Hunter Page Lochard and Adrienne Ogle, behind the scenes of The Newsreader’s S03E04 ❤️🌟📺
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One of the many beautiful faces that accepted The Newsreader’s trophy for Best Drama Series at the 2026 AACTA Awards was Hunter Page Lochard, who himself won Best Supporting Actor for playing Lynus Preston in Season Two at the 2024 Awards. It was wonderful seeing him among our AACTAs team!
Hunter and Michelle Lim Davidson went on stage twice that evening; once for The Newsreader, and then again when Play School won their award for Best Children’s Program. These two Newsreader stars are also presenters on Play School together too! The award was accepted by the Play School producer Bryson Hall, and Hunter, Michelle and Bryson were joined by fellow presenters Leah Vandenberg and Luke Carroll.
The Play School team were so overjoyed to receive this award, especially considering the milestone Play School is celebrating this year. Play School is Australia’s longest running children’s show, starting in July 1966, and in 2026, Play School is celebrating its sixtieth birthday. Sixty years of quality children’s educational programming presented through play, creativity and genuine inclusion and advocacy, it is truly a massive achievement, and Play School has raised many generations of Australians on screen.
Hunter and Michelle are a part of the current group of presenters that have become household names to modern Australian families, and we even have a third Newsreader connection within Play School. Andrew McFarlane, who played CEO Richard Bertrand in Season Three, is a Play School presenter too, and I grew up watching him during my childhood in the 2000s! I also have Play School’s ‘Blue Book’ from 1974, which my Mum nd Aunty had when they were little. Play School is truly a show that has spanned generations.
Did you have a favourite Play School presenter growing up? Mine were Leah, Justine, Noni, Andrew and Rhys! ❤️
