Television
The Best of the Week
SATURDAY DECEMBER 21
Christmas in the Park 2019 (Three, 7.00pm). Ho, ho, ho. All the fun without the hassle of the three-hour journey home. The line-up includes Ladi6, Sons of Zion, Vince Harder, Lavina Williams, Lotto presenter Russell Harrison, the Pacific Network Gospel Choir and a bunch of dance crews (or should that be a stomp of dance crews? A hoof?).
SUNDAY DECEMBER 22
Elton John: Uncensored (TVNZ 1, 8.10pm). After producing one of the best rock’n’roll autobiographies ever written, Elton John, it could be argued, doesn’t go in for censoring anything, which makes the title of this special slightly perplexing. Nevertheless, it’s a chat with Graham Norton, who knows how to ask both the frivolous and serious questions. The interview takes place in Elton’s villa in the south of France and is about as candid as you’d expect, covering the highs and lows of his five-decade career and his brush with prostate cancer. But wait, there’s more Elton: Brits Icon: Elton John (Prime, New Year’s Eve, 8.05pm) is a career retrospective and a live performance recorded at the London Palladium in 2013. There’s also a lot more Norton: he is back in his studio chair for The Graham Norton Show: Christmas Special (Three, Monday, December 23, 9.45pm). On the red couch are John Boyega and Daisy Ridley from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker; Henry Cavill, who is in a new fantasy series, The
Witcher; Ruth Jones and Rob Brydon out of Gavin & Stacey (see Boxing Day); and Robbie Williams. Then, there’s more hilarity on The Graham Norton Show: New Year Special (Three, New Year’s Day, 8.40pm), with guests Tom Hanks, Stephen Graham, Spice Girl Mel C and Motsi Mabuse, the judge of South African show Let’s Dance.
MONDAY DECEMBER 23
Celebrity Bake Off NZ (TVNZ 2, 7.00pm). Bake Off is the gift that keeps on giving. In the UK, there have been Sport Relief and Comic Relief versions and, for the past two years, Stand Up to Cancer Bake Offs, which featured celebrities and performers
such as John Lithgow, Jeremy Paxman, Alan Carr and recent visitor to New Zealand Griff Rhys Jones. In this special, Toni Street, Paula Bennett, Art Green, Jackie van Beek, Bree Tomasel and Dave Fane will have their creations judged by Dean Brettschneider and Sue Fleischl, who are probably as eager as we are to see how Green is going to whip up bread, biscuits and buns in a paleo style.
Reckoning (TVNZ OnDemand). Something new from the Australians, although, in these global times, this Sony Pictures
TV production is intended for a worldwide audience after the company’s success with the series Absentia. Reckoning is a thriller starring Aden Young ( Rectify) and Sam Trammel ( True Blood) as fathers connected to a serial killer in their suburban community. It’s said to be an exploration of the dark corners of the male psyche, although it’s difficult to tell as it has not screened yet. Also appearing are New Zealander Simone Kessell and US actress Gloria Garayua.
The Chase Christmas Special (TVNZ 1, 8.00pm). Traditionally, the Chasers don some rather alarming costumes for their celebrity Christmas special – who can forget Mark “The Beast” Labbett dressed as Tiny Tim, or Shaun “The Dark Destroyer” Wallace as a startling Ghost of Christmas Past? We await with bated breath this year’s creations, although we can tell you that the celebrities competing include Reverend Kate Bottley, Dr Ranj Sing and comedian Ed Byrne. The Chase host Bradley Walsh is having a busy Christmas; he’s in the Doctor Who New Year’s Special (see January 2) and he’s also fronting up for Bradley
Walsh’s Late Night Guest List (TVNZ 1, Christmas Eve, 8.25pm), a variety show featuring music, games and interviews. Piers Morgan, Holly Willoughby and Emma Bunton will appear. And the British Christmas specials keep on coming: Michael McIntyre’s Big Christmas Show (TVNZ 2, Christmas Eve, 7.15pm) will feature soprano Katherine Jenkins and former footballer Chris Kamara; then Corries of Christmas Past (TVNZ 1, Christmas Eve, 9.25pm) is a festival of festive nostalgia.
BOXING DAY
Gavin & Stacey: A Special
Christmas (TVNZ 2, 7.00pm). So beloved are the characters created by Ruth Jones and James Corden that one UK critic has claimed that the return of the show for a Christmas special is “the biggest news in British comedy for a decade”. Well, we can be sure that it will be amusing and heart-warming and Jones’ Nessa will say, “What’s occurrin’?”, at least once. In the special, the Shipmans and the Wests are having Christmas in Wales, where Uncle Bryn is cooking dinner for 13.
MONDAY DECEMBER 30
Year in Review 2019 (TVNZ 1, 7.30pm). We hope this special is coming to us live from the TVNZ outdoor garden in memory of the gloriously messy Paul Holmes end-of-year round-ups. Hilary Barry and
Jeremy Wells look back on the best and worst of the year and will be joined by Officers Minogue and O’Leary from Wellington Paranormal, Sol3 Mio and Urzila Carlson.
NEW YEAR’S EVE
NYE Fireworks Live (TVNZ 1, 2, Duke and OnDemand). The fireworks are live from Auckland’s Sky Tower which, come to think of it, would make an awesome screensaver. Happy New Year, everyone!
NEW YEAR’S DAY
Royal Variety Performance 2019 (TVNZ 1, 7.00pm). The good thing about variety shows is that if you don’t like an act, another one will be along presently. Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan present and performers include Robbie
Williams, Jamie Cullum, Harry Connick Jr, the cast of Mary Poppins, Emeli Sandé and the legendary Rod Stewart.
QI (Prime, 7.00pm). Pint-sized comedian Sandi Toksvig already had form as a panelshow presenter – she had spent 10 years on BBC Radio 4’s
News Quiz when she took over from Stephen Fry in 2015, and, four years on, she’s as much a fixture as Fry. Finally, we are to see her debut, which starts with the letter “N”. In the first episode, Naming Names, she is joined by Phill Jupitus, Cariad Lloyd and Romesh Ranganathan – and Alan Davies, of course.
Top Gear Nepal Special (TVNZ Duke, 8.30pm). Top Gear presenters Freddie Flintoff, Paddy McGuinness and Chris Harris test their mettle in Nepal – none of these nambypamby 4WDs; they’ll be tackling the river crossings, mudslides and mountain passes in an old Peugeot, a tiny Renault and Nepal’s first
and only home-built car.
THURSDAY JANUARY 2
Doctor Who New Year’s Special (TVNZ 2, 7.30pm). The biggest and most ambitious episode ever, according to showrunner Chris Chibnall. “There’s a lot of stunts, there’s a lot of locations, it’s a globe-trotting action thriller,” Chibnall told deadline.com. Here’s a hint – the two-part episode is called Spyfall and the Doctor and her friends step in to help British spy agencies that are under attack from aliens. Also starring Lenny Henry and Stephen Fry.