New to TVNZ+ in September

August 25, 2023 0 Comments

The latest AMC+ series to surface on TVNZ+ is the new Walking Dead spin-off named after Darryl Dixon.

Streaming from September 11, it opens with the fan favourite washing ashore in France. Reads the blurb:

Struggling to piece together how he got there and why, Daryl travels across a broken but resilient France as he hopes to find a way back home. As he makes the journey, though, the connections he forms along the way complicate his ultimate plan.

As well as Norman Reedus, The Walking Dead: Darryl Dixon stars Clémence Poésy (The Essex Serpent), Adam Nagaitis (Chernobyl) and Eriq Ebouaney (Liaison).

Reedus reckons the zombie spinoff is “different and more poignant” than the original.

He told Entertainment Weekly: “I feel like we’re not cranking it out for numbers on a Sunday night. We’re making art, and there’s moving dialogue. It’s a different animal, and it’s beautiful, it’s touching, and it’s sort of amazing to look at and listen to and watch and feel.”

Bay of Fires (full season, September 4) is an ABC Tasmanian drama about a disgraced businesswoman who flees to her remote hometown, only to discover it teeming with simmering feuds, crime and dark secrets.

Marta Dusseldorp (The Twelve), Kerry Fox (Conversations with Friends), Toby Leonard Moore (Billions) and Creamerie’s Rachel House star in a thriller that bills itself as “a bold and often shocking story … laced with dark humour and curve-ball twists”.

But critics weren’t convinced. The Guardian argued it’s “so lost between drama and comedy that its story – and its cast – fails to register either way” while ScreenHub concurred:

This tonally inconsistent show also features the kind of graphic violence, gunplay and explosions, underworld dealings and high-stakes paper trails you’d expect from a conspiracy thriller. Waiting for the series to reveal its mysteries is the main reason to tune in, because its attempts at comedy are simply excruciating to watch.

The Messenger (full season, September 22) is another ABC thriller, about a 19-year-old taxi driver (William McKenna) who, after stopping an armed robbery, starts to receive strange messages on playing cards that set him tasks to complete.

Amazing Grace’s Alexandra Jensen, NZ-born Samoan Chris Alosio and Deadloch’s Kartanya Maynard co-star.

“Australian film and television is littered with quirky small-town stories, but this one is different, with a downbeat stoner-like charm all its own,” The Guardian.

TV Tonight thought it “premium YA content … [that] effectively asks you to leave your logic at the door and go with its heightened mix of drama, dark comedy and magic realism“.

The Man Who Played With Fire (September 26) investigates if best-selling crime writer Stieg Larsson was close to solving a real-life murder?

In 1986 the Prime Minister of Sweden, Olof Palme, was assassinated on a busy street in Stockholm, sending shockwaves around the world. There were many theories about the case, but it was never solved. Decades later, investigator Jan Stocklassa accidentally discovered the personal files of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo author, which revealed Larsson had spent a decade investigating the Palme murder. This gripping series uncovers the huge breakthrough he was on the brink of before his sudden death in 2004.

The documentary was released four years ago to exceptional reviews.

TVNZ+ also will stream a range offbeat British comedies tied in to their Saturday night binge packaging on TVNZ 1 — Starstruck (September 2), Black Ops (September 9), Queen of Oz (September 16), Big Boys (September 23), and Changing Ends (September 30) — while Animal Control (full season, September 13) stars Kiwi Grace Palmer and Community’s Joel McHale in a workplace comedy about a team of animal control workers in Seattle.

“Sitcoms often thrive on the reliability of a well-worn formula, and in that regard, Animal Control knows how to deliver exactly what’s expected of it,” The Hollywood Reporter said.

Other highlights include King Arthur newcomer The Winter King (September 18); Dear Mama S1 (full season, September 24), an FX documentary series about Tupac Shakur and his mother, Black Panther activist Afeni Shakur); Moko the World (full season, September 18), which features tā moko artist Henare Brooking and Hongi to Hāngī’s Tāmati Rimene-Sproat; The Goldbergs S10 and The Tower S2 (September 1); Sherlock S1-4 (September 9); The Hunt for a Killer S1 (September 10); Ahikāroa S5 (September 11); and Grimm S1-6 (September 27).

A slew of Quentin Tarantino titles leads the movie premieres on September 1: Django Unchained, Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill: Volumes 1 and 2 and Jackie Brown. Also watch for:

La Bamba
Rudy
Age of Innocence
Marie Antoinette
Identity
Riding in Cars With Boys
Philadelphia
Awakenings
Enough
The End of the Affair
Little Women (1994)

Sports fans can stream the Blackcaps’ tour of England, the FIBA World Cup, US Open tennis, NFL gridiron and Fight Night: Arsenal X. See the full schedule here.

New to the branded channels are:

Filmstream