HD Heads-Up: December 3-9

➢➢ A $2.6 million dramatisation of a political scandal that disgraced Auckland mayor Len Brown will premiere opposite the latest Paddy Gower special on December 6. Princess of Chaos (TVNZ 1, 9.00) stars Mulan’s Xana Tang as Bevan Chuang, the community organiser who had an affair with Brown (Michael Hurst) after joining his staff. Reads the blurb: “When Brown’s political rival John Palino (Millen Baird, 800 Words) discovers the relationship, Bevan finds herself trapped between powerful men battling for control of the super city” …

➢➢ Should NZ decriminalise recreational drugs? That’s the question Patrick Gower: On All the Drugs (Three, 8.40) asks based on his investigations into how people use medical cannabis, recreational cannabis, P and alcohol …

➢➢ Swipe, Match, Murder: The Disappearance of Grace Millane (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Wednesday) is a two-part Channel 5 documentary about the British backpacker who was murdered on a Tinder date in NZ. It unfolds from the perspective of the police and “builds a sense of tension — though truly heartbreakingly — by juxtaposing the talking heads with CCTV footage of Millane’s seemingly carefree final hours,” The Telegraph said …

➢➢ A sure sign of summer is ABBA: The Missing 40 Years (TVNZ 1, 7.30 Sunday), which reveals what happened to each of the band members since they disbanded in 1982. “There are no new interviews with the four and amid all the squashing-in of material, some songs and archive really do need time to breathe,” Radio Times said, “but there’s wise input from the likes of Elaine Paige and Hugh Padgham, and the shiversome comeback hit I Still Have Faith in You tops a spectacular journey” …

➢➢ The 2021 Channel 4 documentary Sex, Myths and the Menopause (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Tuesday) was widely praised “for exposing the short-fallings in the way women’s health has been handled” …

➢➢ The Untold Tales of Tūteremoana (Whakaata Māori, 7.30 Monday) is a new dramatic anthology woven together by three whakapapa stories of the ancient Ngai Tara people …

➢➢ Darcey Bussell’s Wild Coasts of Scotland (Prime, 7.30 Thursday) is a “perfectly nice example of the genre, with the girlish former ballerina and Strictly judge gamely tackling the things that presenters of these shows are required to do,” The Telegraph said of the four-part 2021 series. “But the programme-makers, perhaps worried that viewers’s tolerance for celebrity jaunts could  be wearing thin, kept trying to turn this into a ‘personal journey’ … The result was a show that was trying to justify its existence, rather than letting us sit back and enjoy the scenery” …

➢➢ Returning for new seasons will be Fishy Business (Prime, 5.00 Saturday) and Snack Masters UK (TVNZ 2, 10.00 Monday) while premiering will be the UK version of The Bridge (TVNZ 2, 10.20 Friday) …

➢➢ Ending their runs will be In for a Penny, Doc Martin, The White Queen, The Amazing Race, Travel Man, One Lane Bridge, Grand Designs New Zealand, Taskmaster, Live at the Apollo, Grime & Punishment, Border Security, Ten 7: Aotearoa, Rich Holiday, Poor Holiday, Submarine – Life Under the Waves and Ready to Mingle …

➢➢ Screening for the first time on free-to-air TV will  be Monos (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Sunday) and Ithaka (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday). Other HD coming attractions will include:

• A Christmas Cruise (Three, 12.00 Saturday)
• How to Find Forever (TVNZ 2, 12.35 Saturday)
• Valerian & the City of 1000 Planets (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• The Dragon Pearl (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
• Deep Blue Sea (Three, 8.30 Saturday)
• Penguin Bloom (Eden 8.30 Saturday)
• Jirga (Whakaata Māori, 8.40 Saturday)
• Blockers (TVNZ 2, 9.35 Saturday)
• Piranha 3D (Three, 10.30 Saturday)
• A Man Apart (Duke, 11.30 Saturday)
• Underworld: Rise of the Lycans (TVNZ 2, 11.40 Saturday)
• Return of Tthe Living Dead Part II (Duke, 1.20am Sunday)
• P.S. I Love You (TVNZ 2, 1.30am Sunday)
• Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (TVNZ 2, 3.35am Sunday)
• American Sniper (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• The Cold Light of Day (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Sunday)
• The Equalizer 2 (Three 9.05 Sunday)
• Split (TVNZ 2, 10.25 Sunday)
• Gone Girl (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• The Leisure Seeker (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Wednesday)
• Men In Black: International (Three, 7.30 Friday)
• Police Academy 6 – City Under Siege (Duke, 9.25 Friday)