HD Heads-Up: May 23 – 29

➢➢ Wildlife fans should set their PVRs for the off-peak premiere of The Lions Rule (Three, 3.50 Saturdays from May 23). The National Geographic series was filmed over eight years in a Tanzanian national park and presents the lives of the three prides that make up Ruaha’s kingdom of lions, with never before seen behaviour and extraordinary insights. The three-part series aired as Lion Kingdom elsewhere and looks too good to overlook because of its scheduling …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 will spice up afternoon viewing with a slate of cooking shows that will screen 4.30 weekdays from May 25. The menu will include: Spencer’s Big 30, in which Spencer Watts makes healthy, hearty meals in 30 minutes for 30 dollars (Mondays); Let’s Brunch, in which Vanessa Gianfrancesco showcases sweet and savoury recipes (Tuesdays); Fish the Dish, in which Watts cooks his favourite seafood dishes (Wednesdays); One World Kitchen, which explores Argentinian, Italian, Thai, Japanese, Indian, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Cantonese, and Greek cuisine (Thursdays); and Watts on the Grill, with unique tips, tricks, and insider techniques for barbequing …

➢➢ In a curious programming move, TVNZ 2 will air late morning re-runs of ’90s comedy Murphy Brown weekdays from May 26. But rather than start the 11-season show from the first, the network will pick it up from the fifth (strangely, it doesn’t hold the rights to S1-4). The 1992 season opens with the newsmag queen adjusting to solo motherhood at the height of media mockery of then Vice President Dan Quayle. Expect S5-10 to lead into the broadcast premiere of the derided S11 reboot, which streamed on TVNZ OnDemand (but is no longer available) …

➢➢ The engineering series, Building Giants, will return for an off-peak run (TVNZ 1, 2.00 Sundays from May 24). It will open with a specialist team of designers and engineers battling a brutal arctic winter in a race to build the ultimate ice hotel in the Swedish village of Jukkasjärvi …

➢➢ Also of note will be the premiere of All Gardens Great And Small (Prime, 6.00 Sundays from May 24), in which Miranda Hart’s mother Dee explores the best open gardens in Britain, and a You Got This! Celeb Special (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Thursday), in which Art and Matilda, Jono and Ben and Toni Street and her family try recreating famous paintings with materials that can be found at home …

➢➢ Returning for new seasons will be How to Look Good Naked (TVNZ 2, 8.45 Tuesdays from  May 26) and Race Across the World (TVNZ 1, 7.30 Wednesdays from May 27) while ending their runs will be The Dead Lands, The Victim, One Lane Bridge, QI, and Gordon, Gino And Fred’s Road Trip …

➢➢ Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Three, 8.05 Sunday) will spearhead the network movie premieres for the week starting May 23. Also new will be Breaking In (Three, 8.55 Saturday), Herbs: Songs of Freedom (Maori TV, 7.00 Sunday), Vai (Maori TV, 8.30 Sunday), The Foreigner (TVNZ 2, 9.15 Sunday) and How to Change the World (Maori TV, 8.30 Monday) …

➢➢ Other HD coming attractions will include two Van Diesel movies from the same franchise but on different channels — Riddick (Prime, 8.30 Monday) and The Chronicles of Riddick (Three, 7.30 Friday) — as well as:

• Doctor Dolittle 2 (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Johnny English Reborn (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• I Am Legend (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Saturday)
• Non-Stop (Duke, 9.25 Saturday)
• Magnum Force (Prime, 9.30 Saturday)
• The Interview (VNZ 2, 10.30 Saturday)
• They Came Together (TVNZ 2, 12.35am Sunday)
• Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Sunday)
• So I Married an Axe Murderer (Duke, 9.45 Sunday)
• Grace: The Possession (TVNZ 2, 11.20 Sunday)
• Terminator 2: The Director’s Cut (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• Around the World In 80 Days (TVNZ 2, 8.00 Thursday)
• Coco (TVNZ 2, 4.35 Friday)
• The Inbetweeners Movie (Duke, 8.30 Friday).