HD Heads-Up: July 15-21

➢➢ The week’s most promising premieres are being buried in fringe primetime or off-peak slots, including one of the better reviewed series on Peacock, Killing It, which screens 10.00 Mondays on Duke from July 17. Billed as an offbeat rags-to-riches comedy about class and capitalism, it stars Craig Robinson (The Office, Brooklyn Nine-Nine) as a man who will do anything to make his American dream come true – even if that happens to be a state sponsored python hunt …

➢➢ Another late-night gem promises to be Seven Days on Mars (TVNZ 1, 12.30am Tuesday). In this one-off documentary, Professor Brian Cox joins the team at NASA to find out if there really is life on Mars. Said The Guardian: “It’s the kind of programme that, long before it gets to the presence or otherwise of little green men/chemical traces of cyanobacteria in three-billion-year-old stromatolites, has you periodically open-mouthed at the staggering feats of humanity on display” …

➢➢ A Kind of Spark (TVNZ 2, 4.30 weekdays) is a 10-part BBC series that screens weekdays. It’s about an autistic teenager who wants a memorial to a 16th century woman who was accused of witchcraft for being outspoken and different to be installed in her home town. Digital Spy dubbed it “groundbreaking in its portrayal of autistic women” …

➢➢ Grand Designs (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Sunday) returns for the longest revisit in the show’s history, to see if Sue and Martin’s 1999 renovation of two ancient Devon barns has finally come to fruition …

➢➢ The same week as its live coverage of the men’s and women’s Wimbledon finals, Prime airs in primetime three FIFA Women’s World Cup matches:  New Zealand vs Norway (6.00 Thursday), Spain vs Costa Rica (7.20 Friday) and Australia vs Republic Of Ireland (10.00 Friday), Meanwhile, live Ashes coverage continues on Duke …

➢➢ Returning for new episodes are Paramedics (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Tuesday), Live at The Apollo (TVNZ 2, 9.35 Wednesday), Mura O Te Ahi (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Thursday) and The Wheel With Michael McIntyre (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Friday) while ending their runs are The Great British Bake Off, The Great British Bake Off: Extra Slice, Rescue: Extreme Medics, Redemption, Couples Therapy NZ  and Angel City …

➢➢ HD coming attractions for the week starting July 15 include:

• Abominable (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
• The Inland Road (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Saturday)
• Love Sarah (Eden, 8.35 Saturday)
• Poppy (TVNZ 1, 8.45 Saturday)
• We’re The Millers (TVNZ 2, 8.50 Saturday)
• Fear (Duke, 9.30 Saturday)
• Daffodils (TVNZ 1, 10.35 Saturday)
• Spanglish (TVNZ 2, 10.55 Saturday)
• Mahana (TVNZ 1, 12.25am Sunday)
• Human Traces (TVNZ 2, 1.20am Sunday)
• Justice Society: World War II (TVNZ 2, 2.50am Sunday)
• Penguins of Madagascar (TVNZ 2, 4.15 Sunday)
• The Iron Lady (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• Skies of Lebanon (Whakaata Māori, 8.25 Sunday)
• Shazam! (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Sunday)
• 10,000 BC (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• Freaky (TVNZ 2, 11.55 Sunday)
• Ocean’s 8 (Prime, 8.30 Monday)
• Amazing Grace (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday)
• 2 Guns (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• About Elly (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Wednesday)
• Contact (Three, 7.30 Friday).