HD Heads-Up: July 27-August 2

➢➢ Three refreshes its mid-evening line-up with three drama premieres, although one, outback noir Mystery Road (9.00 Wednesday), originally screened on Sky. Blue Lights (9.05 Monday) is another thriller, about three police recruits in Belfast who, a year into the job, face a drug-fuelled crime wave that leads them into a loyalist estate. The reviews were red hot and already a second season can be streamed on ThreeNow …

➢➢ Love Me (Three, 9.00 Tuesday) is a 2021 Australian drama series, starring Hugo Weaving and Kiwi Sarah Peirse, about a grieving widower and his adult son and daughter navigating relationships. The Guardian thought it “gentle, polished and cinematic … buoyed by thoughtfully developed characters and relatable circumstances”. Aussie streamer Binge launched a second season in 2023 …

➢➢ Payback (Eden, 9.30 Wednesday) is a Jed (Line of Duty) Mercurio thriller about a mother-of-two whose life is upended when her accountant husband turns out to have links to a notorious gangster and she has to tread a fine line between the police investigating her husband’s assault and Edinburgh’s underworld. It stars After the Party’s Peter Mullan and has been streaming on ThreeNow since November …

➢➢ Heavyweight With Dave Letele: Patched (TVNZ 2, 8.45 Thursday): In this “sometimes uncomfortable and confronting” gang culture special, community advocate and “Local Hero of the Year” Dave Letele reflects on his own experience with gangs while holding “raw and honest” conversations with current and ex members …

➢➢ Banged Up (TVNZ 1, 8.35 Monday) puts seven celebrities behind bars, in a recently decommissioned jail, to see how they fare with real-life inmates — and worse. The Times called it “a TV experiment that for once truly earns the overworked telly-exec cliché of ‘bold television’ … this immersive experience feels alarmingly authentic” …

➢➢ Uncanny (Duke, 9.25 Wednesday) is a new series about paranormal encounters. “Danny Robins’ TV adaptation of his paranormal investigations podcast promises analytical rigour and balance,” The Guardian said. “But it’s deeply theatrical” …

➢➢ Starting new seasons are Animal Control (TVNZ 2, 1.00 Saturday), McDonald & Dodds (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Sunday) and NCIS: Hawaii (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Monday) while ending their runs are Sneakerholics, Kitchen Commando and Last Woman on the Planet …

➢➢ HD coming attractions include:

• The Famous Five: The Eye of the Sunrise (Three, 6.30 Saturday)
• Big Daddy (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Tama Kaiatea (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
• Cats (TVNZ 1, 8.05 Saturday)
• Warm Bodies (Eden, 8.30 Saturday)
• Language Lessons (Whakaata Māori, 8.35 Saturday)
• Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason (TVNZ 2, 8.45 Saturday)
• The High Note (TVNZ 2, 10.45 Saturday)
• Psych 2: Lassie Come Home (TVNZ 2, 12.50am Sunday)
• The Croods: A New Age (TVNZ 2, 3.35 Sunday)
• The Boss (TVNZ 2, 8.15 Sunday)
• Hacksaw Ridge (Three, 8.30 Saturday)
• Creation (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• The Mystery of Henri Pick (Whakaata Māori, 8.40 Sunday)
• Escape Room: Tournament of Champions (TVNZ 2, 10.55 Sunday)
• The Tuxedo (Duke, 8.30 Monday)
• Eternal Spring: The Heist of Chinas Airwaves (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday)
• Kill Bill: Volume 1 (Duke, 10.15 Monday)
• The Punisher (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• Buoyancy (Whakaata Māori, 8.35 Wednesday)
• The Equalizer (TVNZ 2, 9.20 Friday).