HD Heads-Up: March 1-7

➢➢ End of the Valley (Whakaata Māori, 9.00 Thursday) is a new half-hour Maori language drama starring Matia Mitai (Vegas), Miriama Smith (The Gone) and Temuera Morrison. The six-part Miro Productions series received up to $2,359,987 in public funding and was shot in 4K. It’s billed as “a fluent new drama series … that navigates land claim negotiations and the struggle between loyalty and survival”. Reads the burb: “When a historical land claim faces opposition, young lawyer Kaea Williams is drawn into a world rich in heritage and mystery, unravelling the secrets of Ngati Kiokio. The past and present collide in unexpected ways” …

➢➢ Also new to Whakaata Māori are the documentaries Ukraine’s Stolen Children (7.30 Sunday) and The World’s Most Amazing Festivals (7.00 Monday). The former investigates the disappearance of thousands of Ukranian children following the Russian invasion (“this calm, convincing film leaves outrage in its wake,” said The Guardian); the latter follows local families as they prepare for historic celebrations of the most colourful traditions and unique rituals …

➢➢ Laid (TVNZ 2, 10.25 Friday) is an eight-part Peacock comedy about a woman’s ex-boyfriends suddenly dropping dead. Rotten Tomatoes said this “breezy showcase for Stephanie Hsu’s considerable comedic chops … racks up a high bodycount of laughs” …

➢➢ It’s being double-billed with Women on the Verge (11.05 Friday), Sharon (Catastrophe) Horgan’s 2018 comedy/drama series about three thirytsomething girlfriends’ sex lives that The Telegraph dubbed “so Sex and the City, it’s almost cliched … [a] warts and all comedy, with a focus on the warts” …

➢➢ Sky Open also launches a themed comedy block with S1 of Funny Woman (9.00 Thursday), an inside-’60s TV comedy/drama that first streamed on Neon, and I Hate Suzie (10.00), a “ruthlessly accurate” showbiz take on fame that’s also done the rounds on Sky. The former charts the rise of a female TV celebrity, the latter the fall of another …

➢➢ Also new to Sky Open is movie spin-off, Let the Right One In (11.00 Friday). It first screened on SoHo two-and-a-half years ago and stars Madison Taylor Baez as a 12-year-old shut-in who’s slowly turning into a vampire: she can only go out at night while her father provides her with the least amount of human blood she needs to survive. “The 10-part Showtime adaptation studiously avoids the V word (vampire) but it does make mischief with the conventions of the undead,” said The Wall Street Journal. “It’s a story about relationships and character. The horror aspects are rendered secondary, which may explain why much of this Let the Right One In is so righteously gruesome when it chooses to be” …

➢➢ Appearing on The Graham Norton Show (Three, 7.30 Thursday) are Pamela Anderson, Stephen Graham, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Sean Hayes, Ross Kemp and Gracie Abrams …

➢➢ Returning for new episodes are:

• The Drawing Board (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Sunday)
• FBI: International (TVNZ 2, 11.40 Sunday)
• Endangered Species Aotearoa (TVNZ 1, 7.30 Monday)
• Cold Case (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Monday)
• Hard Quiz (TVNZ 1, 9.30 Monday)
• Rich Holiday Poor Holiday (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Wednesday) …

➢➢ Ending their runs are:

• Bradley Walsh’s Blankety Blank
• The Jetty
• Rich House Poor House
• The Ride Life
• World’s Most Scenic Railway Journeys
• Bloods
• Hitmen
• Mrs Brown’s Boys
• The Repair Shop
• Rogue Heroes
• Love It or List It: Brilliant Builds …

➢➢ Live or delayed free-to-air sport includes:

• L2D Super Rugby Aupiki: Chiefs Manawa v Matatū (Sky Open, 2.00 Saturday)
• SRP: Hurricanes v Blues (Sky Open, 7.00 Saturday) 
• FA Cup Quarter-Final (Sky Open, 10am Sunday)
• L2D NRL Canberra Raiders v NZ Warriors (Sky Open, 12.30 Sunday)
• Cricket: White Ferns v Sri Lanka (Duke, 1.30 Tuesday)
• Cricket: White Ferns v Sri Lanka (Duke, 10.30am Friday)
• SRA: Blues v Chiefs Manawa (Sky Open, 5.00 Friday)
• NRL: Wests Tigers v Knights Round 1 (Sky Open, 7.30 Friday) …

➢➢ In a FTA first for the fast-tracking of a cinema release, acclaimed Demi Moore horror The Substance (TVNZ 2, 12.40am Monday) premieres 12 hours ahead of it possibly winning one of five Oscars, including best picture and best actress. Other HD coming attractions include:

• A Dog’s Way Home (Three 6.30 Saturday)
• The Legend of Longwood (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
• Charlie’s Angels 2 – Full Throttle (TVNZ 2, 8.00 Saturday)
• The Rhythm Section (Three 8.30 Saturday)
• Push (Whakaata Māori, 8.40 Saturday)
• Made of Honor (TVNZ 2, 11.05 Saturday)
• The Stand In (TVNZ 2, 1.10am Sunday)
• Happy Feet 2 (TVNZ 2, 2.40 Sunday)
• Godzilla – King of the Monsters (TVNZ 2, 8.10 Sunday)
• Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• Unlocked (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• The Father (Whakaata Māori, 8.40 Sunday)
• Murundak Songs of Freedom (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday)
• Men in Black III (Sky Open, 8.30 Monday)
• Anger Management (Duke, 9.30 Monday)
• Get Carter (Duke, 9.00 Tuesday)
• Gothika (Duke, 10.55 Tuesday)
• Hive (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Wednesday)
• The Boss Baby (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Friday).