New to View: November 7 – 13

A weekly guide to what’s new of note on air and online

Sunday

➢ Bloodlands TVNZ 1, 9.35

“Although they officially ended in 1998, the decades of political conflict known as The Troubles cast a long shadow over Ireland and the UK—and particularly the relationships between factions within UK-controlled Northern Ireland—that still hasn’t faded. Bloodlands, a four-part BBC crime drama that broke ratings records in Northern Ireland and has since been renewed for a second season, awakens the ghosts of that sectarian violence. The great James Nesbitt stars as Tom Brannick, a Belfast police detective whose investigation of a car that was pulled out of a lake also dredges up the darkest period of his history. This slow-burning but not overlong mystery contains no wild, subversive stylistic flourishes; it’s just a chilly, thoughtful, well-written and superbly acted story that connects specific, personal grief with the larger understanding that it takes more than a peace treaty to heal the scars of civil war.” — Time.

Monday

➢ Beauty and the Geek TVNZ 2, 7.30

“Self-confessed bogan Sophie Monk is now host for the Ashton Kutcher-created series which brings together 10 males and 10 females in a quest for true TV love and a $100,000 prize to share. So what else has changed? Yes there is some racial diversity amongst the cast, but the geeks are all still male while the beauties remain female. Unless there are ‘intruders’ coming in to shake up the definitions I’m struggling to work out why this show is back … What will this very costumed reality construct add to the conversation? And could it do it in half the time? You bet. Just get to the makeovers, that’s what we’re here for.” — TV Tonight.

➢ Yellowstone Neon (SoHo, 8.30 Wednesday)

Two-hour premiere picks up where S3 ended. “Yellowstone season 4 will have a huge cliffhanger to resolve, after the season finale ended so explosively. A bomb went off in Beth’s office, while Kayce and John were targeted in separate shootings. Will the three Duttons survive?” — Tom’s Guide.

➢ Cold Case TVNZ 1, 8.30

With your help, detectives try to uncover what happened to Timothy Pridding, who vanished without a trace from Dunedin in 1994.

➢ Spreadsheet TVNZ 2, 8.35

The IT Crowd’s Katherine Parkinson and Kiwi Robbie Magasiva stars in this eight-part “raunchy Aussie sex comedy“, about a divorcee hungry for casual sex, that streams on Paramount+ over the Tasman

Wednesday

➢ Call Me Kat TVNZ 2, 8.00

It was a big bomb with critics but enough viewers tuned in to convince Fox to renew this US variation on Miranda starring The Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik (which she executive produced with former co-star Jim Parsons). “It just isn’t very funny. Try as the writers might, the dialogue is unnatural to the ear and the jokes are flat.” — USA Today.

Thursday

➢ All Creatures Great and Small Vibe, 8.30

“The comforting cup of Yorkshire tea we all need. The period drama’s second series is just as heart-warming as its predecessor … containing all the ingredients needed for your classic, inoffensive family-friendly drama: a bit of relatively low-stakes suspense, a will-they-won’t-they romance, a couple of chuckle-worthy moments and as many cute animals as possible.” — Radio Times.

➢ Love Never Lies Netflix

“Netflix’s latest dating show Love Never Lies, or Amor Con Fianza, sees six couples sequestered in an exotic villa who are subjected to testing by the all-seeing Eye Detect, a McGuffin that can read whether the individual is lying or not by the movement and dilation of their eyes. The technological aspect may be complete nonsense but the accessory serves as a plot device that keeps the contestants as paranoid and anxious as possible.” — Irish Times.

Friday

➢ Dopesick Disney+

“The true story of how giant pharmaceutical company Purdue was at the centre of the opioid prescription painkiller crisis in America … Based on early episodes, Dopesick is a (mostly) sober, compelling and clear dramatisation of one of the most shameful examples of big pharma wrongdoing in recent history, which will have you recoiling in fury.” — Empire.

➢ Richard Osman’s House of Games Night BBC UKTV, 8.30

Each week a group of four celebrities tests their general knowledge skills in madcap games. “This sort of chummy timewaster feels like ishould have Una Stubbs or Kenneth Williams on it, but we continue to make do with Ed Balls, Janette Manrara, Steph McGovern and Ben Miller.” — The Guardian.

➢ Magnum PI Three, midnight

New late-night slot for S3 of the Hawaiian private eye reboot. S4 went to air last month on CBS.

Saturday

➢ Great British Railway Journeys Living, 7.30

“These [S12] episodes will wind through the Home Counties, from Oxford to Winchester … This series was filmed during the pandemic, so [Michael] Portillo wears a face mask while travelling by train but … still greets everything with his customary enthusiasm, clutching his Bradshaw’s Guide and showing a genuine interest in the people and places along his route … It’s more fun when Portillo is a little further out of his comfort zone – taking his impeccable manners and linen suiting to far corners of Europe and Asia.” — The Telegraph.

➢ SIX60 Saturdays 2021: Live at Eden Park Three, 8.30

SIX60 was the first band to ever stage a concert at New Zealand’s National Stadium. Screens opposite Sky Arts’ Last Night at the Proms 2021, in which Australian tenor Stuart Skelton and Latvian accordionist Ksenija Sidorova close the world’s biggest classical music festival.

➢ This Time With Alan Partridge TVNZ OnDemand

“While  Steve Coogan’s most famous creation has been seen in various guises ever since, This Time With Alan Partridge is among his finest outings to date.The latest slice of Partridge sees Alan being handed an unexpected return to the BBC when he becomes the stand-in host of This Time, a weekday magazine programme … A slice of comedic gold and an early contender for the funniest show of the year.” — NME.