HD Heads-Up: April 12

➢ Lest we forget, indeed. The only network paying more than lip service to Anzac Day on April 25 will be Maori TV, which will devote most of its schedule to the commemoration, starting with The Auckland Dawn Service at 5.20am and continuing with the premieres of Kiwi Women of WWII (9am), In Foreign Fields (10am), Charge of the ANZACS (11am) and the movie The Lighthorsemen (12.05). TVNZ 2, Three and Prime have nothing scheduled while TVNZ 1 has only the hour-long ANZAC 2018 at 11am (although presumably there will be coverage on Breakfast) …

➢ Prime has confirmed it will retain the NZ rights to The Great British Bake Off and The Great Australian Bake Off following TVNZ’s announcement it will broadcast a local version, The Great Kiwi Bake Off, later in the year. A Prime spokeswoman says the channel has the rights for run of series on both and cites a BBC sales representative: “Prime remains the long standing partner for Great British Bake Off and Great Australian Bake Off’” …

➢ Season three TVNZ 2’s FBI drama Quantico will premiere online. It will be available to stream the same day as the US, from April 27 at tvnz.co.nz …

➢ Duke will belatedly premiere Running Wild With Bear Grylls on April 22 at 8.00, ahead of the 9.00 launch of The Inside Word, a panel show about traditionally taboo topics. It’s billed as “TVNZ’s first show dedicated to mental health issues, with a fresh approach to lifting stigma, shame and silence” …

➢ Returning in the week starting April 21 are Britain’s Got Talent (TVNZ 1, 7.00 Saturday), The Hotel Inspector (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Saturday), Mind Over Money With Nigel Latta (TVNZ 1, 8.00 Monday), Criminal Minds (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Monday), Lucifer (TVNZ 1, 9.30 Monday), Grey’s Anatomy (TVNZ 2, 9.50 Monday/Tuesday, on a twice-weekly double-bill with likeminded The Resident) and Mayday (Prime, 9.35 Tuesday) while ending their runs are David Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities, SAS: Who Dares Wins, Ross Kemp: Extreme World, Karena & Kasey’s Kitchen Diplomacy, Topp Country and The Big Ward …

➢ TVNZ 1’s Coronation Street strategy continues to baffle. It turns out the Saturday night edition is shifting to Wednesday nights so the network can squeeze in yet another re-run, this time of the true-life crime drama, The Secret. No doubt it’s a bookkeeping issue but how frustrating for Coro stalwarts to continue to lag 18 months behind the UK while TVNZ 1 clutters slots where it could have screened extended instalments with mere repeats (especially since the soap is off-air for the equivalent of 12 half-hour eps to accommodate the Commonwealth Games)…

➢ Three’s latest All Star Family Feud Special (April 23, 7.30) will pit the contestants on Dancing With the Stars against one another as a curtain raiser to the show’s April 29 premiere. And on Friday that week the network will premiere Best Foods Comedy Gala 2018 post-7 Days at 9.45 …

➢ Guest starring on tomorrow’s The Graham Norton Show (Three, 8.00) are Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, Naomie Harris, Martin Freeman and The Who’s Roger Daltrey while lined up for next week’s are Benedict Cumberbatch, Matt LeBlanc, Maxine Peake and Calvin Harris featuring Dua Lipa …

➢ Appearing this week and next on Prime’s The Tonight Show With Stephen Colbert are: Martin Short and Aisha Tyler (11.30 Thursday); Diane Sawyer, Joshua Jackson and a musical performance by John Prine featuring Sturgill Simpson and Brandi Carlile (10.30 Friday); and Aubrey Plaza, a musical performance by Rainbow Kitten Surprise and a special appearance by Cookie Monster (11.20 Monday) …

➢ Three will try to stymie TVNZ 2’s April 22 launch of Survivor New Zealand with the free-to-air premiere of Minions at 7.00. The network’s other HD coming attractions that week include: Love at First Bark (12.00 Saturday), Despicable Me 2 (7.00 Saturday), You, Me And Dupree (8.50 Saturday), 12 Feet Deep (11.50 Saturday), The Internship (8.50 Sunday), The Swap (1.00 Monday), 22 Jump Street (8.30 Monday), Burning Daylight (12.50 Tues-day), Three Times a Charm (6am Wednesday), A Fish Tale (7.30 Wednesday), Casa Vita (9am Wednesday), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (8.30 Thursday) and Eruption: LA (1.05 Friday) …

➢ TVNZ 1 has Dark Horse (10.30 Saturday), Duke Blood Diamond (8.30 Wednesday) and Prime Slow Burn (8.30 Monday) while Maori TV will premiere A Perfect Day (8.30 Sunday) and Think Like a Man Too (8.30 Friday) …

➢ Screening on TVNZ 2 in HD will be: Tarzan & Jane (5.15 Saturday), Inkheart (7.00 Saturday), The Expendables 3 (9.00 Saturday), Purple Rain (11.25 Saturday), Boy (8.30 Sunday), Deliver Us From Evil (11.10 Sunday) and Free Birds (9am Wednesday) …