.
  39. ↑ Knox, David (21 August 2024). "The Assembly doubles Made in Bondi debut". TV Tonight. TV Tonight. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  40. ↑ Enker, Debi (22 August 2024). "Real people in unreal situations: why series like The Assembly engage". Green Guide. The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney: Nine Entertainment. Retrieved 24 August 2024.
  41. ↑ Delmenico, John (11 October 2024). "ABC's assembly of ableist tropes". The Shot. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  42. ↑ Rawling, Caitling; Winter, Velvet; Story, Hannah (3 August 2025). "Logies 2025: Lynne McGranger wins Gold Logie, Fisk sweeps up comedy awards — as it happened". ABC News. Retrieved 10 April 2026.
  43. ↑ Quinn, Karl (18 August 2026). "Generous, warm, caring, funny': Friends offer moving tribute to a 'real gentleman'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Nine Entertainment. p. 12. ProQuest 3375178786.
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