Review was updated on 29th April, 2020
If you’re the type of person who loves their documentaries, you’ll know the story. Turn on the TV, head straight for the ABC and SBS, hunt around for something interesting to discover. Every time you fire up Foxtel you’re headed straight to the Docos section, a channel pack you consider mandatory, to see what’s on offer.
Those of us that love a good documentary have long had that one key frustration – being at the mercy of network programming, schedules and tastes. Sure, there’s the occasional must-see doco on, but you have to scour the program guides and become a champion at setting the PVR to catch it. If only there was a streaming service… just for documentaries.
DocPlay Review
The people at Madman Entertainment realised there was a big gap in the market that desperately needed filling. Having previously created the AnimeLab streaming service especially for fans of Manga animation, Madman already had experience with setting up a streaming service and had the platform ready to go.
On the content side, the company’s extensive Australian and international library was bursting at the seams with quality documentaries. And so DocPlay was born at the end of 2016, and has been enjoying a unique place in the landscape of Australian streaming services ever since. The stuff available here is quality, whether it’s an acclaimed film about backing singers for famous rock stars (20 Feet From Stardom), the environment (Blackfish) or religion (Louis Theroux’s My Scientology Movie).
Plenty of us can probably remember a time when documentaries were only a very minor item on the entertainment menu – but now, that’s no longer the case. For doco fans – or folks who watch only a few per year – there’s never been a better time to watch documentaries. So does that mean DocPlay is worth it? With plenty of mainstream and niche providers also offering documentary content, is it necessary to sign up to an exclusive provider? Like a teenager glued to Planet Earth, we’ve spent way too much time in front of the screen, poring over all of the important DocPlay details, to break down everything you need to know about the provider.
In this Review
What is DocPlay?
While you’ll find a section for docos on just about every general streaming service, from Netflix and Stan to the public library-run Kanopy, what’s on offer can be slim pickings indeed if you’re after something with a bit of substance to it. That’s not to say all the documentary content on those services is bad – it’s not – but the task of digging out the good stuff is left to you, wading through movies and sitcoms and Japanese shows about house tidying just to get to a list of what you can watch.
Streaming services can also tend to be repositories for some seriously dodgy documentaries, with some online streaming services perhaps considering them as cheap filler content that helps bulk up the library. When you’re looking for a good documentary to watch and keep bumping up against moon landing conspiracies, “unauthorised” fan-made music docos and a sea of stuff about Hitler, the frustration is very real.
DocPlay solves this in two ways – by only offering documentaries, for starters. No more hunting around trying to weed out the docos from in between all that “suggested” content – here, it’s wall to wall docos, hundreds of them. Secondly, the key word here is quality – sure, not every topic will be of interest to you, but the DocPlay team hasn’t just found every doco they could get their hands on to bulk up the library. The stuff available here is quality, whether it’s an acclaimed film about backing singers for famous rock stars (20 Feet From Stardom), the environment (Blackfish) or religion (Louis Theroux’s My Scientology Movie).
What documentaries are available?
There are sections filled with docos that cover everything from movies to crime, surfing to songwriting and everything in between, with new titles regularly added to give you a reason to keep coming back – though to make a sizeable dent in the content that’s already there would take many months!
What about exclusive content? While DocPlay itself doesn’t produce its own content, parent company Madman does – and alongside that, DocPlay has a partnership with the Documentary Australia Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to foster social impact through the stories told in documentaries – some of which they finance themselves.
| Popular Categories | Docos Featured |
|---|---|
| Popular Titles | Louis Theroux: My Scientology Movie, Searching for Sugar Man, The Cove, The September Issue, Man On Wire |
| Short Films | The Ghost in the Machine, Drummer Girl, The Battle, Land To Vale, Wild Waters |
| Art & Culture | Blank City, McQueen, Trespassing Bergman, Garry Winogrand: All Things are Photographable, A Matter of Taste |
| Human Interest | Midnight Oil: 1984, Wayne, Machines, 91%: A Film About Guns in America, A Complete History of My Sexual Failures |
| Music | Leonard Cohen: Bird On A Wire, Biggie & Tupac, 20 Feet From Stardom, Broadway Idiot, A Band Called Death |
| Science & Nature | Future Baby, Homo Sapiens, Acid Ocean, Chasing Ice, Blackfish |
| Sports | The Final Draw, The Final Story, Andy Irons: Kissed By God, All For One, The Chosen Few |
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Compatible Devices and Apps
While streaming services backed by billion-dollar companies launch with apps on just one or two platforms (hello Ten All Access), the team at DocPlay has clearly recognised how important it is to have solid app support right from the start, and they continue to expand it to new devices.
At Home
Their first apps out of the gate were for Apple devices, with iOS and Apple TV both getting beautifully designed, easy to use apps that get you to the content quickly and seamlessly. These apps also let you sign up for a premium account directly on the device, using your iTunes account or Apple Pay for payment rather than directly entering a credit card number. If you choose to subscribe this way, it’ll cost a little more – $7.99 per month or $79.99 per year – to help offset the percentage that Apple takes from every subscription.
Telstra TV users aren’t left out – DocPlay quickly had an app ready to go for these popular devices, making sure that people using the Telstra TV 3 as their entertainment hub can easily access DocPlay. Chromecast is of course supported directly from the iOS and Android phone and tablet apps.
