HD Heads-Up: July 25-31

➢➢ Period drama fans should relish the racy reboot of ’80s classic A Woman of Substance, which will screen 8.30 Sundays on TVNZ 1 in the kind of plum slot that would have been reserved for the original. It stars Vera’s Brenda Blethyn and Jessica Reynolds (House of Guinness) as Emma Hart, who rises from maid to business mogul over the course of the 20th century. Blethyn bookends each episode as the older Emma while Reynolds plays the character in her younger years. “Full of coiled intensity, Reynolds ensures that tiny, hardworking Emma is always the most interesting person in the room,” The Independent said. “Blethyn, leaning into the camp elements of her role as the septuagenarian version of Emma, is just as magnetic.” Said The Telegraph of the Rivals-style remake: “Instead of doing it with postmodern irony they’ve turned out a loving homage to Barbara Taylor Bradford and her rags-to-riches tale, albeit with a raging libido. Even when it’s terrible, which is at regular intervals, it’s irresistible” …

➢➢ There’s more nostalgic escapism in season two of The Hardacres (TVNZ 1, 8.25 Thursday). TVNZ 1 aired S1 as summer fodder but clearly has higher hopes for S2 after it broke out as a social media sensation in the UK. Said The Guardian: “This attempt to create a class-hopping version of Downton Abbey is generic but still very likable. As the second season begins, the working-class Hardacres are wondering how much longer they’ll be able to afford their country pile as a recession hits their business” …

➢➢ TVNZ 2 recruits Sheriff Country (8.40 Monday) as the lead-in to S4 of Fire Country (9.40 Monday). The spin-off stars Lorena Baccarin (Deadpool, V, Homeland) as a small-town sheriff who’s the stepsister of Fire Country’s Sharon Leone. Critics were lukewarm — “lacks a sense of pace” (The Age), “a generically conceived, limply executed take on small-town law enforcement” (Variety) — but it lit up the ratings enough to be renewed within two months of its debut. The back-to-back scheduling mirrors how the two series air on CBS …

➢➢ Also new are two for foodies: Eat Smart: Secrets of the Glucose Goddess (TVNZ 1, 10.55am Saturday) and The Heat (TVNZ 2, 10.55 Friday). In the former, biochemist Jessie Inchauspé reveals simple “hacks” to flatten blood sugar curves. The Times dubbed the latter “a fiery reality TV show” about young, hot, single chefs who land summer jobs for a Michelin chef in a new Barcelona restaurant. “There’s snogging after service, flirting across the pass and flying sparks in the kitchen — quite literally. Clear your diary, your new television obsession is about to begin” …

➢➢ Returning for new seasons are:

• World’s Most Scenic River Journeys S2 (Sky Open, 8.30 Sunday )
• Love Island USA (Duke, weeknights from 9.30 Monday)
• Love It or List It NZ (TorontoS2) (TVNZ 2, 8.40 Tuesday) …

➢➢ Also new is Tribe With Bruce Parry (TVNZ 1, 10.55 Friday), which has been streaming on TVNZ+, while re-running from the beginning, as a curtain-raiser to next year’s premiere of S7, is Line of Duty (TVNZ 1, weeknights from 11.25 Wednesday) …

➢➢ Ending their runs are:

• Britain’s Got Talent
• The Walsh Sisters
• Paranormal Caught on Camera 
• Citadel
• Off the Grid With Colin and Manu
• The Boy That Never Was
• The Tourist
• Extraordinary Extensions
• Great Estates From Above
• Forensics: Murder Scene
• Love Island UK
• Jimmy Carr’s Am I the A**Hole?
• Outback Truckers …

➢➢ Live/delayed free-to-air spot includes Three’s daily coverage of the Commonwealth Games and:

• Rugby: South Island Secondary Schools — Christ’s College v Shirley Boys’ High School (Duke, midday Saturday)
• SRA Final: Matatu v Blues (Sky Open, 3.45 Saturday)
• NRL: Bulldogs v Warriors (Sky Open, 7.00 Saturday)
• UFC Fight Night: Magomed Ankalaev v Khalil Rountree Jnr (TVNZ 2, 1am Sunday)
• Rugby: The Classics v Poverty Bay Wekas (TVNZ 1, 2.30 Sunday)
• Football: Tottenham Hotspurs v Auckland FC (TVNZ 2, 2.30 Sunday)
• Sal’s NBL: Tuatara v Airs (Sky Open, 3.00 Sunday)
• NRLW: Eels v Warriors (Sky Open, 11.40 Friday) …

➢➢ HD coming attractions include:

• Mulan: Princess Warrior (Whakaata Māori, 7.30 Saturday)
• Jurassic World (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Universal Soldier (Whakaata Māori, 9.10 Saturday)
• Adrift (TVNZ 2, 9.20 Saturday)
• Heat (Sky Open, 10.00 Saturday)
• Strays (TVNZ 2, 11.15 Saturday)
• Spider-Man: No Way Home (TVNZ 2, 9.00 Sunday)
• My Neighbour Adolf (Whakaata Māori, 8.45 Sunday)
• Daredevil (Sky Open, 8.30 Monday)
• Mana Moana, Mana Tangata (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday)
• Pushing Tin (Sky Open, 7.30 Friday)
• Annie (Whakaata Māori, 7.35 Friday)
• 7 Days (Whakaata Māori, 9.30 Friday).