HD Heads-Up: May 10

➢  TVNZ 1 will premiere a documentary about Britain’s most prolific serial killer, Harold Shipman, only weeks after it aired in Britain. Doctor Death (May 20, 9.00) features previously unseen footage, letters and testimonies about the unmasking of Shipman 20 years ago. The Telegraph thought there were too many holes in the doco to excuse: “Two decades on it seems inadequate to simply pick over these terrible crimes without giving any indication of what might have been behind them and what has been done to prevent such a thing occurring again.” But The Times called it “a gripping recap of what an arrogant shit Shipman was, turning his back during police interviews and shutting his eyes childishly when asked to look at photos, although many of his patients thought he was marvellous, despite a flip bedside manner” …

➢ TVNZ 2 has ditched Friday night newcomer One Night With My Ex and is rejigging the rest of the schedule to accommodate another re-run of The Big Bang Theory at 8.30. Taskmaster will shift to 9.00 while the repeat of Thursday’s First Dates NZ will move forward 30 minutes to 10.00. Oddly, the peak-hour TBBT re-runs open with ep 12 of season two tomorrow but then jump to S9 from May 18 (from ep 2) …

➢ The revamp is in response to woeful ratings, with TVNZ 2 programmers basing their overhaul on One Night With My Ex averaging only 1.0% of 18-49 year-olds and 18-39s, and Taskmaster 2.1% of the same demos — which was half the viewership of lead-in The New Legends of Monkey …

➢ TVNZ 1 and Three will go head-to-head with HD coverage of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on May 19. TVNZ 1 will precede its 9.05 live transmission with Megan Markle: The First 100 Days and An Invitation to a Royal Wedding, which goes behind the scenes of the event. Three’s live coverage will air from 7.00, pre-empting American Idol for the night …

➢ There also will be live coverage on Sky’s UK TV but it will be in SD — signalling the gulf between Sky TV in the UK and NZ when the former will be transmitting the Royal Wedding in not just HD but also 4K! What’s more, it’s offering subscribers the chance to buy a budget LG 4K TV for half price …

➢ Prime’s contribution to the royal nuptials will be The Royal Wedding Live With Cord and Tish! (9.30, Sunday), in which Will Ferrell and Molly Shannon play news anchors Cord Hosenbeck and Tish Cattigan …

➢ Coming and goings: The Sixties premieres on May 22 (Prime, 8.30), the final season of Scandal screens Mondays and Tuesdays from May  21 (TVNZ 2, post-11.30) and George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces returns on May 24 (TVNZ 1, 8.30) while ending their runs that week are The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, Russia With Simon Reeve, Clique, Ross Kemp’s Britain and Best of Top Gear…

➢ Emilia Fox, Johnny Vegas, Stephen Mangan and singer Jess Glynne will guest on tomorrow’s The Graham Norton Show (Three, 8.00) while on tomorrow’s 7 Days (Three, 9.00) will be Alice Snedden, Ben Hurley, Andrew Maxwell and Chris Parker …

➢ Appearing this week and next on Prime’s The Tonight Show With Stephen Colbert: Gayle King and Anna Wintour (10.30 tonight); Annette Bening, Wyatt Cenac and Daniel Boulud (10.30 tomorrow); and Mayim Bialik, Melissa McCarthy and Leon Bridges (12.05am Tuesday) …

➢ Duke is replacing its May 18 movie, Resident Evil: Retribution, with Bad Company…

➢ Network movie premieres for the week starting May 19 include Sunday night blockbusters Captain America: Civil War (TVNZ 2, 8.30) and Spectre (Three, 8.30). Among the week’s other coming attractions in HD:

• James and the Giant Peach (TVNZ 2, 5.30 Saturday)
• The Spiderwick Chronicles (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Ocean’s Eleven (TVNZ 2, 9.00 Saturday)
• Midnight in Paris (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday)
• Scream 3 (TVNZ 2, midnight Sunday)
• Gangs of New York (Duke, 9.30 Monday)
• Showdown in Little Tokyo (Prime, 9.45 Monday)
• SWAT (Three, 8.30 Thursday)
• Everybody Wants Some (Duke, 8.30 Friday).