HD Heads-Up: November 29-December 5

November 20, 2025 0 Comments

➢➢ The Au Pair (TVNZ 1, 8.35 Saturday) sound like shades of The Hand That Rocks the Cradle. It stars Sally Bretton (Beyond Paradise) as a successful businesswoman in a happy marriage with two beautiful step-children, a stunning house in the idyllic Cotswolds and David Suchet as her father. But then a mysterious au pair (Lupin’s Ludmilla Makowski) enters her home with a hidden agenda that unearths a terrible truth. Said The Telegraph: “If you’re in the mood for some enjoyably schlocky nonsense, Channel 5’s The Au Pair fits the bill. It’s the kind of mile-a-minute, OTT thriller in which 25 outlandish things happen in the first episode … It’s mindless fun, and I rushed to watch the second episode straight after the first.” (View the trailer here) …

➢➢ Love My Face (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Tuesday) is a reality newcomer set in a unique Yorkshire clinic where patients can explore transformative facial treatments from some of the UK’s most sought-after medical experts, including a woman who has had alopecia for nine years and a victim of life-changing burns. It’s presented by the disfigured Jono Lancaster, whom The Guardian dubbed “a gift to television generally, and this programme in particular. A natural communicator, he is also that rare breed who has clearly lived through much, analysed it thoroughly and internalised what worked for him in such a way that he can share it with others in direct, ordinary and therefore deeply affecting terms, instead of sounding like a therapised robot” …

➢➢ Bradley Walsh: Egypt’s Cosmic Codes (TVNZ 1, 8.25 Wednesday) is a Sky History series in which the former Rolls Royce engineer questions theories about the pyramids’ construction. Who built them, why, and how? Could the Ancient Egyptians have possessed supernatural abilities? And is the Great Sphinx far older than we’ve been led to believe? …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 double-bills two Location Location Location 25th anniversary specials on Monday: Kirstie & Phil: Bleeps, Bloops and Best Bits (7.30) and 25 Years of Location Location Location (8.00) …

➢➢ Sky Open rolls out three series premieres:

World’s Most Scenic River Journeys (7.30 Sunday), which uncovers a rich heritage of whisky production and salmon fishing on Scotland’s River Speyen
Timber Titans (7.30 Monday), a reality show about Canadian loggers
Inside Longleat (8.30 Wednesday), part one of three about the world’s first safari park outside Africa …

➢➢ Returning are Body Cam S4 (Sky Open, 10.30 Sunday), Hunted (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Monday) and Colin From Accounts S2 (Duke, 8.35 Fridays) while ending their runs are:

The Dog House Australia
Inside Prison: Britain Behind Bars
Noel Edmonds’ Kiwi Adventure
Skin A&E
Taskmaster Australia
Mel Giedroyc: Unforgiveable
Moonflower Murders
Chucky …

➢➢ Glenn Close, Alexander Skarsgård and Miriam Margolyes guest on The Graham Norton Show (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Friday) while Jessie J performs H.A.P.P.Y from her forthcoming album Don’t Tease Me with a Good Time …

➢➢ Live/delayed free-to-air sport includes:

Football: A-league Women — Central Coast Mariners FC v Wellington Phoenix (Sky Open, 4.00 Saturday)
Football: Premiere League: Goal Rush — Manchester City v Leeds United (Sky Open, 10am Sunday)
Football: A-League: Men Auckland Fc v Newcastle Jets (Sky Open, 2.30 Sunday)
Cricket: BlackCaps v West Indies 1st Test (Duke, 10.30am Tuesday-Friday)

➢➢ HD coming attractions include: