HD Heads-Up: April 30-May 6

➢➢ Our House (TVNZ 1, 9.05 Saturdays from April 30) is a new thriller about a woman who arrives home to find her husband missing and a family of strangers occupying her house – one she didn’t know had been sold. Tuppence Middleton (Downton Abbey), Martin Compston (Line of Duty) and Rupert Penry-Jones (Spooks) star. “This four-parter, an adaptation of Louise Candlish’s 2018 novel, is standard ITV thriller territory, perfectly watchable, basically functional, if not particularly fresh,” was The Guardian’s verdict. But Radio Times thought it “surprisingly dark [with] twists and turns galore”. TVNZ 1 will air the four-hour series in two double-episodes ahead of Smother, which starts its second season on April 30 …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 also will spruce up weekday primetime with new episodes of Bradley Walsh & Son: Breaking Dad (TVNZ 1, 8.00 Mondays from May 2), Gordon, Gino And Fred’s Road Trip (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Mondays from May 2), Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Thursdays from May 5) and Interior Design Masters With Alan Carr (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Fridays from May 6) …

➢➢ Finding Alice (Eden, 8.30 Thursdays from May 5) is an “interesting and ambitious” Keeley Hawes comedy/drama about a woman whose beloved partner suddenly dies, leaving her to deal with her grief and the skeletons in his closet. Reviews were mixed at best, with The Times dubbing it “a quirky, untaxing dramedy” and The Telegraph pondering if it was “a thriller, a comedy, or an episode of Grand Designs?” Joanna Lumley co-stars …

➢➢ Tom Allen’s Quizness (TVNZ 2, 9.30 Wednesdays from May 4) is a new UK quiz show with a twist: the more answers the contestants know, the sillier they have to seem to win the £25,000 jackpot …

➢➢ The latest HBO series to get a free-to-air run will be the Sex & the City sequel, And Just Like That … (Prime, 8.30 Tuesdays from May 3). It earned tepid reviews — “missing the funk and the spunk,” quipped rolling Stone — but was renewed after becoming HBO Max’s most streamed show ever …

➢➢ Back on Three for new seasons will be 9-1-1 (8.30 Mondays from May 2) and 9-1-1: Lone Star (9.30 Mondays) while new to TVNZ 2 will be Police Ten 7 spin-off Ten 7: Aotearoa (7.30 Thursdays from May 5) …

➢➢ Also returning will be Outback Truckers (Prime, 7.30 Sundays from May 1) and Merchants of the WIld (Maori TV, 10.00 Tuesdays from May 3) while ending their runs will be The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, Yellowstone, 60 Seconds and NZ Hunter Adventures …

➢➢ Two specials to watch for will be the stand-up gig Rhys Darby: Mystic Time Bird (Three, 8.30 Thursday) and The Legends of Opera: Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (Maori TV, 7.30 Sunday), which is billed as “an in depth look into her life and career through archival footage, commentary from critics and interviews with the singer herself” …

➢➢ The Harper House (Duke, 9.25 Mondays from May 2) is a new animated comedy about a rich family that has to relocate to the poor side of town. The Paramount+ ‘toon features the voices of Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul) and Jason Lee (My Name is Earl) …

➢➢ Screening for the first time on FTA TV will be Shazam! (TVNZ 2, 8.20 Sunday), The Girl on the Train (Three, 8.30 Sunday) and The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday). Other HD coming attractions will include:

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Indiana Jones: Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Dino Time (Maori TV, 7.00 Saturday)
• 20th Century Women (Eden, 8.30 Saturday)
• How to be Single (TVNZ 2, 8.40 Saturday)
• Marlina The Murderer in Four Acts (Maori TV, 8.40 Saturday)
• American Assassin (Three, 9.20 Saturday)
• The Butterly Effect 3 (Duke, 9.30 Saturday)
• Cloud Atlas (TVNZ 2, 11.45 Saturday)
• The Lego Batman Movie (TVNZ 2, 3.45 Sunday)
• Denial (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• Rush House 2 (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Monday)
• Cradle 2 The Grave (Prime, 9.30 Monday)
• The Killing Fields (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• Last Holiday (Maori TV, 8.30 Wednesday)
• Wrath of the Titans (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Thursday)
• Around The World in 80 Days (Three, 7.30 Friday).