HDTV Heads-Up: February 18-24

TV3 will screen in HD the Christchurch earthquake documentary, When a City Falls, on the eve of its DVD release.

It will air from 7.30pm Wednesday (February 22) and, unusually for a local commission, will be broadcast in 5.1 audio.

The DVD of When a City Falls goes on sale the next day, with the filmmakers and distributors obviously hoping TV exposure, on the back of a solid theatrical run, will boost disc sales.

Reviews ranged from “at once a celebration of endurance and a lament of loss, it will still be being watched 50 years from now” (NZ Listener) to “a moving testament to the people of the munted city” (NZ Herald).

On Friday of the same week, at 9.30pm, TV2 will launch a dated HD dating show called Dating in the Dark Australia, which aired in 2009-2010.

“Like all reality TV, though, it’s at its best when the contestants are talented and interesting, so each episode can be a bit hit-and-miss depending on who they’ve got on that week,” The Age said.

“If Dating in the Dark is pretty bad, which it is, it still retains a sweetness and innocence that lets you hold on to a belief in humanity’s ultimate goodness.”

Also new in HD that week is Nigel Latta’s Politically Incorrect Guide to Grown-Ups, which will air 7pm Sundays on TV One.