The Weekend Ahead in HD: November 26-27

SoHo Highlight: Boardwalk Empire (Sky 10, 8.30 Sunday, 5.1) After paying lip service to his enemies, Nucky introduces a surprise guest speaker at a Memorial Day dedication for war veterans; with his options dwindling, Eli questions his allegiances but ends up digging himself a deeper hole; Nucky gets a new lawyer; Jimmy is taught a painful lesson by a Commodore crony; Richard goes hunting deep in the forest. The gruesome escalation of violence in episode five — there’s a close-up of a man getting his head caved in by a heavy wrench, a veteran of the American-Indian Wars is scalped — prompted media debate in the US. Salon.com called them “two spectacular acts of violence that played like textbook examples of a show trying to jack up its excitement level with ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe they did that’ mayhem.” Even Kurt Sutter, the creator of Sons of Anarchy, was surprised by the rawness of the violence. “I found the head bashing much more disturbing than the scalping,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “Sometimes violence that’s left to the imagination is much more vivid and dark than what can be shown on-screen. The audience doesn’t have to unplug as much.” ✭✭✭✭

Saturday

The Secret Lives of Dancers (TV3, 4.00, R)  After rave reviews for their opening night the company is on the road to Invercargill and Christchurch. ✫✫✫✫

Accidentally on Purpose (TV3, 4.30, 5.1, R) Abby and Nick try to surprise Billie and Zack with a surprise baby shower, but their plan doesn’t go as well as expected. ✫✫✫

Trade Zone Gone Fishin’ (TV3, 5.30) ✫✫

Winners and Losers (TV One, 12.00, R) When Tiffany Turner almost loses her life, the girls are forced to confront demons from their past. ✫✫

Sunday

Hellcats (TV2, 5.30) Marti is conflicted over her feelings for Dan and Lewis, and focuses on Travis’ case to keep her mind occupied. Musical guest Fefe Dobson performs. ✫✫✫

Raising Hope (TV3, 7.00, 5.1) Sabrina blackmails Virginia to stay quiet when the two discover secrets about each other. And the family votes for Burt to get a vasectomy. ✫✫✫✫

Mike & Molly (TV2, 7.30, F) Season finale: Mike is put in an uncomfortable position when Peggy’s new boyfriend questions him about marrying Molly. ✫✫

The Middle (TV2, 8.00) As prom quickly approaches, Axl text-invites the wrong girl and wants to weasel out – but Frankie and Mike force him to do the right thing. ✫✫

Movie: It’s Complicated (TV3, 8.30, 5.1) Meryl Streep stars as a mother of three whose relationship with her re-married ex-husband unexpectedly becomes more than amicable, which makes her something almost unimaginable: the other woman. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin co-star. (2009) ✫✫✫✫

Movie: A Little Thing Called Murder (TV3, 11.05, R) “This is not great art, but it’s great fun.” So observed the New York Times of this made-for-TV dramatisation of how a mother and son, Sante and Kenny Kimes, criss-crossed the United States on a killing spree. Judy Davis and Jonathan Jackson star. (2006) ✫✫✫✫

Birdland (TV One, 12.40, R) ✫✫✫✫