New to TVNZ+ in June

May 27, 2023 0 Comments

The latest comedic thriller to star Kaley Cuoco, Based on a True Story, will stream on TVNZ+ from June 8, the same day it drops on Peacock.

It’s a true-crime spoof about a realtor, a former tennis star and a plumber who try to capitalise on murders in their area.

“I became fascinated with the idea of a relatable married couple whose youthful dreams hadn’t come to fruition and who saw the true crime tidal wave as an opportunity to change their lives and save their marriage,” series creator Craig Rosenberg says.

“Our Los Angeles setting – the city where everybody wants to be famous – became a vivid backdrop to our story of fame, ambition, aspiration and murder.”

All eight episodes will be released simultaneously, as will seasons one and two of the BBC Dickensian hit, Dodger (June 30).

The Telegraph said the series channels “the energy of Horrible Histories into [a] daft Oliver Twist spin-off, which follows pick-pocketing rascal Artful Dodger … a boisterous and amusing drama that will get the kids into Dickens.”

The Daily Mail agreed it was “a fun take on Fagin and his gang” while one of the creators told Drama Quarterly: “We wanted it to be like watching a Pixar film where the adults would get the jokes in a different way and it will be entertaining for them as well.”

Danielle Cormack, Joshua Hewson and Bishanyia Vincent star in Year Of (June 12), an Australian teen drama in which a group of inner-city teens en route to crash a Year 12 party where pills will be popped, hook-ups schemed and hopes and insecurities exposed — until a shocking event upturns their lives forever.

Love Island UK (June 7) will stream with soulmates Temptation Island S5 (June 15) and Loaded in Paradise (June 26) while Star Trek: Strange New Worlds S2 (June 15) tops a line-up of sci-fi/fantasy fare that includes every season of Future Man (June 1) and Preacher (June 7).

Other highlights range from all five seasons of showbiz comedy Episodes (June 20) and the June 4 music specials Sam Smith: Live at the Royal Concert Hall and Freddie Mercury: The Final Act (which first screened on Sky Arts) to On the Line: The Richard Williams Story,(June 29).

The documentary version of the Will Smith movie King Richard has the father of tennis legends Venus and Serena retracing his family’s meteoric journey, from his poverty-stricken childhood in Louisiana to the tennis courts of Compton and beyond.

Other documentaries include Getting Warmer with Kal Penn, which explores the transition to clean energy, and The Future with Hannah Fry, which asks where science, technology and people are heading amidst some of the most transformative breakthroughs of our age (both June 5) while new on the true-crime front will be Murdered by Morning and Deadly Cults (June 12).

Movies that will steam for the first time on TVNZ+ include: