HD Heads-Up: January 2 – 8

➢➢ After failing to fire on TVNZ 2, Doctor Who will resume on TVNZ 1 with the New Year’s special, Revolution of the Daleks. It will air 7.00 on January 2, in a slot where TVNZ 1’s had success with UK shows like Britain’s Got Talent and The X-Factor. “There are loads of different ways you can interpret that title, whether it’s a Dalek revolution, or whether there’s a revolution involving Daleks,” Doctor Who overlord Chris Chibnall told Radio Times, leading the magazine to speculate: “With Bradley Walsh and Tosin Cole set to depart the series in the special, the TARDIS team will be in for a major shake-up, and generally speaking the series cast looks set to be ‘revolutionised’ ahead of the now-filming season 13″ …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 also will have a swag of leftover Christmas specials, including Call the Midwife (8.30 Saturday), The Chase (7.35 Monday), and Mrs Brown’s Boys (8.40 Thursday): It’s Christmas in Finglas, and Mrs Brown is coping with life after lockdown. As she gets news of a very special competition, Grandad, Winnie and Father Damien come to her for help …

➢➢ British critics mostly adored a two-part miniseries that TVNZ 1 will air 7.35 Fridays from January 8. Us stars Tom Hollander as a family man who’s estranged from his son (Tom Taylor) and whose wife (Saskia Reeves) wants to divorce him on the eve of their embarking on a grand tour of Europe. The Times thought it an example of “how to turn a great book into skilful drama” and the Independent “funny and acutely observed” while The Telegraph said it “drifts along nicely but needs more spark” …

➢➢ In Secret Teacher (TVNZ 1, 10.55 Tuesdays from January 5), mega-successful entrepreneurs who flunked school go incognito for six weeks as support staff to find pupils whose prospects in life they can improve. Said The Telegraph of one episode: “Gloriously manipulative but laid bare the crisis in our schools” …

➢➢ ITV’s game show reboot The Cube will air 6.00 Saturdays on TVNZ 2 from January 2. Philip Schofield, who hosted the original nine-season run that ended in 2015, is back but the format’s been revamped and the top prize has quadrupled to £1 million for contestants who can complete deceptively simple tasks in a giant cube. Across the Tasman, comedian Andy Lee will host an Australian version for 10 …

➢➢ TVNZ 2 will strip season three of Junior MasterChef Australia 7.30 Mondays-Wednesdays from January 4 while preceding the January 11 return of Shortland Street will be the special, Dr. Love’s Guide to Shortland Street (TVNZ 2, 7.35 Thursday): the soap’s original “Dr. Love”, Michael Galvin jumps in an ambulance to go on a road trip to meet some of the show’s biggest fans, who discuss all the big moments of the last season and ponder what may be to come in season 2021 …

➢➢ Natural history fans should set their PVRs for two off-peak premieres on Three: Soul of the Elephant (2.05 Saturday), in which renowned wildlife filmmakers Dereck and Beverly Joubert piece together the life and death of two elephant bulls; and Islands in Time (11am Sunday), a series about the islands of Southeast Asia …

➢➢ Duke will screen live women’s and men’s Super Smash Cricket matches on January 2: Northern Spirit vs Otago Sparks (3.30) and Northern Knights vs Otago Volts (7.00) …

➢➢ On or near the red sofa on the New Year’s Eve broadcast of The Graham Norton Show (Three, 8.30) will be Tom Hanks, Emily Blunt, Jamie Dornan, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Nish Kumar, Jessica Chastain and Sophie Ellis-Bextor … 

➢➢ Returning for new episodes will be Paramedics (TVNZ 1, 7.35 Tuesday), Rich House, Poor House (TVNZ 1, 8.35 Tuesday) and George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces Snow Special: Finland (TVNZ 1, 7.35 Thursday) while ending their runs will be Midsomer Murders and Shipping Wars …

➢➢ There will be four network movie premieres in the first week of January: 12 Strong (TVNZ 1, 10.50 Saturday), The Zookeeper’s Wife (TVNZ 1, 7.30 Sunday), Sweet Country (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday) and Home Again (TVNZ 2, 8.50 Tuesday). Other HD movie highlights will include:

• Mirror Mirror (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug (Three, 7.00)
• Se7en (Duke, 8.30 Saturday)
• Made in Dagenham (Maori TV, 8.30)
• Police Academy 2 (TVNZ 2, 8.45 Saturday)
• The Wedding Stalker (Three, 10.10 Saturday)
• Conspiracy Theory (TVNZ 2, 10.25)
• Mechanic Resurrection (TVNZ 2, 12.50am Sunday)
• Keanu (TVNZ 2, 2.30am Sunday)
• A Cinderella Story (TVNZ 2, 9.55am Sunday)
• Contact (TVNZ 2, 11.30am Sunday)
• Batman Returns (TVNZ 2, 2.15 Sunday)
• The Jungle Book (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Sunday)
• The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• The Legend of Tarzan (TVNZ 2, 8.50 Sunday)
• Annabelle (TVNZ 2, 10.50 Sunday)
• Fire Down Below (Prime, 8.30 Monday)
• Angels & Demons (Three, 8.35 Monday)
• Crazy, Stupid, Love (TVNZ 2, 9.05 Monday)
• Vanilla Sky (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• He’s Just Not That Into You (Three, 8.45 Tuesday)
• Masterminds (TVNZ 2, 8.55 Tuesday)
• War of the Worlds (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Wednesday)
• The Dukes Of Hazzard  (Three, 8.35 Wednesday)
• The Lord of the Rings – The Two Towers (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Friday)
• Rise of the Guardians (Maori TV, 7.00 Friday)
• Eagle Eye (Three, 7.30 Friday)
• Another 48 Hours (Duke, 8.30 Friday)
• The Next Three Days (Maori TV, 8.45 Friday)
• The Finest Hours (TVNZ 2, 10.05 Friday).