HD Heads-Up: December 20-26

➢➢ Movies and festive specials overwhelm network schedules in Christmas Week. TVNZ 1 dishes up the biggest Yuletide feast while it’s mostly just another week on Three. TVNZ 1 sprinkles new specials among numerous repeats of Christmases past. His Majesty The King’s Christmas Message (6.50 Thursday) leads the Christmas Night lineup, ahead of The Chase Celebrity Christmas Special (7.00), 1 Royal Special: Together at Christmas 2025 (8.00), Chateau DIY at Christmas (9.00 and 8.45 Friday) and Alan Carr’s Epic Gameshow (9.55) …

➢➢ Christmas Eve opens with The Royal Variety Performance 2025 (7.00 Wednesday), ahead of re-runs of Christmas Carols From the London Coliseum (9.45) and 1 Royal Special: Together at Christmas (10.45). An overnight comedy marathon of Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas (midnight), Absolutely Fabulous: Christmas 2002: Gay (12.35am) and Absolutely Fabulous: Christmas 2004 (1.35am) feeds into back-to-back Call the Midwife Christmas Specials (2.25am) …

➢➢ Other TVNZ 1 premieres include:

• For the Love of Dogs With Alison Hammond (7.00 Saturday), in which Christmas comes to Battersea Dogs and Cats Home
• Alan Carr’s Epic Christmas Gameshow (8.30 Saturday)
• Bradley Walsh’s Blankety Blank Christmas (7.00 Monday), with guests Jane McDonald, Oti Mabuse, Joel Dommett, Jonathan Ross, Sara Pascoe and The Vivienne
• Jamie’s Cook-Ahead Christmas (7.40 Monday/8.10 Tuesday), in which Jamie Oliver shows how to take the heavy lifting out of Christmas dinner
• Mary Makes Christmas (8.45 Monday), in which Dame Mary Berry and friends, including Amanda Holden, create delicious gifts in a festive coastal setting
• Amanda & Alan’s Spanish Christmas (7.00 Tuesday), in which the do-over duo celebrate an Anglo-Spanish Christmas
• Christmas at the Dog House (7.00 Friday)
• Bradley Walsh’s Blankety Blank Christmas (8.00 Friday) …

➢➢ New to Sky Open’s Christmas schedule is Christmas at the Biggest Sweet Store in the World (7.30 Tuesday), in which three of the largest lolly shops around the globe, including It’Sugar, the world’s biggest candy department store, prepare for their busiest time of the year …

➢➢ If you’re looking for something new that’s not tinsel-drenched, Three premieres season two of Mystery Road: Origin (9.10 Monday). Already streaming on ThreeNow, it co-stars Robyn Malcolm. “Outback sleuth Jay Swan’s latest outing is classily executed but a little hackneyed,” said The Guardian. “Origin’s second season is the most formulaic of Swan’s outings to date. The good news is that the overall standard of Mystery Road remains so strong that even a weaker entry is still engaging viewing” …

➢➢ Other non-festive newcomers include:

• Junior Bake Off (TVNZ 2, 11.30am Saturday)
• Red’s Fishing Adventures: The Bucket List (Duke, 7.10 Saturday), a 10-part series about a heart transplant recipient who embarks on the fishing trip of a lifetime
• I Escaped a Murderer (Duke, 9.30 Sunday), true-crime docuseries about people who survived encounters with notorious murderers
• Elvis: Heartbreaker (TVNZ 1, 11.35 Sunday), a three-part docuseries that charts the rise of Elvis Presley
• Shoot to Kill: Hunting the London Bombers (TVNZ 1, 11.20 Monday), a gripping two-part investigation into the tragic events and aftermath of the 7/7 London bombings that led to an innocent civilian being mistaken for a terrorist and shot at close range.
• Brianna: A Mother’s Story (TVNZ 1, 12.10am Tuesday), an “exploitative” documentary about a  teenage trans girl who was groomed by a murder-obsessed classmate …

➢➢ Jack Black, Paul Rudd, Jessie Buckley and Michelle de Swarte guest on The Graham Norton Show (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Friday) …

➢➢ Ending their runs are:

• Love Island Australia
• Ten Pound Poms
• AA Location Location Location
• Death Valley 
• The Hack
• The Voice Australia
• Hunted UK
• Love My Face
• Home and Away     
• Michael McIntyre’s Big Show …

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

• Cricket: BlackCaps v West Indies – 3rd Test (Duke, 10.30am Saturday-Monday)
• Premiere League: Goal Rush — Manchester City v West Ham (Sky Open, 10am Sunday)
• American Football: NFL (Duke, 7am Monday)
• Super Smash Men’s Cricket: Northern Brave v Auckland Aces (Duke, 2.00 Friday)
• Super Smash Women’s Cricket: Northern Brave v Auckland Hearts (Duke, 6.10 Friday).