The Best of the Week
SATURDAY OCTOBER 21
Good Behavior Marathon (SoHo, Sky 010, from noon). At times, Good Behavior ran out of steam over its 10-episode first season, but it’s worth watching for a great performance by Michelle Dockery – yes, Downton’s Lady Mary – as a grifting drug user who gets tangled up with an international assassin (Juan Diego Botto). Turns out, they’re a pretty good team, although the relationship is not without its unique problems. SoHo is screening season one today in anticipation of season two.
2017 Apra Silver Scroll Awards (Rialto, Sky 039, 8.30pm).
As far as the musicians are concerned, this is the best night in the awards calendar, because these are the ones that are solely about the songwriting. It was a night of firsts: the five nominees were all women, and Dunedin made its debut as host. There are performances by Tiny Ruins, Death and the Maiden, Drogan and KVKA, a special tribute to Dunedin luminary Roy Colbert, and the Clean are this year’s Hall of Fame Award winners. RNZ National’s Jesse Mulligan hosts.
SUNDAY OCTOBER 22
Sunday Special: Wait for Me, Hollywood (TVNZ 1, 7.30pm). Pork Pie and The Rehearsal star James Rolleston was definitely destined for greater things before he was involved in a devastating car accident that resulted in a traumatic brain injury. In this special, he discusses the accident and his subsequent fight to learn to walk, talk and act again. Victoria (TVNZ 1, 8.30pm). Writer Daisy Goodwin exercises her prerogative to invent a romantic interlude when the royal couple take a break in Scotland. The episode was filmed at Blair Castle in Perthshire, a location enjoyed by the real Victoria and
Albert before Albert bought Balmoral Castle in 1852. Victoria wrote extensively about their trips north, but never mentioned getting lost in the Highlands and spending the night in a small cottage sharing a meal of trout with its occupants and pretending to be ordinary.
Hinterland (Rialto, Sky 039, 8.30pm). Or Y Gwyll, as they say in Wales, the show that takes twice as long to film
because there are two versions – one in Welsh and one in English. No wonder Richard Harrington looks tired. It’s perhaps less remarkable that this is a sort of Celtic noir: Wales is lush, but damn wet and damn cold, and Harrington and co-star Mali Harries investigate all sorts of rum crimes in and around Aberystwyth. In season three, Harrington’s Tom Mathias is suspected of murdering a former police officer, who has been thrown from Devil’s Bridge near the creepy former children’s home. Well, of course.
LABOUR DAY
Morocco to Timbuktu: An Arabian Adventure (Choice TV, 7.30pm). Adventurer and journalist Alice Morrison is a Marrakesh resident and Arabic speaker, so she’s an excellent guide for this West African journey. From Morocco, she follows ancient routes to Timbuktu in Mali, once the centre of trade for salt, gold, ivory and slaves. There are plenty of adventures, from wading around in gypsum and pigeon poo in Marrakesh’s oldest tannery to trekking by camel across the Sahara.
George Michael: Freedom (Prime, 8.30pm). George Michael’s final project arrives nearly a year after his untimely death. The documentary is co-directed and narrated by Michael and covers his career in the 1980s and 1990s, in particular the legal battle with his record company over the marketing of his music that coincided with the death of his partner, Anselmo Feleppa. There is archival and home footage and a slew of superstars show up, including Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Naomi Campbell, Mary J Blige, Mark Ronson and Nile Rodgers.
The Walking Dead (TVNZ 2, 9.30pm). Season eight and still the fans can’t get enough of the fightin’ and the zombie killin’. The season is based on the “All Out War” storyline in the graphic novels, which should give us some idea what to expect: it’s Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and the gang versus Negan and the Saviors. The opening episode is also the show’s 100th and director and executive producer Greg Nicotero has crafted a homage to the show’s first episode from 2010 featuring Rick’s son, Carl (Chandler Riggs). It has also been revealed that there will be a Fear the Walking Dead crossover, although the two shows exist at different stages in the zombie apocalypse.
TUESDAY OCTOBER 24
Employable Me (Three, 9.30pm). A lovely series, in the same vein of The Undateables: people with neuro-untypical conditions such as Tourette’s or autism look for jobs. On hand to help are autism expert Simon Baron-Cohen and occupational psychologist Nancy Doyle. “Warm, human, moving telly,” said the Guardian.
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 25
The Wrong Girl (Three,
10.55pm). The Australian Bridget Jones returns: but which hunky dude did Lily (Jessica Marais) choose? Jack the hunky chef (Rob Collins) or Pete the hunky best friend (Ian Meadows)? We can reveal that as the season begins, Lily is in the Bay of Islands chilling, but is soon thrust back into the hurly-burly of breakfast TV.
THURSDAY OCTOBER 26
Pure (Box Sets, Sky 009, 7.30pm). A new one on us: drug-dealing Mennonites. Think of the chase scenes. Pure is loosely based on the real
discovery of huge quantities of marijuana and cocaine hidden in farm equipment that was being sent from Mexico into the US and Canada. The DEA connected the drugs to Mexican Mennonites in Alberta: not surprisingly, closed communities are good for secret activities. In this six-part series, a new Mennonite pastor (Ryan Robbins) in Southern Ontario thinks he’ll be able to get rid of the criminal activity within his community, but when he is extorted into taking part, he has to work with the guy who bullied him at school, who is now a cop. All six episodes screen today from 7.30pm.
The Russell Howard Hour (TVNZ 2, 9.30pm). The Telegraph called him the Jamie Oliver of comedy: he’s now one of the most popular comedians in the UK, selling out 10 consecutive nights at the Royal Albert Hall earlier this year, breaking the record of eight, set by Frank Sinatra. He has a much sharper tongue than the cheeky chappie from Essex, however; this show is all about politics and features a stand-up set, interviews and celebrity guests – from a British perspective, of course.