The week’s best live action
TENNIS If it’s winter, it must be Wimbledon, although you’ll have to make like a vampire to catch the overnight action. TVNZ once again has live coverage of the third grand slam tennis tournament of the year. Defending men’s champion Roger Federer has been in good form after a break and would love to add another Wimbledon title to his record eight. The defending women’s champion is Garbiñe Muguruza, currently No 3 in the world. She hasn’t had a brilliant 2018 so far, although she reached the semi-finals of the French Open. TVNZ 1’s coverage starts on Monday night at 10.55pm and runs until July 16. The coverage will also be live on TVNZ OnDemand and starts on TVNZ Duke on Monday at 10.25pm.
CRICKET
The 2018 England Women’s Tri-Nation Series, between England, South Africa and New Zealand, concludes: will the White Ferns have made it to the final at the County Cricket Ground in Chelmsford? We say yes! (SS Pop-up 2, 1.58am).
AUSSIE RULES
What even is Aussie Rules? No one knows. It’s as if rugby, basketball and pub brawls had a baby! The Aussies love it, however, and there is reportedly interest in expanding the code here now that Western Springs Stadium is going to be turned over to cricket, the oval being the appropriate shape for the 18-a-side game. TVNZ Duke has live coverage of the current AFL season. It’s round 15, and if it means anything at all, Carlton play Port Adelaide (Saturday, 3.30pm); Greater Western Sydney play Hawthorn (Saturday, 9.00pm); and Melbourne play St Kilda
(Sunday, 3.00pm). the 2018 Tāmaki Makaurau regionals.
WEDNESDAY JULY 4
The Zen Diaries of Garry Shandling (SoHo, Sky 010, 8.30pm).
A loving eulogy for Judd Apatow’s friend and mentor, the comedian who turned his anxieties into comedy and whose satire The Larry Sanders Show marked the beginning of the new golden age of
TV. Shandling kept diaries, and as well as interviewing a huge number of admirers, Apatow enlists Michael Cera to read from them throughout this two-part documentary. Comedy at the time was a boys’ club: Jay Leno, Jerry Seinfeld, Conan O’Brien and Bob Saget all comment; the exceptions are Sarah Silverman and writer Merrill Markoe.
Grantchester (UKTV, Sky 007, 8.40pm). Rejoice, Grantchester fans, here’s season two of the series about sleuthing vicar Sidney Chambers (James Norton). There are some big issues this season, including sexual and domestic abuse, homosexuality, capital punishment and, for good measure, a Soviet spy.
THURSDAY JULY 5
Shakespeare Uncovered (Sky Arts, Sky 020, 8.30pm). The stories behind the plays as told by actors with personal connections to them. In season three, F Murray Abraham looks at The Merchant of Venice and the various attempts, over the years, to rescue Shakespeare from the charge of anti-Semitism; Helen Hunt explores Much Ado About Nothing; Brian Cox looks at Julius Caesar; Simon Russell Beale takes on The Winter’s Tale; Romola Garai investigates the racy Measure for Measure; and a presenter has yet to be announced for Richard III.
FRIDAY JULY 6
Ellen’s Game of Games (TVNZ 2, 8.00pm). Daytime talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres has a prime-time hit with this series that features silly games from her show. The sets are something else, and DeGeneres is, as ever, funny and spontaneous. Grantchester, Wednesday.