Tonight in HD: January 17

SoHo Highlight: Dexter (Sky 10, 8.30, 5.1) Dexter tries to figure out the Doomsday Killer’s next victim before it’s too late; Debra has a strong reaction to a crime scene, which makes her realise she leans too heavily on her brother. After giving the writers the benefit of the doubt for most of the season, the LA Times joined the chorus of US bloggers who have written it off as Dexter’s worst yet: “Tonight’s episode just felt messy compared with the best Dexter’s been, slack where it should have been taut and ridiculous when previously I’ve been willing to go along for the ride.” But others, like Television Blend, were just relieved: “Hooray, finally the first episode of Dexter practically all year where I don’t have to spend most of it lamenting the stupid, impeding plot twist of Gellar and Travis being one and the same.” And while The AV Club thought Ricochet Rabbit not much of an improvement, “with this week’s Debra stuff, though, the writers are really telegraphing that Debra will learn something about Dexter before this season is out … If someone could ground the rest of the show the way the writers have grounded Deb this season, it’s not inconceivable that Dexter could have a late-in-life resurgence. Stranger things have happened.” ✭✭✭

Primeval New Zealand (TV One, 7.30)

Friends (TV2, 6.30, R) Chandler gets confusing dating advice from the guys, and Rachel becomes the ‘other woman’ with her engaged ex-boyfriend, Barry. ✭✭✭

Shortland Street (TV2, 7.00) Chris suffers for his betrayal; Sarah receives a helping hand; Callum fights to save a life. ✭✭✭

Modern Family (TV3, 7.00, 5.1, R) Claire and Gloria want to spend a nice Mother’s Day outdoors hiking with the kids, but their non-stop bickering and complaining drives Claire to the edge, and she brings Gloria down with her. ✭✭✭✭

Special: Primeval New Zealand (TV One, 7.30) Peter Elliott unravels astonishing new facts about the origins of our iconic animals. ✭✭✭✭

Movie: Eragon (TV3, 7.30, 5.1, R) Visual effects rivals Weta Digital and Industrial Light & Magic joined forces for this juvenile fantasy about a flying dragon starring Jeremy Irons, John Malkovich, Edward Speleers and Robert Carlyle. Stefen Fabgmeier, who supervised special effects on The Darkest Hour, Wanted and Lemony’s Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, directs. (2006) ✭✭

Fringe (TV2, 2.40, R) Strange deaths by a mysterious shadow lead the Fringe team to the scene where they learn that a Russian astronaut was possessed by an alien. ✭✭✭✭