HD Heads-Up: September 17-23

➢➢ TVNZ 1 will launch its Documentary New Zealand strand the same night Three will premiere its latest Newshub Investigates. The two will face off at 8.40 on September 20, when the former’s Swipe with Caution will examine how the use of dating apps has transformed the way Kiwis find love. Newshub’s Enchanter Tragedy will reveal how “a fishing trip of a lifetime became an unfathomable tragedy that claimed five lives”, as recounted by the survivors …

➢➢ The same night Three will continue The Diana Investigations (9.40). It will document the separate British and French police investigations into the Princess of Wales’ death 25 years ago. Said Decider of the Discovery+ series: “Over the course of four episodes, The Diana Investigations respectfully addresses the theories that have floated around since 1997, interviewing the few witnesses who were in and around the Alma Tunnel and at the Ritz Carlton in Paris the night of the crash to analyse, scrutinise and debunk the myths around what happened that night” …

➢➢ Other documentaries to watch for will include:

• Legacy: The Maori All Blacks (Prime, 7.00 Saturday), which will explore how Te Ao Maori and wananga have driven the Maori All Blacks to international success;
• Crown Lynn (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday), in which the history of the iconic pottery company is told by the generations of Maori families who worked for it; and
• Hotel People (TVNZ 1, 9.30 Friday), which will peek behind the scenes of a family-run Northern Ireland hotel chain as it navigates Covid restrictions, staff shortages and cautious travellers …

➢➢ TVNZ 2 will double-bill Taskmaster: Champion of Champions (8.30 Wednesday), in which winners from the first five seasons of the UK show vie for the ultimate title, with season 16 of a stand-up series that previously aired on Three, Live at the Apollo (9.30). Joining Three’s Thursday night Kiwi comedy block will be Get The Name Right (9.25), in which Joe Daymond and Kara Rickard travel the country uncovering the origins of place names …

➢➢ Two excellent drama series will premiere on TVNZ 1 the same week: Four Lives (9.30 Sunday) and Coyote (12.05am Monday). The former is an engrossing and disturbing true-crime account of how Stephen Port (Stephen Merchant), infamously dubbed the “Grindr Killer,” murdered over 16 months four gay men while police refused to treat the deaths as linked or suspicious. The latter isn’t of the same calibre but is still better than most: The Shield’s Michael Chiklis plays a retired border patrol agent who winds up working for the people traffickers he used to police. Paramount+ commissioned one season in 2021 but has yet to cancel or renew. Both series can be streamed on TVNZ+ …

➢➢ Returning will be The Amazing Race (TVNZ 2, 6.00 Sunday), George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Sunday) and Stacey Dooley Investigates (Prime, 10.05 Wednesday) while ending their runs will be Heathrow: Britain’s Busiest Airport, Top Gear America, Mare of Easttown, Danielle Cormack’s Life on the Outside, FBI: Most Wanted and RuPaul’s Drag Race Down Under …

➢➢ Screening for the first time on free-to-air TV will be Buddy Games (Three, 8.30 Saturday), Cousins (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Sunday) and Ottolenghi and the Cakes of Versailles (Whakaata Māori, 9.30 Monday). Other HD coming attractions will include:

• A Cinderella Story (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Ballerina (Whakaata Māori, 7.00 Saturday)
• Wild Target (Eden, 8.30 Saturday)
• West Side Story (Whakaata Māori, 8.40 Saturday)
• Knocked Up (TVNZ 2, 8.55 Saturday)
• Hannibal (Duke, 10.20 Saturday)
• Crawl (Three, 10.25 Saturday)
• Devil’s Advocate (TVNZ 2, 11.25 Saturday)
• Justice League vs. The Fatal Five (TVNZ 2, 3.15am Sunday)
• The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl (TVNZ 2, 4.10 Sunday)
• Crocodile Dundee 2 (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Sunday)
• The Amazing Spider-Man (Three, 8.00 Sunday)
• Greeting’s From Tim Buckley (Eden, 8.30 Sunday)
• Die Hard 4.0: Live Free or Die Hard (TVNZ 2, 9.45 Sunday)
• Fresh Meat (TVNZ 2, 12.10am Monday)
• Fight Club (Duke, 9.30 Tuesday)
• The Dead Lands (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Wednesday)
• Mission: Impossible – Fallout (Three, 7.30 Friday)
• Knight and Day (Duke, 9.30 Friday)