HD Heads-Up: December 5 – 11

November 26, 2020 0 Comments

➢➢ The free-to-air premiere of Deadwater Fell will screen on December 6 (TVNZ 1, 8.30). The four-part thriller, about a murder in a small Scottish town, has been streaming on TVNZ OnDemand. The network will air it in two movie-length Sunday night instalments. David Tennant (Broadchurch), Cush Jumbo (The Good Fight) and Matthew McNulty (The Bay) star …

➢➢ The Hollywood Report called it an “intriguing” mystery from Grantchester creator Daisy Coulam that “isn’t really an overhaul of its particular genre, but thanks to entertaining performances and a perspective that steers viewers away from the obvious, it’s a reasonably satisfyingly fast whodunnit” …

➢➢ The Guardian was more fulsome in its praise — “it’s the new Broadchurch … but more irresistible” — while Rotten Tomatoes summed it up as “a disturbing new mystery reminiscent of Broadchurch … gripping, even if the plot doesn’t always hold water” …

➢➢ Whakaari: A Heroes’ Story (December 9, 8.30) is TVNZ 1’s variation on Three’s The Eruption: Stories Of Survival. It focuses on young tourist helicopter pilots Tom Storey and Jason Hill, who defied official orders to fly to White Island’s active volcano immediately after the explosion …

➢➢ Pre-empting Man With a Plan on December 9 will be Diana: An Interview That Shook the World (Prime, 7.30 Wednesday). The Channel 5 documentary was one of three that screened last month on separate channels in the UK about the circumstances behind the Princess of Wales’ revelatory interview to Panorama’s Martin Bashir 25 years ago. Since it was filmed, a second BBC inquiry into Panorama has been announced …

➢➢ One critic said the documentary “challenges viewers to see Diana afresh, examining how her Panorama interview shifted attitudes toward the monarchy and our treatment of women in the public eye. There are interviews with erstwhile butler Paul Burrell, former BBC royal correspondent Jennie Bond and body language expert Judi James” …

➢➢ Primetime Christmas programming kicks off early with another Channel 5 document-ary, Secrets of Santa’s Christmas Factory (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Friday), which reveals how everything from Christmas trees and tinsel to crackers and Christmas puddings are made and distributed in time for the big day …

➢➢ On or near the red sofa on the December 10 broadcast of The Graham Norton Show (Three, 8.30) will be Jessie Buckley, Bill Bailey, Octavia Spencer, Frank Gardner, David Walliams and Dermot Kennedy …

➢➢ Fans of God Friended Me will need to set their PVR for its return: after airing S1 in primetime, TVNZ 2 is relegating the second and final season to 4pm Saturdays from December 5. It will air opposite the premiere of Three’s Healthy Homes: A Kiwi Dream, in which Asthma New Zealand investigates what it takes to keep Kiwi homes healthy and mould-free …

➢➢ Ending their runs that week will be Britain’s Got Talent, 20/20, Young Sheldon, Australian Survivor: All Stars, Naughty Nursery, Police Code Zero and The Repair Shop …

➢➢ There will be four network movie premieres in the week starting December 5: Constantine: City of Demons (TVNZ 2, 2.45am Sunday), The Duchess (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday), The Meg (TVNZ 2, 9.35 Sunday) and Cold Pursuit (Prime, 8.30 Monday). Other HD coming attractions will include: