The Best of the Week
SUNDAY MARCH 15
Newshub Special: Remembering March 15 (Three, 2.55pm). As we noted last week, the Muslim community doesn’t mark anniversaries, although it has since been reported that it has reluctantly given its blessing to a remembrance service in Christchurch’s Hagley Park today. Mike McRoberts and Sam Hayes will be covering the service live and Patrick Gower and Annabelle Tukia will have reaction afterwards. The memorial service will also be livestreamed on TVNZ OnDemand from 2.30pm, and over on TVNZ 1, Q+A with Jack Tame ( 9.00am) devotes the programme to the anniversary and John Campbell and Melissa Stokes will present 1 News ( 6.00pm) from Christchurch. Then on Sunday at 7.30pm, there is an item featuring Al Noor Mosque’s imam,
Gamal Fouda, who so movingly addressed thousands of people in Hagley Park a week after the shootings.
Puppy School (Vibe, Sky
006, 6.30pm). After Dog
Squad Puppy School (TVNZ 1, Tuesday), how much more cuteness can we take? This British series features puppies that are being trained in the grounds of Chatsworth House, the stately home that was Pemberley in the 2005 film Pride & Prejudice. Why there? Because it looks beautiful, of course. The owners got their puppies for emotional support – but the dogs’ behaviour needs some tweaking from experts Oli Juste and Hannah Molloy.
Travel Man (TVNZ Duke, 8.30pm).
There aren’t many comedians in whose company we’d want to spend 48 hours – one hour is usually enough – but Richard Ayoade we can stand. Besides, the show is only 30 minutes long, so already we’re on to a winner. Season eight’s travel companions on quick two-day trips to Europe are Frank Skinner (Zürich), Jessica Knappett (Ibiza), Eddie Izzard (Ljubljana) and Morgana Robinson (Milan).
MONDAY MARCH 16
Neighbours (TVNZ 2, 6.00pm). Everybody does need good neighbours, especially ones who don’t deport their criminals or deny that the burning of 186,000sq km
has anything to do with climate change. But we digress. The Aussie soap that introduced Kylie Minogue to the world is celebrating its 35th anniversary with double episodes this week followed by special hour-long weddingthemed episodes next week. Apparently, Chloe has the wild and crazy idea that a wedding expo will save Lassiters Hotel and that means a wedding per episode featuring couples from different decades of Neighbours who didn’t make it down the aisle the first time. Of course, it can’t be all happy matches; there have to be dispatches. It’s reported that three characters will not make it to the end of next week.
Westworld (SoHo, Sky 010, 2.00pm and 8.30pm). Season two’s convoluted – and repetitive – storylines tried our patience somewhat, so let’s hope season three has better narrative chops. Details are under wraps, of course, but it has been revealed that the hosts who escaped into the real world are being hunted; Maeve (Thandie Newton) is sent after Dolores (Evan Rachel Wood), who forms an alliance with a new character played by Aaron Paul; and future Los Angeles is a lot like the most sci-fi bits of present-day Singapore. But the show looks amazing in the trailers (cool cars! robots!). It
remains to be seen, though, if HBO has found that elusive Game of Thrones replacement.
TUESDAY MARCH 17
Roswell, New Mexico (TVNZ OnDemand). Fun for the teen viewers of the household – here’s season two of the “reimagined” Roswell (which you may remember from the early 2000s) in which actual aliens from outer space are living in plain sight. This new show adds a political layer by making its lead character, played by Jeanine Mason, the daughter of undocumented immigrants. Also this week is Motherland: Fort Salem (TVNZ OnDemand, Thursday), which features militarised teenage witches fighting for the good ol’ US of A.
Eat Well for Less? (TVNZ 1, 8.00pm). Chris Bavin is a busy chap – there he is judging Best Home Cook ( TVNZ 1, Saturday, 8.30pm) and here he is in a new season of Eat Well for Less? in which he and Gregg Wallace sort out profligate shoppers. The products and prices are UK-centric, of course, but the series definitely encourages all of us to give cheaper store brands a go and do more home cooking. Meanwhile, in the finale of Jamie’s Ultimate Veg (TVNZ 1, Thursday, 7.30pm), Jamie Oliver is inspired by breakfasts in Jerusalem to create pancakes with spinach,
cheese and chilli. Oozy risotto and summer vegetable pie are also on the menu. For more British globetrotting chefs, Rick Stein: From Venice to Istanbul begins on Choice TV (Sunday, 4.30pm). It has screened before, but the scenery’s lovely.
Rich House Poor House (TVNZ 1, 9.15pm). More British belttightening. Well, sort of. A wealthy family in the top
10% swap with one in the bottom 10%; small life lessons rather than larger cultural and political insights are learnt. “Nobody was overwhelmed by hardship, or unsettled by a glimpse of how the other half lives,” said the Guardian. Perhaps it’s a good thing that the families don’t seem to be a million miles apart despite their income disparity – there’s enough division in Britain already.
The Plot Against America (SoHo, Sky 010, 9.30pm). Between this and Prime Video’s Hunters, in which Al Pacino hunts Nazis in the 70s, we’re sensing a theme. After The Wire and The Deuce, David
Simon turns his attention to a fictional America, one in which aviator hero Charles Lindbergh, also a noted anti-Semite and xenophobe, becomes president. Simon and his writing partner Ed Burns have adapted Philip Roth’s 2004 novel and tell the story through the eyes of a workingclass Jewish family in Newark as they watch Lindbergh create a fascist state during World War II. The trailer alone is anxiety-inducing. Winona Ryder, Zoe Kazan, Morgan Spector and John Turturro are in the cast and Roth was an executive producer.
THURSDAY MARCH 19
Police Ten 7 (TVNZ 2, 7.30pm). Police Ten 7 enters its 27th season, which is an awful lot of criminals doing crime. Welcome back, we think.