Content warning: this article contains references to suicide that readers may find upsetting.

When we read the news earlier this year that hit Australian drama The Newsreader was making its way to our shores via the BBC, we knew a brilliant series was in store for us.

Not only does it have Anna Torv (Mindhunter) at its helm, but the workplace drama captures the chaos and business of an 80s newsroom while also underlining what it meant to be a woman in such a workplace at the time.

The series manages to weave in heavy doses of nostalgia by reporting on news stories relevant to the time – Halley’s comet, Chernobyl, the Aids crisis – while also focusing on the friendly bond between upcoming news reporter Dale Jennings (Prime Suspect 1973’s Sam Reid) and Helen Norville (Torv).

Helen is at the top of her field and in the first episode of the series, she’s the unspoken poster woman for how women in the 80s – and even women today – wished they could exist in the workplace. She’s opinionated and not afraid to air her views, she’s passionate about shining a light on underrepresented stories and she’s not fearful of newsroom boss Lindsay Cunningham (William McInnes).

But this idealistic image of a ‘strong woman’ who manages to hold her own in a male-dominated workplace is obviously just a persona that Helen has mastered. Like any person in a professional environment who is constantly berated and sidelined, you eventually reach your limit.

BBC’s The Newsreader: this 80s-set Australian newsroom drama explores something all women can sympathise with