Apple TV+ Premieres Australian Kidnapping Drama 'Last Seen' Starring Patrick Brammall
Apple TV+ has launched its six-episode Australian thriller Last Seen, with the series premiering globally on Wednesday, September 9, 2026. The show stars Patrick Brammall as Ian Ridley, an alcoholic police dispatcher whose daughter Maggie was kidnapped eleven years before the story begins — and never found.
The series is set in the fictional Australian town of Port McKenna and follows Ridley as the cold case around his daughter's disappearance is forced back into the open. Brammall, a Gotham Award winner, leads a cast that includes Maxine Peake, Brendan Cowell, Daniel Henshall, Jessica Wren, Chloe Jean Lourdes and Tobias Muhafidin (The Hollywood Reporter; Apple TV+).
Kris Mrksa adapted the screenplay from Ryan David Jahn's novel The Dispatcher, with Christian Schwochow directing all six episodes. The project was first announced in July 2024 under the working title The Dispatcher, with Apple TV+ revealing Brammall's casting at that stage (Apple TV+). The platform unveiled a first look at the retitled series on May 27, 2026, and dropped the trailer on August 11, 2026 (Apple TV+).
A week before the global premiere, Apple TV+ held a special screening in Sydney to celebrate the series' Australian roots (Apple TV+). Australia has become a reliable production base for international drama, and Last Seen arrives as another showcase for that pipeline — a local story, a named novelist's source material, and a German director whose credits include The Crown and Black Mirror, working on an Australian shoot for a global streamer.
For viewers, the draw is straightforward: a six-episode mystery built around a parent who never stopped looking, landing all at once on a platform that has invested heavily in limited series with clear endpoints. Apple TV+ has not announced a second season, and the series is structured as a self-contained story.
