HD Heads-Up: July 18-24

July 9, 2026 0 Comments

➢➢ The latest eat-your-way-to-better-health docuseries targets ultra-processed foods. Channel 4’s What Not to Eat (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Monday) features a scientist and doctor rummaging through household pantries and freezers to expose how UFPs are contributing to obesity and can be replaced with nutritious substitutes. It opens with how strawberry milkshakes are made and meets a family addicted to instant noodles. Trade publication The Grocer thought it “pedestrian” and “blander than a bow of quinoa” …

➢➢ But co-presenter Professor Tim Spector reckons it’s a “real eye-opener“. Per The Telegraph: “The four families Prof Spector worked with were eating very high quantities of these foods and it was having a severe impact on their health. ‘They were nearly all overweight,’ he says. ‘Some had diabetes, many had heart disease and high blood pressure, everyone complained of low energy and fatigue” …

➢➢ Do You Have ADHD? (Three, 7.30 Tuesday) is another Channel 4 documentary, about a condition that afflicts an estimated 2.6 million people in the UK. It breaks down what ADHD looks like in the brain, explores the science behind the traits, and sheds light on the years-long backlog for formal medical assessments in the UK. The Irish Times praised it for accurately translating the internal experience of ADHD (like a “swarm of bees”, one participant says) …

➢➢ Even though the Britain’s Got Talent final screened two months ago in the UK, TVNZ 1 is treating the countdown as if it was hot off the satellite. It’s screening two semi-final broadcasts within the same week (7.00 Saturday, 7.30 Friday) ahead of the two-hour final on July 25. That may be good news for followers but it means fans of The Repair Shop will miss out on their Friday night fix …

➢➢ TVNZ 2 goes on a reality binge with the return of Fear Factor: 48 Hours of Fear (8.40 Monday-Tuesday), The Summit UK (8.35 Thursday), Loaded in Paradise (11.45 Friday) and Married at First Sight spin-off Love Triangle UK (12.45am Saturday), which was axed after two seasons. Said The Guardian of The Summit: “The premise is simple: an unlikable group of strangers try to climb one of the New Zealand Alps, despite being vastly unsuited to it. I despise the show, the contestants, and myself for watching it.” Per AI: “Despite a few twists and an entertaining endgame, the broader consensus was that the series failed to hit the heights of its competitors, which contributed to ITV axing the show shortly after its first season wrapped” …

➢➢ As for Loaded in Paradise, The Telegraph likened this “uneasy blend of Hunted and Love Island” to “being stuck on a package holiday with your worst neighbours” while The Standard said, “Watching people think of stupid ways to spend money in a cost-of-living crisis is not fun” …

➢➢ True-crime fans can binge on Perfect Wife (TVNZ2, 2.10am Monday), a three-part Hulu docuseries about a devoted mother who apparently faked her own kidnapping and torture, and Family Massacre (TVNZ 2, overnight weekdays), each episode of which investigates household slayings …

➢➢ New to Sky Open are series that previously aired on Three (Hoff Roading, 8.30 Thursday) and Eden (Ridley, 10.40 Sunday) while ending their runs are:

Grand Designs UK
Ben Fogle’s Chinese Adventure
Missed Call
The Hunting Party
FBI
Dear Life
Hell’s Kitchen …

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

Rugby: South Island Secondary Schools — St Bede’s College v Nelson College (Duke, midday Saturday)
SRA: Matatu v Blues (Sky Open, 2.30 Saturday)
NRL: Raiders v Rabbitohs (Sky Open, 7.00 Saturday)
Rugby: All Blacks v Ireland (Three, 9.00 Saturday)
NRL: Warriors v Dragons (Sky Open, 9.00 Saturday)
NRLW: Warriors v Cowboys (Sky Open, 11.00 Saturday)
FIFA World Cup 2026 Final (TVNZ 1, 6am Sunday)
UFC Fight Night: Dricus du Plessis v Kamaru Usman (Duke, 9am Sunday)
Sal’s NBL: Tuatara v Rams(Sky Open, 3.00 Sunday)
NRLW : Eels v Warriors (Sky Open, 11.40 Sunday)
Glasgow Commonwealth Games (Three, 7.30 Friday)
NRL Delayed: Rabbitohs v Storm (Sky Open, 11.00 Friday) …