HD Heads-Up: August 31

➢ TVNZ 1 and Three will launch two new thriller series to bookend the working week: Tin Star and Paula. The former will replace Westside from September 11 and the latter, Ordinary Lies from September 15. Tin Star, a promising Sky Atlantic crime drama about a small town police chief under siege from oil refinery workers, will screen here only four days after its UK broadcast; Paula is a revenge thriller that The Guardian acclaimed for “every scene [being] dark, claustrophobic and menacing” while The Express merely thought it had “the makings of an OK thriller, what with extramarital affairs, blackmail and murder” …

➢ Why are we fat and why are we homeless? They’re the themes of two new local documentaries. Why Are We Fat?, in which chef Simon Gault sifts through the myths around obesity, will screen 8.30 Sundays on Prime from September 10 and Who Owns New Zealand Now?, in which documentary maker Bryan Bruce investigates our housing crisis, will air on September 12 (Three, 8.30) ahead of the return of Killer Women With Piers Morgan …

➢ TVNZ 1 is dredging up its newest natural history series, Shark: Beneath the Surface (7.00 Saturdays from September 9), from two years ago. It explores what makes sharks top predators, their social lives and what threatens their extinction. The Independent dubbed it “a fascinating, beautiful and, at times, genuinely terrifying documentary” and The Guardian teased, “If Jaws gave you nightmares …” …

➢ The same week Prime will pick up from TVNZ SAS: Who Dares Wins (8.30 Wed-nesdays) and premiere Dumped: Revenge Extremes (9.30 Thursdays), which shows how some of the UK’s most infuriated jilted lovers exacted sweet revenge on their ex, and The Millionaires’ Holiday Club (7.30 Fridays), which goes behind the scenes at a luxury tour operator …

➢ Ending their runs in the week starting September 9 are Tonight at the London Palladium, Claws, Modern Family and the winter season of hour-long Shortland Street episodes while returning for a new late-night run is TVNZ 1’s Murder in the First …

➢ The only network movie premiere for the week starting September 9 is Earl and the Dying Girl, which Three has consigned to 10.20 Sunday. Other HD coming attractions for that week include:

• Monsters University (TVNZ 2, 5.05 Saturday)
• Journey to the Center of the Earth (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Stuart Little (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Me, Myself & Irene (Three, 8.40 Saturday)
• 42 (TVNZ 1, 10.45 Saturday)
• Disconnect (Three, 10.45 Saturday)
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Sunday)
• Lucy (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• The Day After Tomorrow (Three, 8.30 Thursday).