HD Heads-Up: November 2

➢ Two British drama series will premiere in the week starting November 11: Trust Me (TVNZ 1, 8.45 Sunday) and Safe House (Three, 9.20 Tuesday). The former stars new Doctor Who Jodie Whittaker as an overworked nurse who pretends to be a doctor in what The Guardian called “not the subtlest or most nuanced of hospital dramas; it’s straightforward and well-signposted almost to the point of clunkiness. Closer to Casualty/Holby than Jed Mercurio’s dark, masterly Bodies” …

➢ The Independent thought it tense but implausible while The Telegraph quipped: “This was a promising start that never delivered the expected nail-biting thrills. Whittaker was cooly sublime but the drama assembled around her was often as rickety as a dodgy nose job” …

➢ Critics were less charitable about Safe House, in which an ex-cop in a remote sanctuary protects the family of a serial killer’s victim: “felt wearyingly generic” (The Telegraph); “a serviceable plot without demanding too much in the way of intellectual or emotional investment” (The Guardian); “beautifully shot and exudes a quality that suggests the violence won’t be entirely gratuitous” (The Times) …

➢ Three is switching NCIS: LA from 8.30 Wednesdays to 9.20 Wednesdays for the last three episodes of season eight, and dropping Hawaii Five-O five weeks short of its season six finale, to accommodate two-hour episodes of Australian Ninja Warrior. The reality challenge will screen 7.3o Tuesdays and Wednesdays from November 14 …

➢ Following Prime’s launch of Jamie’s Super Food on November 12 (7.30 Sundays), in which Jamie Oliver visits the healthiest places in the world to live,  TVNZ 1 will screen the documentary, The Truth About Meat (9.30 Tuesday), in which a UK greengrocer investigates how much meat in our diets is good for us …

➢ Three will screen live the 2017 Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards from 8.30 on November 16, two days after Prime premieres Brian Johnson’s A Life on the Road (8.35 Tuesdays). The latter has the AC/DC frontman meeting some of rock ‘n’ roll’s biggest names, starting with The Who’s Roger Daltrey …

➢ Returning in the week starting November 11 are Dog Squad (TVNZ 1, 8.00 Monday), Criminal Minds (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Monday) and Fear the Walking Dead (Prime, 9.30 Thursday) while ending their runs the same week are Tin Star, Game of Thrones and Australian Survivor (with a three-hour finale) …

➢ Appearing this week and next on Prime’s The Late Show With Stephen Colbert are: Nicole Kidman, Jonathan Groff and author Walter Isaacson (10.35 tonight);
Whoopi Goldberg, Kathryn Hahn and a musical performance by Courtney Barnett and Kurt Vile (10.30 tomorrow); and Jeremy Piven, and a musical performance by Kelsea Ballerini (10.35 Monday) …

➢ Two free-to-air network movie premieres will face off on November 12: Point Break (TVNZ 2, 8.30) and Sisters (Three, 8.35). The week’s other HD coming attractions include:

• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• The Croods (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Ronin (Three, 8.55 Saturday)
• The Wolf of Wall Street (TVNZ 2, 9.30 Saturday)
• Won’t Back Down (TVNZ 2, 12.50am Sunday)
• Wolf Creek 2 (TVNZ 2, 10.40 Sunday)
• Anna Karenina (Three, 11.00 Sunday).