Stuff to Watch on Sky and free-to-air TV this week
A New Zealand-shot and set environmental teen drama returns, and Pax Assadi hosts a new comedy show, writes James Croot.
Mystic
Based on Kiwi author Stacy Gregg’s best-selling book series Pony Club Secrets, this award-winning series is back for its third season. It will feature more teen-friendly tales of mystery and intrigue in the small, fictional New Zealand town of Kauri Point. London native Issie (Macey Chipping) is now settled in Aotearoa, and spending every free moment with her horse, Blaze, and her friends at the KP stables. Yet, as Issie’s visions return – and trouble simmers beneath the surface – she realises something is coming – but what?
Rabble Rousers
In the new Pax Assadi-hosted series he rallies a panel of comedians as they battle over the big, small and stupid issues facing New Zealanders this year. The opening episode promises to have Rhys Mathewson, James Roque, Eli Matthewson and Liv McKenzie debating the topic of dating – and whether it was better before apps.
Five Feet Apart
This drama focuses on two teenagers ‘‘breathing on borrowed air’’. As cystic fibrosis patients at Saint Grace Memorial Hospital, Stella Grant (Haley Lu Richardson) and Will Newman’s (Cole Sprouse) lives are blighted by infections, illness and an endless supply of mucus. However, while they have disparate approaches to life, they form a tight bond. It has enough charisma and chutzpah to set it apart from your bog-standard, manipulative, disease-of-theweek drama.
Screw
Teachers’ Nina Sosanya and Derry Girls’ Jamie-Lee O’Donnell join forces for this six-part darkly comedic drama set inside a men’s prison. The former is a veteran prison guard, the latter a streetwise trainee. When this new recruit is recognised by some inmates, her superior starts to wonder if it’s a coincidence, or if there’s something more sinister afoot.
MasterChef NZ
After weeks of competition, it comes down to two contestants battling it out over three courses to see who will be crowned champion. Just as importantly – has it done enough to warrant renewal for another season? Meanwhile, the 10th season of The Block NZ begins the next night at 7pm, featuring four couples who have previously competed and want ‘‘Redemption’’.
Like Sir Peter Jackson’s superb documentary They Shall Not Grow Old, this 2019 movie is inspired by the exploits of the film-maker’s grandfather in ‘‘The Great War’’. Sir Sam Mendes says the story (co-written with Krysty Wilson-Cairns) was based around a ‘‘fragment’’ Alfred Mendes told him. But while the story is engrossing, Mendes elevates it to another level by making it seem to play out in real-time and via a single, continuous shot.
Shop Well For the Planet
Can you live a greener lifestyle and save money? The UK’s Shop Well for Less and Eat Well for Less teams join forces to find out in this series. With Chris Bavin and his Eat Well partner Jordan Banjo looking at food choices and the Shop Well duo Melanie Sykes and Joanna Page tackling shopping habits, this sees families across Britain testing planet-friendly products to see if even little changes could make a difference.