Australian broadcasters SBS and ABC and New Zealand’s Māori Television have acquired a number of factual shows from London-based distributor TVF International at the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) this week.

SBS has pre-bought Great British Train Journeys From Above (3×47’), which was also pre-sold to the UK’s Channel 4. The series, narrated by actor Hugh Bonneville, showcases three of the country’s most iconic steam train journeys from the air.

SBS has also licensed Odyssey Films’ How the Second World War Became a Global War (1×52’) and Who Paid for World War II? (1×52’) for its military history slot to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war later this year.

In travel and lifestyle, SBS has acquired season 12 of aerial travelogue The World from Above (8×26’), gardening series Ageless Gardens (20×22’), travel series Music Voyager (60×30’) and The World’s Most Remote Hotels (10×26’) for its daytime slots.

For its Viceland channel, SBS has licensed Riot Island (2×48’), commissioned by CNA in Singapore, which uses dramatic reconstructions, archive and exclusive interviews to recreate a prison experiment gone wrong.

For SBS Food, the pubcaster has picked up CNA’s Southeast Asia on a Plate (3×43’), Taiwan+’s Have You Eaten Yet? Tasting Taiwan (8×23’), vegan-focused series Eating Plants (12×30’) and the BBC’s Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen (23×30’) and Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen USA (6×30’).

Finally, for SBS On Demand, SBS has acquired art series Glories of Islamic Art (3×45’) and US pubcaster PBS’s Islamic Art: Mirror of the Invisible World (1×57’ / 1×84’), in addition to travel shows Magnificent Megacities (5×52’), commissioned by Arte in France, KNN in Korea South’s National Parks of Korea (3×52’), National Geographic’s Beijing’s Secret Blueprint (3×45’) and Celebration Nation (3×46’), which centres on China’s most vibrant festivals.

Fellow Aussie pubcaster ABC has licensed two specials from the CNA-commissioned series When Titans Clash (12×48’) for its Four Corners current affairs strand. Titans Clash: A New Global Trade War? (1×48’) examines the risk of a trade war between the European Union and China and When Titans Clash: Knives Out in the South China Sea (1×48’) explores recent clashes between the Philippines and China and the involvement of the US.

For ABC’s Foreign Correspondent strand, the broadcaster has licensed China’s Abandoned Daughters (1×48’), the documentary for CNA about the thousands of abandoned girls born during China’s one-child policy who were sold to foster families for forced marriages.

In New Zealand, Māori Television has licensed wildlife shows including Swedish broadcaster SVT’s Secret Life of Seals (1×52’), The Secret Life of Bats (1×43’) and CNA-commissioned Wild City (6×46’), which explores Singapore’s unique flora and fauna and is narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

Māori Television has also acquired CityTV’s Indigiqueer (1×44’), which examines the past, present and future of queerness for indigenous members of today’s LGBTQIA community.