HD Heads-Up: May 2-8

➢➢ TVNZ celebrates Sir David Attenborough’s 100th birthday with Attenborough’s Wild London (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Friday). “Mischievous and glorious, David Attenborough brings his lifelong sense of wonder to the city’s wildlife, from foxes to peregrine falcons, in this exquisite and endlessly moving special,” said The Guardian.”So much evokes childlike wonder: ‘green squadrons’ of parakeets, honeybees drunk on fermenting nectar, Aesculapian snakes along Regent’s Canal, emperor dragonflies breeding in the pond outside the Natural History Museum and, most astonishingly of all, the return of wild beavers to a London wetland.” Declared The Telegraph: “I challenge you to find a single more wondrous scene in television this year than the one in Wild London in which David Attenborough comes face to face with a young urban fox” …

➢➢ Mental health advocate Jazz Thornton investigates stalking in NZ in the three-part docuseries Stalked (Sky Open, 8.30 Monday-Wednesday). It anchors a strong week of premieres for Sky’s free-to-air channel, ranging from a new Dexter (10.30 Tuesday), the S15 premiere of Ambulance UK (7.30 Sunday) and the S2 premiere of Limitless Win UK (7.30 Wednesday) to the smartly double-billed The Michael Jackson Story (8.30 Sunday) and Elizabeth Taylor: Rebel Superstar (9.30 Sunday). The former is a four-part bio that coincides with the release of the Michael movie while the latter is a “hagiographic” three-parter that Kim Kardashian produced. Dexter: Resurrection (10.30 Tuesday) improves the New Blood reboot by shifting the father-and-son reunion to New York City …

➢➢ The Hunt: Prey vs Predator (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Tuesday) is a hide-and-seek reality competition that The Guardian quipped is indebted to The Hunger Games: “Battle takes place in an arena set in a 100-acre wood (Pooh could never) and the contenders charge off from podiums in the middle of it when a klaxon sounds. I would love to know how furiously they argued for a lethal element (‘Come on, one longbow! Just one!’), but for now at least we remain in the realm of cash prizes only. The pot is £100,000. What do the 10 players have to do to secure it?” …

➢➢ Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist (TVNZ 2, 12.35am Monday) is an eight-part dramatisation of the true-crime podcast about an armed robbery on the night of Muhammad Ali’s historic 1970 comeback fight changed not only one man’s life but ultimately transformed Atlanta into the “Black Mecca”. Kevin Hart, Don Cheadle, Taraji P Henson, Terrence Howard, Chloe Bailey and Samuel L Jackson star in this highly acclaimed Peacock series. Said Rotten Tomatoes: “Skillfully weaving an inflection point in black culture into a rollicking heist story, Fight Night is punchy entertainment with a never-better Kevin Hart broadening his dramatic range” …

➢➢ Also new are:

• Jeremy Pang’s Hong Kong Kitchen (TVNZ 1, 11.30am Saturday), a six-part “foodie adventure” that explores the “the flavour-saturated streets” of  the Asian capital
• Lifetime dramedy American Princess (TVNZ 2, 11.40 Sunday), which already has streamed on TVNZ+ and Neon and screened several times on Sky
• also ex-TVNZ is Marilyn Manson: Unmasked (TVNZ 2, 1.25am Monday), which investigates the 2021 sexual assault allegations against the shock rocker within the context of the “Antichrist Superstar’s” rise and fall …

➢➢ Returning are:

• Britain’s Got Talent (TVNZ 1, 7.00 Saturday), with KSI joining judges Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden and Alesha Dixon
• Billions S7 (Sky Open, 11.30 Tuesday)
• Best Foods Comedy Gala 2026 (Three, 8.30 Thursday)
• Michael McIntyre’s Big Show (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Friday) …

➢➢ Ending their runs are:

• Cooking With the Stars
• Dress the Nation 
• Limitless Win UK
• America’s Got Talent
• My Family Mystery
• An Unexpected Killer 
• Snow Patrol NZ 
• Worlds Apart
• My Impossible House
• Unbelievable Moments Caught on Camera …

➢➢ FIFA World Cup 2026 Preview Series (TVNZ 1, 11.00 Thursday, continues Friday) kicks off ahead ahead of live/delayed free-to-air coverage of:

• Netball: ANZ Premiership: Mystics v Tactix (TVNZ 2, 4.00 Saturday)
• A-League: Men 2025/2026 Elimination Final 1 (Sky Open, 4.30 Saturday)
• Netball: ANZ Premiership: Steel take v Pulse (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Saturday)
• SRP: Moana Pasifika v Blues (Sky Open, 7.30 Saturday)
• NRL 2026: Eels v Warriors (Sky Open, 9.30 Saturday)
• Premiere League: Goal Rush – Brentford v Westham (Sky Open, 10am Sunday)
• Sal’s NBL: Rams v Nuggets (Sky Open, 3.00 Sunday)
• Netball: ANZ Premiership: Stars v Magic (TVNZ 2, 4.00 Sunday)
• SRP: Crusaders v Blues (Sky Open, 6.30 Friday)
• NRL 2026: Roosters v Titans (Sky Open, 9.30 Friday) …

➢➢ HD coming attractions include:

• DC League of Super-Pets (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Mavka: The Forest Song (Whakaata Māori, 7.30 Saturday)
• The Sentinel (Three, 9.05 Saturday)
• Our Idiot Brother (Whakaata Māori, 9.15 Saturday)
• 16 Blocks (Sky Open, 11.30 Saturday)
• Dakota (TVNZ 2, 2.10 Sunday)
• The Gentlemen (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Sunday)
• Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
• Night Raiders (Whakaata Māori, 8.45 Sunday)
• The Art of the Steal (Sky Open, 9.30 Sunday)
• Night School (Duke, 10.55 Monday)
• Backdraft (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• Mean Girls (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Thursday)
• The Queen’s Corgi (Whakaata Māori, 7.30 Friday)
• The Commuter (Whakaata Māori, 9.00 Friday).