HD Heads-Up: May 6-12

➢➢ The second week of May marks the return of several popular franchises. Masterchef Australia is back for a nightly strip from May 7 (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Sunday, 7.30 Monday-Wednesday), season five of Hunted (TVNZ 2, 9.45 Tuesday) is being teamed with CSI: Vegas from May 9, and the latest season of Britain’s Got Talent (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Friday) becomes the lead-in for Australian Survivor from May 12. MasterChef: Secrets & Surprises launches here within a week of its Ten broadcast and has Jamie Oliver as a guest host …

➢➢ The Mirror reports UK viewers switched off the season premiere of Britain’s Got Talent: “The ITV show’s return drew around half a million fewer viewers than last year, when the show came back on air for the first time since the pandemic.” And while The Telegraph welcomed Bruno Tonioli’s “scene-stealing debut” as the replacement for ousted judge David Walliams, “the long-running show’s flaws remained” …

➢➢ Mystery fans can choose between binging Kiwi thriller The Gone at TVNZ+ or watching it unfold in three double-episodes on TVNZ 1 (8.30 Sundays from May 7). About an Irish detective who teams with a Maori detective to find an Irish couple missing in small-town NZ, it stars Grey’s Anatomy’s Richard Flood and Under the Vines’ Acushla-Tara Kupe …

➢➢ Monarchists can choose between wall-to-wall HD coverage of the coronation of King Charles III and The Queen Consort on two networks: 1News Presents: Their Majesties’ Coronation (TVNZ 1, 7.00) follows a daytime schedule crammed with commemorative documentaries and combines contributions from Melissa Stokes and Daniel Faitaua with BBC coverage; Three’s The Coronation of Their Majesties, previously entitled The Coronation of King Charles III, also is a BBC feed and is scheduled to run through to 1.30am Sunday. Sky’s BBC UKTV also carries the coronation live (from 6.30) and both it and TVNZ 1 have The Coronation Concert on Monday — but it screens 90 minutes earlier free-to-air, from 8.30 …

➢➢ I Am (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Tuesday) returns for another season of Kiwis triumphing over adversity …

➢➢ Best Foods Comedy Gala (Three, 8.30 Thursday) is the first of a two-part special featuring the likes of Kura Forrester, Anne Edmonds, Tom Sainsbury and Becky Umbers …

➢➢ Ice Cold Catch (Duke, 8.30 Sunday) is a new Discovery series about cod fishing in Iceland …

➢➢ Off-peak premieres include Hot Cakes (TVNZ 1, 3.55 Saturday), a BBC series about a Cardiff bakery; S2 of Texas 6 (Duke, 11.55 Sunday); and the 2017 History Channel drama, Six (Duke, 11.00 Friday), about as team of Navy SEALS who target a Taliban leader in Afghanistan …

➢➢ Ending their runs are Kura, Travel Guides, First Dates Australia and Grime & Punishment …

➢➢ Here are the HD coming attractions for the week starting May 6:

• Pils Adventure (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
• F9: The Fast Saga (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Saturday)
• The Judge (Eden, 8.30 Saturday)
• The Day Shall Come (Whakaata Māori, 8.40 Saturday)
• Saw 4 (Duke, 9.30 Saturday)
• Grown Ups (TVNZ 2, 10.00 Saturday)
• Bombshell (TVNZ 2, 12.05am Sunday)
• The Incredible Hulk (TVNZ 2, 2.05am Sunday)
• The Red Turtle (Whakaata Māori, 2.10 Sunday)
• Shrek Forever After (TVNZ 2, 3.15 Sunday)
• Sing (TVNZ 2, 5.00 Sunday)
• San Andreas (Three, 8.00 Sunday)
• Stardust (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• Starter for 10 (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Sunday)
• Ghostbusters (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Sunday)
• Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (TVNZ 2, 11.35 Sunday)
• Buena Vista Social Club (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday)
• Lara Croft Tomb Raider – The Cradle of Life (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• The Fool (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Wednesday)
• She’s All That (Three, 7.30 Friday)
• Deuce Bigalow – European Gigolo (Duke, 9.30 Friday).