ETV unveils new shows for autumn season

Estonian public broadcaster ETV will launch its autumn season on August 31 with new programmes, familiar presenters in new roles and stories from Estonia and abroad, ERR reports.

All of the channel’s established audience favourites will continue, alongside several new shows.

On September 5, Reet Linna will launch the season with the series Music of One Family. Broadcast on Saturday evenings and repeated on Sunday mornings, the programme follows families whose different generations are connected by music. The opening episode introduces the Terasmaa and Leibur families, including musician Marianne Leibur, who is following in the footsteps of her grandfather Kalju Terasmaa and father Arvo Leibur. Later episodes will feature the Joamets, Mustonen and Remmel families.

The travel series Laos with Tails and Horns will begin on September 6. Actor Pääru Oja, travel writer Rene Sats and travel-programme maker Väino Laisaar will travel through Buddhist Laos from south to north by train, minibus, boat and tuk-tuk. They will be accompanied by Phonsak, a local from the Phunoi tribe, who will open doors that would otherwise remain closed to tourists.

On September 7, Mirjam Mõttus will present Brothers in Arms, a series about NATO allied soldiers stationed in Estonia. Viewers will meet British and French troops at the military town of Tapa, visit American soldiers in the forests of Võrumaa, fly with Portuguese personnel at Ämari and go to sea with Finnish troops.

The series Life at the Zoo will return on September 12. The new season will feature animal births and the first fragile moments in the lives of young animals, the work of veterinarians, the world of polar bears and the training of fish, among other topics.

At the beginning of October, ETV will launch the music quiz The Big Music Game. The programme will feature both well-known and lesser-known gems from Estonia’s music scene. Competing teams will face each other in the studio, while viewers will also be able to play along at home. Birgit Sarrap will host the show.

Also in early October, Johannes Tralla will host the new series The Most Expensive Saving?, which will examine the social cost of decisions made in education. The programme will ask how cuts to hobby groups are connected to court records, why educational opportunities increasingly depend on parents’ finances and how intelligently the e-state uses people’s data in education policy.

The series What If…?, launching in November, will test Estonian families’ readiness for crises. Participating families will examine how to respond to a power cut and what emergency supplies should be kept at home. Mirjam Mõttus will host the programme, with experts taking part in the experiments and offering practical advice.

The fifth season of the men’s health series Men, Let’s Start Living! will also continue in November. Host Kaidor Kahari will be joined by Rene Puura, Hanno Pevkur, Kalev Kruus, Andres Oja, Ergo Kuld and Reimo Sagor.