HD Heads-Up: September 5-11

➢➢ Babies (TVNZ 1, 8.30 Thursday) is billed as “a gripping, tender and urgent love story that explores the resilience of a couple navigating the heartbreak of pregnancy loss”. It’s from Mum creator Stefan Golaszewski and was universally acclaimed: “unsettling, compassionate, funny, moving, wildly unpredictable and beautifully acted” (The Guardian); “distressing, incredibly hard-hitting” (Radio Times); “almost too painful, too intense, too real” (The Times). If you haven’t already streamed it on TVNZ+, you can view the trailer here …

➢➢ TVNZ 1 also premieres two Kiwi docos: Inside Operation Mike: The Beckenridge Mystery (8.30 Sunday), which follows the police investigation to uncover what happened to John Beckenridge and his 11-year-old son Mike, after their car plummeted off a 90 metre cliff in the remote South Island; and DNZ: Robyn Malcolm: Menopause and Us (8.30 Monday), which promises to challenge the myths of menopause with frankness and humour …

➢➢ Ahead of the return of Taskmaster NZ comes the latest fast-tracked season of the UK version featuring Chloe Petts, Isy Suttie, Matt Lucas, Nina Conti and Richard Ayoade as contestants (TVNZ 2, 7.30 Sunday). TVNZ 2’s also belatedly picking up the award-winning Gogglebox (8.45 Friday), the real-life version of The Royle Family in which ordinary Brits are armchair TV critics. Season 28 will air here a week after its Channel 4 launch in the UK …

➢➢ Ending their runs are:

• Make It at Market
• The Burning Girls 
• Coastal Wonders
• Extraordinary Extensions
• Masterchef Australia  
• Nobody’s Fool
• Love Island USA …

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

• NPC Rugby: Bay of Plenty v Manawatū (TVNZ 1, 2.00 Saturday)
• NRLW: Warriors v Sharks (Sky Open, 2.30 Saturday)
• NPC Rugby: Waikato v Canterbury (TVNZ 1, 7.00 Saturday)
• NRL:Warriors v Sea Eagles (Sky Open, 7.00 Saturday)
• NRL: Sharks v Storm (Sky Open, 9.25 Saturday)
• UFC Fight Night: Dan Hooker v Salahdine Parnasse (Duke, 4am Sunday)
• Rugby: Springboks v Black Ferns (Three, 9.25am Sunday) 
• Premier League: Tottenham Hotspur v Newcastle United (Sky Open, 10am Sunday)
• Rugby: Springboks v All Blacks (Three, 11.30am Sunday) 
• NPC Rugby: Counties Manukau v Southland (TVNZ 1, 2.00 Sunday) …

➢➢ Coming attractions in HD include the network movie premiere of Den of Thieves 2 (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Sunday) and:

• Two Weeks Notice (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday)
• Space Jam (Three, 7.00 Saturday)
• Spy Cats (Whakaata Māori, 7.30 Saturday)
• Marry Me (TVNZ 2,  8.55 Saturday)
• The Hangover Part II (Three, 9.00 Saturday)
• Edge of Tomorrow (Whakaata Māori, 9.00 Saturday)
• God’s Country (TVNZ 2, 11.15 Saturday)
• Minions (TVNZ 2, 3.15 Sunday)
• Muriel’s Wedding (Whakaata Māori, 8.45 Sunday)
• Daredevil (Three, 9.00 Sunday)
• Blacklight (TVNZ 2, 1.25am Sunday)
• Dangerous Games: Roblox & The Metaverse Exposed (Whakaata Māori, 8.30 Monday)
• Bromates (Duke, 9.45 Monday)
• Breaking (Duke, 10.10 Tuesday)
• The Man in the Iron Mask (Sky Open, 7.30 Friday)
• Howard Lovecraft & the Undersea Kingdom (Whakaata Māori, 7.45 Friday)
• Foxcatcher (Whakaata Māori, 9.15 Friday).