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Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe

Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe is an Australian television comedy series that premiered on ABC TV and ABC iview on 12 April 2023, following three best friends who run a trendy cafe in one of Melbourne's less-than-iconic laneways.1 • 2 It stars the comedy group Aunty Donna's Mark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly, and Zachary Ruane, was created by Aunty Donna, directed by Max Miller, and produced by Haven't You Done Well Productions.2 The single season ran for six episodes, with the final episode airing on 17 May 2023.3

Key factDetail
FormatSix-part Australian sitcom, first aired 12 April 2023 at 9:00pm on ABC TV and ABC iview2 • 4
PremiseMark, Broden, and Zach run a trendy cafe called Morning Brown in a relatively unrecognized Melbourne lane5 • 6
Creators and crewCreated by Aunty Donna; directed by Max Miller; produced by Haven't You Done Well Productions2
Main castMark Samual Bonanno, Broden Kelly, Zachary Ruane, Michelle Brasier, Gaby Seow, Vidya Rajan, Sally-Anne Upton, Mish Wittrup1
Season runSeason 1, 6 episodes, 12 April to 17 May 2023; status ended3
ClassificationMA 15+ on Netflix Australia, with coarse language and sexual references noted by the ABC5 • 1
Audience rating7.9/10 on IMDb from about 876 votes7

Spoilers

Premise and format

The series follows Mark, Broden, and Zach, three close friends who decide to run their own trendy coffee shop, Morning Brown, in a relatively unrecognized lane in Melbourne.5 • 6 Hell-bent on creating the best joint in the neighborhood, they embark on adventures covering everything from dealing with bad reviews to calming evil spirits.2 The ABC describes the show as high-octane and unpredictable.1

The cafe setting grew out of the group's previous series. Aunty Donna's earlier Netflix show, Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun (2020), was set in a shared house, which provided an easy means to launch random encounters; the cafe premise almost literalizes that revolving door of comedic potential, with the three owners endeavouring to find a marketable point of difference for their business.8 An early episode shows what other trendy cafes are doing, from selling vinyl to stocking more than 100 types of cereal, prompting the owners to experiment with ideas such as axe-throwing on the menu.8

Episodes

Season 1 consists of six episodes of roughly 23 to 27 minutes each.5 • 1

  1. We Need Cool Customers (25 min). Hiring Stephanie for a trial shift makes Mark, Zach, and Broden face the fact that the cafe is short of one specific thing: customers.5 Guest stars: Nazeem Hussain, Pia Miranda, Steven Oliver, Lawrence Leung.1
  2. We Got Burgled! (26 min). The Blueberry Burglar faces trial in a kangaroo court at Morning Brown for the heinous crime of stealing blueberries.5 Guest stars: Richard Roxburgh, Matt Doran.1
  3. We're Open Til 5pm Today (23 min). Mark and Zach make the outlandish decision to keep Morning Brown open after 3:30pm, and things take a supernatural turn; Broden goes to a buck's party.5 • 1 Guest stars: Tony Martin, Melanie Bracewell.1
  4. We're Closed (Didn't Pay Rent) (26 min). When Morning Brown fails to pay the rent, avoiding eviction means hosting the annual awards for local estate agents.5
  5. We're Getting a Toilet Door (26 min). The cafe owners act on feedback from the customer complaints box and install a door on the toilet.5
  6. We Got a Bad Review :( (26 min). A scathing one-star review of Morning Brown prompts the friends to take immediate, if misguided, action.5

Cast and crew

The three leads play fictionalized versions of themselves as the cafe's owners: Mark Samual Bonanno as Mark, Broden Kelly as Broden, and Zachary Ruane as Zach; all three are also credited as writers.6 The supporting cast includes Michelle Brasier, Gaby Seow as Stephanie, Vidya Rajan as The Nameless One, Sally-Anne Upton as Sally-Anne, and Mish Wittrup.6 • 1 Sam Lingham is credited as a writer, and Max Miller as director.6 • 2

Aunty Donna is a Melbourne-based comedy group that formed in 2011; the sitcom followed their Netflix sketch show Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun (2020) and was the ABC's commissioning of the group three years after that series.9 • 10

Reception and distribution

In a review published the day before premiere, Luke Buckmaster of The Guardian wrote that the premise of running a Melbourne cafe has heaps of potential, and that while there is always joy to be found in the zaniness, the series is not the group's best.8 On IMDb the series holds a rating of 7.9/10 from about 876 votes.7

Distribution was initially limited to Australia. The show streamed on ABC iview, and fans outside Australia long reported difficulty watching it legally.1 It was later added to Australian Netflix on 30 May 2025.3 It is also available on Grouse House TV, the subscription streaming service launched by Aunty Donna, where the series is explicitly licensed for viewing outside Australia and New Zealand.11 In interviews in 2025, the group said they could feel the writing was on the wall with network comedy in Australia and have since focused on Grouse House and their production company Haven't You Done Well to bypass traditional gatekeepers.9 • 10

References

  1. Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe, ABC iview
  2. Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe, Haven't You Done Well Productions
  3. Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe on Netflix Australia, New On Netflix Australia & New Zealand
  4. Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe, TheTVDB.com
  5. Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe, Netflix
  6. Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe: Season 1 Cast and Crew, Rotten Tomatoes
  7. Aunty Donna's Coffee Café (2023), IMDb
  8. Aunty Donna's Coffee Cafe review, The Guardian (Luke Buckmaster, 11 April 2023)
  9. Aunty Donna on why Australian TV comedy needs a massive shake-up, The Guardian (25 August 2025)
  10. How Aunty Donna are bypassing the gatekeepers to change Australian comedy, ABC News (24 August 2025)
  11. Grouse House, Subscribe

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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