New to TVNZ+: August 2-8

After delaying its NZ premiere for five years, TVNZ+ launches season three of top BBC comedy Here We Go just weeks after its UK launch.

Reads the blurb:

The third series will continue to follow the chaotic Jessops’ family as they navigate new jobs, love, loss and family gatherings. Mum Rachel (Katherine Parkinson) is starting her new life as a therapist. Paul (Jim Howick), now a police constable, continues his quest to gain the respect of his peers – and his kids. Uncle Robin (Tom Basden) and wife Cherry (Tori Allen-Martin) are busy with a new arrival, baby Atlas, while Amy (Freya Parks) is still figuring out life as a 20-something. Grandmother Sue (Alison Steadman) has moved back in and Sam (Jude Morgan-Collie) is, of course, on hand, capturing all the calamity on camera from bungee jumps to riverside baptisms. Series three also sees a family holiday to Malta, where, of course, nothing goes according to plan.

“You can also expect to see familiar faces from Sherwood, Adolescence and This Time with Alan Partridge,” Radio Times reports in this preview of what’s in store.

All seven episodes land on August 3; there also will be a Christmas special at year’s end.

S7 of Love Island USA opens with a double-episode (August 4), followed by ongoing single episodes Mondays-Fridays.

Given its popularity, it’s surprising TVNZ+ hasn’t been streaming the show in sync with the US, where fans are now viewing a spin-off series.

New York magazine, which had dubbed S6 “a perfect storm of reality-TV notoriety … It took Peacock three seasons to make it really click,” argued while S7 “has not been all that compelling … the mood among fans is akin to a sports championship.

“Watch parties at bars draw crowds like a round of March Madness. Viewers are surging to the official app to vote on eliminations.

“On Tuesday, Peacock announced that the most recent episode had broken the record for participation, with over 1 million votes cast on the Love Island USA app in the first six minutes and 3.5 million unique voters within two and a half hours.

“Why so much investment in a season with so little to care about?”

Movies new to TVNZ+ include Source Code, Zack and Miri Make a Porno and The Bank Job (August 5).

Other highlights include live FIBA matches and, as previewed here, the linear debuts of Love It Or List It NZ, My Life is Murder, Murder in a Small Town, A Taste of Glory, Grand Designs Transformations, The Travelling Auctioneers and Caught on Dashcam