Mobile
Android phones and tablets are supported as well – along with Android TV, which puts the DocPlay app on most current Sony TVs along with popular Android TV powered streaming boxes like Nvidia Shield, the Foxtel Now box and Vodafone TV. Just recently, DocPlay has also been made available on all 2016-2019 Samsung TVs via the Samsung TV App Store.
Gaming Consoles
And released at the end of 2018 was their app for the Xbox One game console, which is a popular choice for watching video as well thanks to its superior format support and quality. Other compatible devices include: Samsung TV and Apple AirPlay.
All devices support streaming up to 1080p high definition – which covers most modern content, though you will run into the occasional older title that was made before HD become commonplace.
Devices supported on DocPlay
– Apple TV: Yes – Download app via the App Store.
– Apple AirPlay: Yes – Use AirPlay to connect to your Apple TV from the DocPlay iOS app or website.
– Telstra TV: Yes – Available on all models.
– Xbox One: Yes – N/A
– Smart TVs: Yes – Available on Samsung 2016-2019 models.
– iOS devices: Yes – Download the app from App Store.
– Android devices: Yes – Download the app from Google Play Store.
– Android TV: Yes – Available on all Sony Android TVs and other Android TV devices.
– Google Chromecast: Yes – Cast shows directly to your TV using Chromecast from the DocPlay iOS & Android apps or website.
– Foxtel Now Box: Yes – Install DocPlay from the Google Play Store on your device.
DocPlay Features
DocPlay is just one of the many streaming providers now available in Australia. This puts them in direct competition with big-leagues like Netflix, Stan, and Foxtel Now, just to name a few. So how does it compare?
What are DocPlay’s Best Features?
How do the documentaries compare?
As far as content goes, Netflix, Stan, Foxtel Now, and even hayu offer a hefty amount of documentaries across different genres. All of these providers offer free trial offers as well — just as DocPlay does. The difference lies in the depth and breadth of the genres and number of docos offered across these providers.
hayu, for one, surprisingly offers a lot of true crime documentaries on top of its extensive reality TV show content. As for Stan and Foxtel Now, both offer a range of environmental, cultural, and societal documentaries with a few additions every month. But if there’s one provider that can really go neck and neck with DocPlay, it’s Netflix.
Netflix has a rather impressive range of documentaries, which are sub-divided to different genres including social and cultural, true crime, sports, music, lifestyle, among others. What’s even more impressive is the number of original and highly acclaimed docuseries and films that Netflix has produced, like the recently released Tiger King, Our Planet, Conversations With A Killer: Ted Bundy, FYRE: The Greatest Party That Never Happened, The Keepers, and many more. All these doco offerings from Netflix are more than enough for the moderate doco fan, but if you’re looking for more range — specifically, more of Australian documentaries — then DocPlay is the way to go.
DocPlay Plans and Pricing
When it comes to pricing, DocPlay is without a doubt much cheaper than its major competitors — especially given that it only has two pricing points and no premium tiers whatsoever. This monthly flat rate of $6.95/mth already gives you HD streaming and full access to its entire doco catalogue. The only downside to this is that DocPlay doesn’t specify how many streams on different devices it allows at the same time.
Unlike the majority of streaming services, with their tiered plans based on both streaming quality and a number of simultaneous users or devices, DocPlay likes to keep things simple. The website may have a “view plans” button, but click on it and you’ll soon discover that there is only one single plan – DocPlay Premium.
It costs a decidedly not-expensive fee of $6.95 per month, or if you’d prefer to pay for an entire year upfront it’ll cost you $69.50, effectively giving you two months of the year completely free (in addition to having your first month free of charge!)
Unlike most streaming services, you can browse the full library before signing up, to see what you’d be getting. But there’s a much better sweetener – the first month is completely free anyway. Sign up with any credit card and explore and watch to your heart’s content – and if you’re not finding it a good fit for you, cancel without paying a cent. That “just one more” factor that you run into with a good documentary library, though, is something that’s very likely to keep you hanging around for a lot longer than that.
When DocPlay launched, there was originally an option to watch a small selection of docos free of charge, with some restrictions – ads, no HD, no viewing on streaming devices. That free tier looks to have been scrapped now, which makes perfect sense. The value of DocPlay is in the exploration of its library and finding something that grabs your interest, and $6.95 a month for full access to do that is trivial.
DocPlay Plans
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30-day free trial- Monthly Subscription
- No Lock-in Contract
- New docos added weekly
- Watch on your TV with Chromecast and AirPlay
- $7.99/mth
30-day free trial
Last audited 29 November 2020
How to Contact DocPlay
If you want to get into direct contact with DocPlay, the best way to do so is to send them an email at support@docplay.com. Then there’s their online contact form. If you want to let DocPlay know what they do well or what you think they could do better – or if you just need something clarified – simply click the ‘feedback’ button in the bottom right corner of each screen on their website.
DocPlay Summary
If you’re the sort of person who just loves a good doco and finds nothing more relaxing than to sit down and watch a real-world story being told, DocPlay is most definitely for you. But even better, if you’re a fan of serious documentary filmmaking and like to be challenged and intrigued, there’s a wealth of content on DocPlay for you as well.
With a single-tier monthly (or annual) price that’s hard to beat at a mere $6.95, quality apps on almost all key platforms and a company backing it that has access to a never-ending stream of content, DocPlay is well worth checking out – and we’re willing to bet that if you come for a look around you will, as we did, find it hard to leave!
