HD Heads-Up: June 7-13
May 29, 2025 
6 Comments
➢➢ TVNZ 1 is stripping the stalker thriller Fear over three consecutive nights, starting 8.30 Sunday. The Guardian said Line of Duty star Martin Compston “plays against type in this horribly realistic thriller about a family stalked by their neighbour. The hell they face will claw unbearably at you.”
Echoed The Herald in Scotland: “What made this drama a cut above was its determination to go beyond the cliches. This inventiveness, the quality of the production … made for a belter of a thriller.” But The Telegraph dismissed it as “a rather half-baked family drama which centres, as far as it centres on anything, on what it means to be a man”.
And the IMDb appraisal was: “Many appreciated the tension, suspense, and realistic dialogue, noting the series’ ability to create dread and anxiety. However, others found the plot predictable, filled with plot holes, and lacking originality. The pacing was criticised as slow, and some felt the story was unremarkable and unengaging” …
➢➢ And premiering late-night, two years after its original UK transmission, is the “breathtaking” Channel 4 docuseries, Evacuation (TVNZ 1, 12.10am Tuesday).
It’s billed as “the inside story of the perilous British campaign to evacuate Kabul, revealing for the first time the truth about the unfolding minute-by-minute drama of Britain’s biggest airlift since World War II”.
The Times dubbed it a “gut-wrenching … gripping blow-by-blow account” while The New Statesman urged: “Give this revelatory series your time. Let it rip open your heart.”
The (London Evening) Standard thought it “well-paced … As a pure record of events, it excels – but what it fails to do is place the fall of Kabul in any historical and geopolitical context” …
➢➢ The Casketeers: Life and Death Around the Globe (TVNZ 1, 7.30 Wednesday) is an hour-long spin-off from the six-feet-under hit that opens with husband-and-wife funeral directors Francis and Kaiora Tipene discovering the beauty and diversity of Tongan culture as well as family connections before moving on to Vanuatu, Canada and India in subsequent episodes …
➢➢ Former Block favourites Jess Eva and Norm Hogan helm Budget Battlers (Three, 7.30 Monday), in which four houses, on the tightest budget yet for an Australian makeover show, are transformed in four weeks ..
➢➢ Treaty Road (Whakaata Māori, 7.30 Sunday) is a six-part docuseries about two Canadian friends retracing the steps of their ancestors along Treaty Road, where they meet the descendants of chiefs, elders and people with lineage connected to someone present at the signing of the numbered treaties …
➢➢ Returning for new seasons are A New Zealand Food Story With Ben Bayly S4 (TVNZ 1. 7.00 Saturday) and Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby S6 (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Wednesday) while ending their runs are:
- The Feud
- Bel Air
- Selling Houses Australia
- Hell’s Kitchen …
➢➢ Live/delayed free-to-air sport includes:
- ANZ Premiership Netball: Southern Steel v Mainland Tactix (TVNZ 2, 4.00 Saturday)
- DHL Super Rugby Pacific (Sky Open, 9.00 Saturday)
- NRL: Sharks v Warriors R14 (Sky Open, 11.00 Saturday)
- UFC 316 Prelims (Sky Open, midday Sunday)
- Sal’s NBL: Auckland Tuatara v Tauranga Whai (Sky Open, 3.00 Sunday)
- SailGP New York (Three, 4.30 Sunday & Monday)
- NRL: Titans v Sea Eagles R15 (Sky Open, 9.30 Friday) …
➢➢ HD coming attractions include:
- Escape From Planet Earth (Three, 6.30 Saturday)
- The Ogglies (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
- Mortal Engines (TVNZ 2, 8.05 Saturday)
- Open Water (Three, 8.15 Saturday)
- Eagle vs Shark (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Saturday)
- Arctic (TVNZ 2, 12.15am Sunday)
- French Exit (TVNZ 2, 1.55am Sunday)
- Combat Wombat (TVNZ 2, 3.20 Sunday)
- Red, White & Brass (Three, 7.00 Sunday)
- Champions (TVNZ 2, 8.05 Sunday)
- Awake (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
- Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom (Whakaata Māori, 8.45 Sunday)
- 300 (Three, 8.50 Sunday)
- Halloween Ends (TVNZ 2, 12.05am Monday)
- Back to the Future II (Duke, 9.30 Monday)
- The Expendables (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
- Decision to Leave (Whakaata Māori, 8.30Wednesday).
This is purely speculation, Philip, but do you think Stuff will launch a morning news show on Three to compete with the NZ Herald’s “Herald Now” breakfast show. I can see Stuff having the advantage of an actual TV channel along with YouTube streaming. — Leo.
If only you were in charge, Leo … I love your thinking but don’t see it happening with media resourcing so tight in this market. Yes, Stuff has the contract for the 3 News broadcast but mounting a multi-hour morning edition, despite the synergies, would be much costlier and not one I would think WBD NZ would be keen to commit to given its financial challenges. At least it’s great to see NZH give it a go in the wake of the year’s daytime and late-night news casualties.
Fair point, Philip, I was hoping Stuff could strike a deal and take all the advertising revenue from the morning slot just like Newshub’s old deal with News First on Sky Open in exchange for a morning news broadcast. — Leo.
Off topic but I see BritBox is adding three streaming channels to its Australian service, will BritBox finally launch here or is the complicated New Zealand rights still an ongoing issue Philip? — Leo.
I’m afraid you’ve answered your own question, Leo. The deals for UK content in this market are spread across so many channels I can’t see how it would benefit BBC/ITV to set up its own streaming service in a territory this tiny and already saturated with streaming options. An example of how tangled and baffling rights can get is 2013-14 period drama The Village. It’s never aired on free-to-air TV here but at last is available on Prime Video … except you can only stream S1. Despite the age of the series, Prime Video can’t access the rights to S2 because, ironically, it’s exclusive to BritBox Australia. So even though there’s not a BritBox NZ, Kiwis still can’t see S2 here. Go figure.
I knew that would be the case but you have to wonder why it wouldn’t release The Village season 2 in NZ. Surely they can relicense it elsewhere. I had some hope it would launch here just like minor streaming platform HayU. I guess TVNZ may want to tie up a deal to shore up its own streaming platform. — Leo.