HD Heads-Up: April 5

Lightbox will launch season two of time travel hit Outlander on Sunday. Deadline Hollywood calls the “splendid feast” of a premiere “an opulent, exciting and extremely complicated affair, literally and figuratively” while The New Yorker warns of “graphic surgical scenes that make The Knick look prissy, and another time-travel twist”.  Meanwhile, soon to leave Lightbox are Community, Doctor Who, Sensitive Skin, The Boondocks, The Himalayas and The Invisible Leopard …

The Zone is the latest Sky channel to get ’pop-up’ exposure. The Zone Pop-Up will be a four-day platform to promote the latest seasons of Z Nation, Salem, From Dusk Till Dawn and Killjoys, which will be rolled out from June. Playing back to back will be seasons two of Z Nation on May 20, Salem on May 21, and From Dusk Till Dawn on May 22; s1 of Killjoys will screen on May 23 …

The Zone’s also announced its Cinema Z line-up for next month: Dragon Crusaders (May 6), 2010: Moby Dick (May 13), Flying Monkeys (May 20) and Aladdin+ The Death Lamp (May 27) …

Watch for two new NCIS recruits to make their debuts in the latest’s season’s last two episodes. Duane Henry and Sarah Clarke join the show in its 13th year just as original cast member Michael Weatherly exits …

Last night’s Walking Dead season finale has spurred coverage of everything from Rick’s fall from grace, what to expect next from Negan and the shape of season seven’s larger world to the producer’s defence of the controversial cliffhanger, Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s take on Negan’s finale debut, and the real-world comparisons between terrorism and executive producer Gayle Anne Hurd’s Alien Hunter, which debuts April 11 on Syfy …

Ironically, while a top TVNZ executive was talking up the death of reality TV in this market, he should have been more concerned about the fate of local drama, with TV2’s Step Dave star announcing on social media this morning that there won’t be a third season …