New to TVNZ+ in January

Poker Face (January 26)

Murder they re-wrote? Fans of classic sleuth series like Murder She Wrote, Magnum P.I. and Columbo will want to investigate this “case-of-the-week detective show for the modern age” from Knives Out scribe Rian Johnson starring Russian Doll’s Natasha Lyonne. With her extraordinary ability to determine when someone is lying, she hits the road in her Plymouth Barracuda and with every stop encounters a new cast of characters and strange crimes she can’t help but solve. Guest stars will include Adrien Brody, Benjamin Bratt, Chloe Sevigny, Jameela Jamil, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Judith Light, Nick Nolte, Rea Perlman, Ron Perlman and Simon Helberg.

Crossfire (full season, January 2)

Hostage siege thriller starring Keeley Hawes as a holidaymaker with a police background who teams with a security guard to thwart masked gunmen in a luxury resort. Reviews ranged from “complete nonsense” (The Guardian) to “harrowing and heart-wrenching” (Radio Times).

Rise of the Billionaires (full season, January 1)

How did a group of tech geeks, from Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk to Larry Page and Mark Zuckerberg, gain unimaginable wealth and power, move stock markets, transform cities, affec democracy, and reshape our world? The Daily Telegraph said this Channel 4 documentary series examines the “moral complexities” of so much wealth being held by so few.

I Hate You (full season, January 24)

Two millennials who are best friends live together in a new comedy from the writer of Friday Night Dinner and Stath Lets Flats. Sex Education’s Tanya Reynolds and Ghosts’ Melissa Saint star. “If this is being young today, I’m glad to be a Baby Boomer,” quipped the Daily Mail.

Alone (full season, January 31)

“A reality series about 10 trained survivalists from across the country who go out into the wilderness to see if they can outlast each other to win $500,000 … It’s your basic survival competition, but what sets Alone apart is its focus is on the contestants’ candid commentary about how they feel as they try to make it through each day alone.” — Common Sense Media.

The Dry (full season, January 9)

Irish comedy about a party-mad Londoner who tries to stay sober when she returns home to Dublin. “The humour is dark and nuanced, the psychological observations on addiction utterly convincing and the supporting cast an absolute joy.” — The Times.

The Calling (full season, January 10)

“Directed in part by Barry Levinson, [this] Peacock crime series features a detective whose Jewish faith and spirituality sharpen his sleuthing ability … Sherlock Holmes had unimpeachable inductive reasoning and a cocaine habit. Columbo had faux-naivete and a trench coat. Hercule Poirot had ‘enormous moustaches.’ Avraham Avraham? His hook — nay, his superpower — is his Jewishness.” — Wall Street Journal.

Also new will be S1 of the Paramount+ series The Game (January 25), which explores black culture through the prism of pro-football, and the UK relationship dramas Banana (January 11),Cucumber (January 11) and Trigonometry (January 20).

Returning will be Kiwi comedy Kura (S3, January 6) and express episodes of The Bachelor Australia (January 10) and The Bachelor US (January 24).

New docuseries will include Fighter Pilot: The Real Top Gun S1 (January 1), Uncovered: Killed by Hate (January 4),Uncovered: The Cult of Yahweh Ben Yahweh (January 11), 7.7 Billion People and Counting (January 15), Feast to Save the Planet (January 15), Murder and Justice: The Case of Martha Moxley (January 18) and Fight for First: Excel Esports (January 23).

And ahead of S3’s premiere will come the chance to catch up with the first two seasons of Happy Valley (January 9), along with:

• Normal People (January 1)
• Tess of the D’Ubervilles (January 2)
• 300 Years of French and Saunders (January 3)
• Mistresses (January 8)
• 90210 (January 14)
• The Fades S1 (January 16)
• Suits (January 17)
• Broken (January 21)
• Start-Up (January   ).
• Thirteen (January 29)

Among the movies that will be added next month are:

• Ghostbusters 
• Ghostbusters II
• Jumanji (1995) 
• 28 Days 
• Bride Wars 
• Knight and Day 
• Marley & Me 
• Ad Astra 
• The Big Short 
• Heat 
• Birdman 
• Noah 
• The Internship 
• Fantastic Mr Fox 
• The Grudge 
• The Grudge 2 
• Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium 
• The Blair Witch Project 
• Street Kings 
• The Fountain 
• A Time to Kill 
• Boys on the Side 
• Empire Records 
• JFK

New to the branded TVNZ+ channels in January will be:

Filmstream

The Eight Hundred

Woman at War

iWonder

The Kleptocrats

The Men Who Stole the World

Kidnapped for Christ

Beers of Joy

Lifetime

Suitcase Killer: The Melanie McGuire Story

Dying for a Crown

I’ll Be Watching

The Murder Pact

Outdoor

Surviving the Outback S1

The Seahunter S1

OUTtv

Dr Jackie S1b

X-Rated: NYC S1b

Emergence

Game of Bros S1

Pulse

The Machine

The Capote Tapes

The Beatles and India

Hollywood Bulldogs