Best on the box
Stuff’s James Croot’s top TV picks for the week ahead.
Wilde Ride, 6pm, Saturday, TVNZ2
Molly Leishman, Kirk Torrance and Danielle Mason star in this new Kiwi drama about a young girl whose dream of being a showjumping champion is dashed when her parents are killed in a car accident, and she is forced to live with her aunt’s dirt bike riding family in West Auckland.
Bafta Awards, 8.30pm, Monday, UKTV
Joanna Lumley hosts the 71st edition of the United Kingdom’s annual night of cinematic celebration. Leading the nominations this year are Darkest Hour, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and The Shape of Water.
The Vietnam War, 8.30pm, Monday, Ma¯ori TV
Broadcast premiere of Ken Burns’ Peter Coyote-narrated 10-part, 17-and-a-half-hour series about America’s most controversial military engagement. Ten years in the making, it cost around US$30m to create. ‘‘It frequently comes so close to becoming not just impressive but important, challenging, even agenda-setting,’’ wrote New York magazine’s Matt Zoeller Seitz.
Queen – Rock the World, 8.30pm, Monday, Prime
Made to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of their sixth album, News of the World, this 2017 BBC documentary features footage captured by BBC presenter Bob Harris in 1977 as he followed the band on their groundbreaking tour of North America. ‘‘Really committed Queen fans are the ones that would most adore this film but it was also fascinating historical record of how successful late 70s rock was concocted, managed and performed,’’ wrote The
Telegraph’s Lucy Jones
The Fall, 8.30pm, Wednesday, Rialto
This 2016 documentary retells a 1980s sporting controversy. On August 11, 1984, 12 athletes lined up for the women’s 3000m race at the Los Angeles Olympic Games. But only two really stood a chance to win – Team USA’s hot favourite Mary Decker and the 18-year-old footwear-free South African Zola Budd. The crowds expected a historic showdown, but got more of a storm than anyone could have predicted. ‘‘An intriguing look at the ugly, inglorious side to the Olympics,’’ wrote The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw.
The Hunt for the Zodiac Killer, 7.30pm, Thursday, History
Almost 50 years after his reign of terror, the coded messages of one of America’s most vicious serial killers have never been truly deciphered. Now, Sal LaBarbera, the most successful homicide detective in the LAPD, will attempt to hunt him down with the help of a crack codebreaking team.