Tests of mental, physical kind
TV Guide’s Keith Sharp picks out the best on the box for the week ahead.
When Silver is best
The Silver Ferns take on the England Roses in the first round of the Netball Quad Series this week. England last beat the Silver Ferns in 2014 and only one point separated the teams in the 2014 Commonwealth Games semifinal, so the Ferns will take nothing for granted on Saturday. Australia and South Africa make up the other two teams in the Quad Series and, barring upsets, we should expect to see the Aussies and the Kiwis as the main contenders for the title. But, as we learned from the Olympics: take nothing for granted!
Prime TV, Saturday, 7pm Last Aussie standing
Twenty-four Aussies brave the terrors of the tropics in Samoa for half-a-million dollars and the title of Sole Survivor 2016 in the first episode of Australian Survivor this week. The hopefuls include a private investigator, a professional cricketer, a lawyer, a firefighter and a magician. Can’t help feeling that only the firefighter would be mentally equipped for this. And we wonder if the lawyer had to sign an agreement to say he wouldn’t sue the producers if it all goes pearshaped for him.
TV2, Sunday, 7pm Home And Away fails to fly
Brace yourself for a crash landing as Home And Away returns with a bang on Monday. Some of the cast have been airborne during the Olympic Games, but the lives of nine Summer Bay favourites are left hanging by a thread after their charter plane falls from the sky. So who asked for too much money in their contract negotiations, then?
TV2, Monday, 5.30pm Online for life
We blinked and technology took over our kids’ lives, as they have grown up in a technological world that was difficult to imagine a generation ago. But, as the host reveals on The Hard Stuff With Nigel Latta this week, it is a world that promotes cyberbullying and provides easier access to disturbing pornography than ever before. Are kids addicted to the smartphone? Well, try taking it away for a day and see what happens!
TV One, Tuesday, 8.30pm Rising from the ruins
Is there any old structure or building left in Britain for architect George Clarke to investigate? Apparently not, as the genial Geordie returns for a brand new series of Restoration Man this week. Travelling across the United Kingdom, Clarke helps people from all walks of life transform some of Britain’s neglected historic buildings into new and unique homes. We’re waiting for Clarke’s ultimate series: Amazingly Restored Sheds Of The Year Man.
TV One, Thursday, 7.30pm.
Evoking memories of sci-fi days gone by (everything from Cocoon to Starman, Powder and Close Encounters), this atmospheric tale perhaps suffers slightly from its similarity in conceit to Disney’s recent big-budgeted Tomorrowland.
After the thrilling paranoia of Take Shelter and the coming-of-age boys’ own adventures of Mud, Midnight Special actually feels something of a slight letdown from writer-director Jeff Nichols.
This ‘‘reflection on becoming a father’’ certainly bristles with tension and intrigue, but, in the end, the familiarity which has made Midnight Special such a favourite amongst lovers of Gen X sci-fi also makes it a little ploddingly predictable. – James Croot