HD Heads-Up: June 28-July 4

➢➢ Sky Open is spring cleaning early, with a scheduling shake-up that includes a new nightly game show, returning favourites and three series premieres, including one local. Pointless Australia screens 6.30 weeknights from Monday, ahead of the S13 debut of Traffic Cops (7.30 Tuesday), the launch of License to Drive (7.30 Wednesday) and the S11 bow of George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (which previously aired on Three and TVNZ 1). Also new are SOS: Extreme Rescues (8.00 Wednesday) and 7/7: The London Bombings (8.30 Wednesday) …

➢➢ License to Drive is a Sky Originals series about the challenges disabled people face in learning to drive, Pointless contestants aim to score the fewest points possible by guessing the least popular answers given in polls on various subjects, and SOS: Extreme Rescues is a 2020 series that features rescue footage captured by the rescuers themselves …

➢➢ But the pick of the premieres is the four-part BBC docuseries 7/7: The London Bombings, which examines the events of the 2005 Tube attacks and the aftermath. “However, the series doesn’t stop on 7 July,” The Guardian said. “A story with apparently clear moral outlines soon becomes more complex. The unfolding events were deeply political, with implications that continue to resonate.” The Telegraph called the “harrowing series” a “testament to the dedication of the officers involved” and The Times “a potent reminder of a terrifying time for London” …

➢➢ TVNZ 2’s newest dating show hybrid is Stranded on Honeymoon Island (7.00 Sunday/7.30 Monday), which it dubs “Survivor meets Married at First Sight“: 12 unlucky-in-love couples are stranded in the South Pacific for 21 days with nothing but their wedding attire. Can their fledgling relationships survive their survival ordeal? This is the Australian version of a series that’s already been broadcast in Belgium, Germany, Portugal, Netherlands, the Czech Republic and the UK …

➢➢ Also new to TVNZ 2 is St. Denis Medical (6.30 Thursday), a mockumentary from the creator of Superstore about an understaffed hospital. It’s already streaming on TVNZ+. “The Office meets Scrubs with a dash of St Elsewhere and Parks and Recreation, while unfortunately not being as good as any of them,” quipped The Telegraph but most other critics thought it a cut above the rest …

➢➢ Aussie prank show The Inspired Unemployed (Impractical) Jokers (Three, 8.30 Thursday) is the new centrepiece of the network’s Thursday comedy block. “Now in its third season, there’s been a slow but steady trickle of complaints around the series, as some pranks have left the unwilling participants less than impressed,” ScreenHub reports. “For a show built around the idea of four mates having a laugh at each other’s expense, it’s not a great look. Awkwardness is built into the premise of a prank show, but this series’ big strength has been that the joke is usually on the cast, not the bystanders” …

➢➢ Making its long-overdue free-to-air debut is atmospheric modern western Longmire (Three, 9.25 Tuesday), which used to stream in 4K on Netflix, while changing time slots is Three’s Doom Patrol (to 11.55 Saturday). Replacing it 11.00 Friday is Lady of the Dunes, an Oxygen true-crime docuseries about a 50-year investigation into the identification of a corpse found in remote sand dunes in Provincetown, Massachusetts and the pursuit of her killer …

➢➢ Back for S2 is kooky Columbo-like procedural Elsbeth (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Tuesday) while ending their runs are:

• Britain’s Got Talent
• The Great British Sewing Bee
• Tom Kerridge Cooks Britain
• Suits L.A.
• Diary of a Junior Doctor
• City on a Hill
• The Hunting Party …

➢➢ Live/delayed FTA sport includes:

• ANZ Premiership Netball: Southern Steel v Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic (TVNZ 2, 4.00 Saturday)
• NRL: Broncos v Warriors R17 (Sky Open, 9.00 Saturday)
• Rugby: Japan XV v Maori All Blacks (Sky Open, 11.00 Saturday)
• UFC 317 Prelims (Sky Open, midday Sunday)
• NRL: Bulldogs v Broncos R18 (Sky Open, 9.30 Friday) ..

➢➢ Coming attractions in HD include:

• Batman (Three, 6.30 Saturday)
• Coco Reo Māori (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
• Get a Job (Three, 9.05 Saturday)
• The Dark Horse (Whakaata Māori, 9.15 Saturday)
• Morbius (TVNZ 2, 9.35 Saturday)
• Blacklight (TVNZ 2, 1.20am Sunday)
• Home (TVNZ 2, 3.15 Sunday)
• The Lego Batman Movie (Three, 7.00 Sunday)
• The Butler (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• Oblivion (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Sunday)
  
• May December (Whakaata Māori, 8.45 Sunday)
• Superman Returns (Three, 9.05 Sunday)
• I Know What You Did Last Summer (TVNZ 2, 12.55am Monday)
• Ride Along 2 (Duke, 9.25 Monday)
• Torque (Duke, 9.25 Tuesday)
• The Final Destination (Duke, 11.20 Tuesday)
• Ratchet & Clank (Whakaata Māori, 7.30 Friday)
• Six Minutes to Midnight (Whakaata Māori, 9.00 Friday).