Sweat is an Australian drama series created by John Rapsey and produced by Barron Entertainment in Perth. The show aired on Network Ten in 1996 and centred around students at an Australian school for the athletically gifted. Sweat was Heath Ledger's first regular role on a television series; he played Snowy Bowles, a gay cyclist. Scenes shot in & around Perth included at locations such as Challenge Stadium & the now defunct Perry Lakes Stadium, scene of the 1962 Commonwealth Games.

A nearly wordless visual narrative intercuts two main stories and a couple of minor ones. A woman, perhaps the Madonna, brings forth her baby to a crowd of intrusive paparazzi; she tries to flee them. Two men who are lovers marry and are arrested by the powers that be. The men are mocked and pilloried, tarred, feathered, and beaten. Loose in this contemporary world of electrical-power transmission lines is also Jesus. The elements, particularly fire and water, content with political power, which is intolerant and murderous.

During World War I, British soldier Owen is mortified by the examples of cruelty that surround him in the trenches. He combats these terrifying images by maintaining hope in his love for an army nurse. But he also begins to accept his fate as another battlefield sacrifice.

Jessica's promising debut as a young artist is shattered by a sudden and violent death. She escapes into a restless succession of journeys whose encounters along the way bring humour, some comfort, but also danger.