HD Heads-Up: January 17-23

➢➢ TVNZ launches its 2026 season with a string of newcomers anchoring the 8.30 hour, starting with Kiwi whodunit Blue Murder Motel (TVNZ 1, 8.45 Sunday). Written by My Life is Murder’s Kate Mcdermott, the eight-part thriller reunites two of the stars of McLeod’s Daughters, Michala Banas and Brett Tucker, as ex-cops-turned-newly-minted moteliers who discover a corpse in one of their units …

➢➢ It precedes the 9.45 premiere of Titanic Sinks Tonight, an acclaimed four-part docudrama that depicts the minute-by-minute sinking of what was then the largest liner in the world, while Disaster Investigation (8.30 Monday) uncovers the fatal flaws that trigger catastrophes, from collapsing buildings and bridges to vanishing planes and shark attacks …

➢➢ “Gripping” and “impressively made” was The Telegraph’s take on Titanic: “Where this differs from all the other Titanic programmes we’ve seen is the way it uses the source material. It takes the real, written testimonies of survivors and puts them into the mouths of actors, who speak directly to camera in that very modern way of documentary-making” …

➢➢ Riot Women (8.30 Tuesday) stars Joanna Scanlan, Tamsin Greig and Rosalie Craig as three of five middle-aged women who accidentally form a punk rock band. “There is a fascinating TV series to be made about a menopausal rock band – Riot Women isn’t it,” lamented The Guardian, dismissing the Sally (Happy Valley) Wainwright comedy/drama as “another variation on The Full Monty (and not in a good way).” But other critics were more impressed, from The Times (“raucously good“) to The Standard (“a glorious, feminist roar“) …

➢➢ Race Across the World returns for its fifth season (8.30 Wednesday), George Clarke’s Building Home (7.30 Thursday) follows people uprooting their lives to build their dream homes, and Jamie’s Eat Yourself Healthy (8.30 Thursday) combines “achievable recipes … with tips, tricks and hacks to make us feel healthier from the inside out” …

➢➢ Also new is Jimmy Doherty’s Big Bear Rescue (TVNZ 1, 2.50 Sunday), in which conservationist and farmer Jimmy Doherty helps to find “forever homes” for four polar bears, a pack of arctic wolves and two European brown bears …

➢➢ Taskmaster: Champion of Champions (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Wednesday) is a one-off battle for the right to become just the fourth Champion of Champions, featuring Andy Zaltzman, John Robins, Maisie Adam, Mathew Baynton and Sam Campbell. And The Big Fat Quiz Best Bits (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Friday) is another clips special with appearances by Michael McIntyre, Davina McCall, Lee Mack, Romesh Ranganathan, Roisin Conaty, Kevin Bridges and Jack Whitehall …

➢➢ Appearing on Friday’s The Graham Norton Show (TVNZ 2, 7.30) are Martin Freeman, Erin Doherty and Olivia Dean …

➢➢ Back for S2 runs are Return to Paradise (Sky Open, 8.30 Saturday) and Keeping Faith S2 (TVNZ 1, 12.40am Sunday) while ending their seasons are:

• Limitless Win UK
• Timber Titans
• Find My Country House: New Zealand …

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

➢➢ And here’s the schedule for live Super Smash Cricket on Duke:

• Sunday Otago Sparks v Northern Brave 12.30, Otago Volts v Northern Brave 4.15pm
• Monday Wellington Blaze v Canterbury Magicians 12.30, Wellington Firebirds v Canterbury Kings 4.15
• Tuesday Northern Brave  v Central Hinds 2.00, Northern Brave v Central Stags – 5.45
• Wednesday Canterbury Magicians v Otago Sparks 2.00, Canterbury Kings v Otago Volts 5.45
• Thursday Auckland Hearts v Northern Brave 12.30, Auckland Aces v Northern Brave 4.15pm
• Friday Canterbury Magicians v Wellington Blaze 2pm, Canterbury Kings v Wellington Firebirds 5.45 …

➢➢ HD coming attractions include:

• Mirror, Mirror (Whakaata Māori, 7.30 Saturday)
• I Don’t Know How She Does It (Three, 8.55 Saturday)
• Cliffhanger (Whakaata Māori, 9.20 Saturday)
• The Juror (Sky Open, 9.30 Saturday)
• Jungle (TVNZ 2, 12.55am Sunday)
• Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Sunday)
• The Hangover Part III (Three, 8.35 Sunday)
• Room (Whakaata Māori, 8.50 Sunday)
• Ocean’s 13 (TVNZ 2, 9.25 Sunday)
• Knock at the Cabin (TVNZ 2, 12.50am Monday)
• Mister Organ (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday)
• Road Trip (Duke, 9.40 Monday)
• Torque (Duke, 10.20 Tuesday)
• The Vow (Sky Open, 7.00 Wednesday)
• Argo (Three, 8.10 Wednesday)
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 (Sky Open, 7.00 Friday)
• Heroes of the Golden Masks (Whakaata Māori, 7.30 Friday)
• After the Wedding (Whakaata Māori, 9.00 Friday).