HD Heads-Up: April 15-21

➢➢ Three launches a post-Easter schedule with the premiere of Blow Up (7.30 Monday-Wednesday) and the return of Lego Masters Australia: Grand Masters (7.00 Sunday), 9-1-1 (8.30 Monday) and SAS Australia: Hell Week (8.30 Wednesday). Blow-Up is a Jaquie Brown-fronted balloon artistry competition that will air opposite TVNZ 2’s own version of Lego Masters; Three’s Grand Masters import will screen weekly. Surprisingly, Three is double-billing season six of 9-1-1 not with spin-off Lone Star but repeats of S5. The season premiere concerns a blimp that catches fire over a packed LA sports stadium …

➢➢ Also returning are Starstruck UK (TVNZ 1, 7.30 Thursday) and Britain’s Got Talent: The Ultimate Magician (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Friday). Shania Twain joins the former as a judge while the latter is a one-off special …

➢➢ Starstruck UK is being double-billed with Amanda & Alan’s Italian Job (TVNZ 1, 8.45 Thursday), in which Amanda Holden and Alan Carr tackle the restoration of a crumbling Sicilian home. The Telegraph wasn’t impressed but the BBC has ordered a second series …

➢➢ The Surrogates (TVNZ 1, 9.30 Sunday) is an “emotionally engaging” series about the complex relationships between surrogates and intended parents in the UK, where the number of children born through surrogacy has tripled in the last three years and demand for fertile young women is higher than ever …

➢➢ Hurō Pēpi (Whakaata Māori, 8,00 Friday), a new series about young Māori becoming parents, opens with a couple undergoing in-vitro fertilisation to start their whānau …

➢➢ Two UK drama series premiere on TVNZ 1 the same day as TVNZ+: You & Me (8.35 Saturday) and The Ex-Wife (9.35 Saturday). The Guardian called the former a “deftly written  drama about tragedy, and whether hearts can survive the potential horrors that life may throw at them”; Harry Lawtey (Industry), Jessica Barden (The End of the F***ing World), Sophia Brown (The Capture) and Julie Hesmondhalgh (Broadchurch), star …

➢➢ The Ex-Wife is a four-part thriller about a woman with a loving husband and a beautiful little girl whose life would be perfect if not for the ex-wife who just won’t leave them alone. Céline Buckens (Showtrial), Tom Mison (Sleepy Hollow) and Janet Montgomery (New Amsterdam) star …

➢➢ I Want My MTV (Prime, 8.30 Thursday) is a 2019 Prime Rocks documentary about the pop culture phenomenon …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 marks Earth Day with the premiere of Changing Planet (2.00 Sunday), which examines climate change over seven years. It follows a 1.00 repeat of 1 Climate Special …

➢➢ Derided country music drama Monarch (TVNZ 1, 11.35 Friday) gets a linear run after its TVNZ+ debut …

➢➢ Starting new seasons are Dinner Date (TVNZ 2, 10.20 Friday) and Tell Me a Story (TVNZ 2, 12.20am Saturday) while ending their runs are The Weakest Link: USA, The Drawing Board, SPCA Rescue, Kings of Pain (Duke) and Patriot Brains with Sue Perkins …

➢➢ HD coming attractions for the week starting April 15 include:

• Rango (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Paddington (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
• Furious 7 (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Saturday)
• Bernie (Whakaata Māori, 8.40 Saturday)
• Don’t Say a Word (Duke, 9.30 Saturday)
• The Great Gatsby (Eden, 8.30)
• Da Kath & Kim Code (TVNZ 2, 9.50 Saturday)
• Employee of the Month (Three, 11.00 Saturday)
• The Kitchen (TVNZ 2, 12.25am Sunday)
• Gravity (TVNZ 2, 12.25am Sunday)
• Shrek (TVNZ 2, 3.20 Sunday)
• Skyscraper (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Sunday)
• Joker (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• 42 (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• The Tracker (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Sunday)
• Deep Blue Sea 3 (TVNZ 2, 10.25 Sunday)
• Swordfish (Prime, 8.30 Monday)
• Non Western (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday)
• Jumanji: The Next Level (Three, 8.30 Tuesday)
• Daredevil (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• Beautiful Boy (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Wednesday)
• TMNT (Three, 7.30 Friday)
• Blackkklansman (Duke, 9.30 Friday)
• Eddie Murphy Raw (Duke, 11.55 Friday).