HD Heads-Up: June 12 – 18

➢➢ Prime is fast-tracking Time, an acclaimed Jimmy McGovern prison drama starring Sean Bean and Stephen Graham, to screen 9.30 on Saturdays from June 12. About the symbiotic relationship between an inmate, Bean’s former’s teacher, and a prison guard, it was hailed as “pulverising” by The Times and “essential viewing” by the Evening Standard: “It’s bleak stuff, and there’s a sense of grim, almost tragic inevitability to many of the stories that unfurl over the course of three episodes.” Kudos to Sky/Prime for bravely scheduling this series in primetime when McGovern’s powerful, brilliant but difficult dramas typically end up off-peak or on streaming services like Acorn TV …

➢➢ Can The Brokenwood Mysteries succeed on TVNZ 1 where Line of Duty failed? The second crime drama series the broadcaster has picked up from a rival broadcaster will screen 8.30 Sundays from June 13 and should deliver the Midsomer Murders-style whodunit the mass audience that eluded it on Prime given, unlike Duty, it’s local and straightforward …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 will bring back The Bay the same week. Season two will anchor Saturday nights at 8.35. Demoted cop Lisa Armstrong’s investigation of a solicitor’s murder on his doorstep, which his 10-year-old son witnesses, is complicated by her ex-husband’s return. Radio Times summed it up as “a perfectly solid ITV crime drama – and that’s no bad thing” …

➢➢ The Bay will precede the belated free-to-air premiere of Gordon Ramsay Uncharted, in which the foul-mouthed chef’s worldwide search for culinary and cultural prowess includes a stopover in the South Island, where he learns about Maori tucker with chef Monique Fiso. Stuff called it a “very watchable global food adventure that sits somewhere between Bear Grylls’ Man vs Wild, and Karl Pilkington’s An Idiot Abroad” when it screened two years ago on National Geographic. Another Saturday newcomer, Dream Kitchens And Bathrooms, will replace Jamie’s Easy Meals for Every Day at 7.00; the latter will shift to 8.05 …

➢➢ Three will premiere Patrick Gower: On P the same week it launches a new-look Thursday night line-up that includes a new documentary series about drug cartels. Gower’s methamphetamine follow-up up to his On Weed hit will pre-empt Tuesday staple NCIS at 8.30 on June 15 while the six-part Cocaine Trade Exposed: The Invisibles will air 9.30 Thursdays. It screened on SBS in Australia and is billed as “the true story of the rise of a shadowy new generation of cocaine kingpins and of law enforcement’s desperate efforts to bring them down” …

➢➢ Cocaine Trade Exposed will launch off the back of new seasons of Lego Masters USA (7.30) and Demolition Down Under (8.30) as part of an overhaul that replaces a light-ent block dominated by 7 Days and The Graham Norton Show. Both were big Friday night hits but could never rate as highly on Thursdays. Following Friday’s movie on June 18 will be another documentary premiere, GameStop: The Wall Street Hijack, which was commissioned for the Discovery+ streaming service. It explores how a group of young day traders caused the stock price of a struggling video game retailer to skyrocket in a play that shook the world’s financial markets …

➢➢ Amazing Grace (TVNZ 2, 8.40 Tuesdays from June 15) is a new Australian drama series about a Sydney midwife with her own unresolved mother issues. Kate Jenkinson and Sigrid Thornton star. “It doesn’t look for the easy laugh to defuse all this drama. But it isn’t unduly heavy either,” the Sydney Morning Herald said …

➢➢ Russell Howard Stands Up to the World (TVNZ 2, 8.40 Wednesdays from June 16) follows the comedian on his tour of NZ, Denmark and Germany, where among the locals he meets is Sam Neill. “He’s such a lovely bloke,” Howard told NME. “All Kiwis are like that, they’re so, so welcoming. We were meant to film for an hour and we ended up staying the whole day and getting drunk with him” …

➢➢ Returning for new seasons will be The Block NZ (Three, 7.30 Monday-Wednesday from June 14), It’s Your Fault I’m Fat (TVNZ 1, 9.30 Mondays from June 14) and Traffic Cops (Prime, 7.30 Wednesdays from June 16), while being relegated to off-peak are The Great British Sewing Bee (TVNZ 1, midday Saturdays from June 12), RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (TVNZ 2, 1.50am Mondays from June 14) and a 2017 Andy and Ben series that hasn’t screened here, Andy and Ben Eat Australia (Three, 3.25 Saturdays from June 12) …

➢➢ Ending their runs will be The Masked Singer NZ, MacGyver, Eat Well for Less? NZ, Queen Sugar, Your Garden Made Perfect and Police Code Zero …

➢➢ Two NZ movies will have their network premieres in the week starting June 12: This Town (Three, 8.50 Saturday) and SIX60: Till the Lights Go Out (TVNZ 2, 8.40 Monday). Other HD coming attractions will include:

• Storks (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Monsters vs. Aliens (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Hotel for Dogs (Maori TV, 7.00 Saturday)
• The Hills Have Eyes 2 (Duke, 8.30 Saturday)
• No (Maori TV, 8.50 Saturday)
• What to Expect When You’re Expecting (TVNZ 2, 9.45 Saturday)
• BlacKkKlansman (Three, 10.50 Saturday)
• The Disaster Artist (TVNZ 2 midnight Saturday)
• Everybody Wants Some! (TVNZ 2, 2am Sunday)
• The Mummy (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• Wonder Woman (TVNZ 2, 8.45 Sunday)
• A Little Chaos (Maori TV, 8.50 Sunday)
• Demonic (TVNZ 2, 11.20 Sunday)
• Welcome to the Jungle (Prime, 8.30 Monday)
• Merata (Maori TV, 8.30 Monday)
• The Fighter (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• I-Spy (Prime, 7.30 Thursday)
• Fast & Furious (Three, 7.30 Friday)
• Be Kind Rewind (Duke, 8.30 Friday).