HD Heads-Up: October 29-November 4

➢➢ TVNZ 2 will launch Sione’s Wedding spin-off Duck Rockers (8.30 Wednesday) on the back of the final of Celebrity Treasure Island. About Pacific Island teenagers coming of age in ’80s inner-city Auckland, it will feature “a fresh new cast of talented actors” and guest appearances by the original Sione’s Wedding stars. TVNZ 2 is describing the premiere as a “special preview event”; the rest of the series will air 7.30 Wednesdays. The network will precede Duck Rockers with Sione’s Wedding: Unfinished Business (8.30 Saturday) …

➢➢ Duke will premiere S33 of Top Gear (9.30 Thursday) the same week as Neighborhood Wars (9.30 Wednesday) and Grime and Punishment (10.00 Wednesday). The former is a US take on Neighbours at War, the latter follows those who clean up after Britons. Meanwhile, it still sounds like a rocky road for Top Gear fans. “When will Top Gear get back to its best?” The Guardian asked. “No time soon. Its focus on car culture makes it better than Clarkson et al’s last series. But the driving show needs to address its Paddy McGuinness problem before it can become genuinely great TV” …

➢➢ Web of Chaos (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Tuesday) is a Documentary NZ “deep dive” into the global spread of disinformation and its impact on social cohesion and democracy …

➢➢ Balmoral Hotel: An Extraordinary Year (TVNZ 1, 9.30 Friday) is a four-part reality newcomer about what goes on behind the scenes of one of Edinburgh’s most revered institutions, where an exclusive suite costs £7,000 a night …

➢➢ Booked for a new season is Rich Holiday Poor Holiday (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Thursday) while checking out will be This England, Aaron Hernandez Uncovered, Renters, My Life is Murder, Police – Hour Of Duty, Outback Car Hunters and A Question of Justice …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 will screen the Melbourne Cup live from 4.30 on November 1 …

➢➢ TVNZ 2 will run a Simpsons Treehouse of Terror Takeover on Saturday, from 11.30am-7.00, and the same night will box-set the TVNZ 1 drama The Bridge from 10.25. ‘Toon fans should check out Bill Plympton’s newest riff on The Simpsons’ opening credits in the latest episode streaming on Disney+ …

➢➢ Geena Davis, Stephen Graham and Strictly Come Dancing judge Motsi Mabuse will guest on the November 3 broadcast of The Graham Norton Show (Three, 8.30) …

➢➢ Screening for the first time on free-to-air TV will be Ride Like a Girl (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday), Island of the Hungry Ghosts (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday) and Greenland (Three, 7.30 Friday). Other HD coming attractions will include:

• Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Sione’s 2: Unfinished Business (TVNZ 2, 8.30 Saturday)
• Death of Stalin (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Saturday)
• The Silence of the Lambs (Eden, 8.35 Saturday)
• A Nightmare on Elm Street IV – The Dream Master (Duke, 10.35 Saturday)
• Fifty Shades Freed (Three, 10.45 Saturday)
• The Addams Family (TVNZ 2, 4.10 Sunday)
• The Bourne Legacy (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Sunday)
• The Interpreter (Eden, 7.30 Saturday)
• The Two Faces of January (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Sunday)
• Magic Mike (Three, 8.40 Sunday)
• It (TVNZ 2, 11.05 Sunday)
• The Long Kiss Goodnight (Duke, 11.35 Sunday)
• The Fugitive (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
• Before I Go to Sleep (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Wednesday)
• Back to the Future Part III (Eden, 8.30 Friday)
• The Internship (Duke, 9.25 Friday).