HD Heads-Up: April 4-10

March 26, 2026 0 Comments

➢➢ Friday night gets a facelift with two drama premieres: The Miniature Wife (TVNZ 2, 8.30) and Robin Hood (Duke, 9.35). The former is a sci-fi romantic comedy/drama about a husband-and-wife (Matthew Macfadyen, Elizabeth Banks) who are more mismatched than ever after he accidentally shrinks her to only 15cm tall. Macfadyen describes the premise as “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids crossed with Scenes From a Marriage”. The Peacock series opens with a double-episode on TVNZ 2 and will continue in weekly instalments; on TVNZ+, it launches with four episodes, with weekly double-eps thereafter …

➢➢ Already streaming on TVNZ+ is the latest take on the Sherwood Forest legend, this time portrayed as a Saxon forester’s son who teams with a Norman lord’s daughter to “thwart royal corruption and bring peace to the land”. Sean Bean plays the Sheriff of Nottingham. Reviews were mixed but The Times thought it “perfectly fine, if very melodramatic” and called Bean, “as you’d expect, a hefty presence”. MGM+ has ordered a second season …

➢➢ Three restructures Wednesday night to launch two local shows: My House My Castle (7.30) and Home of Hope (8.30). In the former, comedian and broadcaster Hayley Sproull travels the country to see if the iconic Kiwi quarter-acre dream is over. It will lead into House Hunters Australia at 8.00, ahead of Home of Hope, which goes inside NZ’s largest rehab and accommodation facility for ex-cons rebuilding their lives …

➢➢ Ford Ranger New Zealand Rural Games (TVNZ 1, 4.00 Saturday) is a new series that rounds up country competitions like sheep dog trials, wood chopping and speed shearing. Should be a dag …

➢➢ Worlds Apart (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Wednesday) features six teams of intergenerational duos in a race across Japan to find treasure. “Channel 4’s age-gap reality travel show pairs two strangers – one young, one older – and it’s so gorgeously wholesome that you wish everyone could win,” The Guardian said before acknowledging: “As a competition, this just isn’t exciting or interesting enough. Clearly, the presence of octogenarians means there can’t be challenges as expansive and energised as travelling hundreds of miles by road, rail and water, as happens on Race Across the World” …

➢➢ TVNZ 2’s The Claudia Winkleman Show returns to 7.30 Fridays with guests James McAvoy, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Rita Wilson and Russell Howard …

➢➢ Programming doesn’t get craftier than this: TVNZ 1 is double-billing the return of The Great British Bake Off S11 and The Great British Sewing Bee S16 from 7.30 Thursday …

➢➢ Also back for new seasons are:

Saving Lives at Sea S9 (Duke, 6.30 Saturday)
Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics S17 (Sky Open, 2.00 Monday)
Man v. Food (Casey Webb) S5 (Sky Open, 2.30 Monday)
Secrets of Britain’s Historic Houses … (Sky Open, 9.30 Wednesday)
Chateau DIY S8 (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Friday)
Grand Crew S2 (Sky Open, 11.30 Friday)
We are Lady Parts S2 (Sky Open, midnight Friday) …

➢➢ Ending their runs are:

The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition
Riptide
The Amazing Race
Travel Guides …

➢➢ Live/delayed free-to-air sport includes:

Cricket: White Ferns v South Africa 3rd ODI (Duke, 10.30am Saturday)
NRL: Dragons v Cowboys (Sky Open, 7.00 Saturday)
UFC Fight Night: Renato Moicano v Chris Duncan (Duke, 9am Sunday)
Premiere League: Goal Rush (Sky Open, 10am Sunday)
NRL: Sharks v Warriors (Sky Open, 6.30 Sunday)
SRP: Highlanders v Brumbies (Sky Open, 6.30 Friday) …

➢➢ Easter Weekend is bereft of special programming save for the network movie premiere of Kiwi crowdpleaser Tina (Three, 8.25 Sunday). Other HD coming attractions include: