Highlights
Sky Sport 2, 4.30pm
The New Zealand Warriors kick off their first game of the NRL season against the Canterbury Bulldogs at Mt Smart Stadium. Watch delayed coverage on Prime from 11.30pm.
Three, 7pm
Ready the confetti for the grand finale in which the ultimate talent show contestant will be chosen. Among the finalists is a ventriloquist, a comedian, musicians, and a sand performance artist who tells stories through incredible pictures she creates with just her hands and a bit of grit she shook out of her beach towel.
TVNZ 1, 8.05pm
Oscar Kightley (right) ends his tour of literary legend Mark Twain’s adventures in New Zealand. Twain was a man who had a particular fondness for rivers so it’s fitting the series should end in Whanganui, a place that reputedly stole Twain’s heart. Tonight, Oscar TV GUIDE explores how the locals got around prohibition.
Vibe, 7.30pm
This series follows real-life dieters and weighs up their progress to see if diets work and which method is most successful. Dr Xand van Tulleken (above) also breaks down dieting myths and offers ideas on how to safely, and sensibly, shift those extra centimetres, if you are so inclined.
Prime, 7.30pm
This documentary throws a spotlight on our very own dinosaur, the tuatara. Just how did this living legend survive after its poor relations became extinct? This special also explores what our native reptile has in common with the saltwater crocodile of North Australia. Mel Buttle and Claire Hooper from The Great Australian Bake Off
TVNZ 2, 8.30pm
This new comedy-action series plays out like a blockbuster movie. Scott Foley (Scandal) is an empathetic FBI agent teamed up with a stoic CIA counterpart (Lauren Cohan, The Walking Dead). Sparks and bullets fly in equal measure in this series inspired by the comedy dramas and crime shows of the 80s. This series continues on Wednesdays.
Vibe, 8.30pm
It can be isolating to have a medical complaint that is obvious to others. For some of the people profiled in this series, conditions such as vitiligo or Tourette’s Syndrome can make venturing outside uncomfortable. Different Like Me brings together young people who have the same condition to share their experiences. Together, they support each other and confront people who judge them in society.
Choice TV, 9pm
Fresh off the awards season success of Bohemian Rhapsody comes this look into
the life of Queen’s frontman Freddie Mercury.
MONDAY Suffragettes History, 8.30pm
This two-part dramatised documentary was described as “gripping” by The Guardian. Historian Lucy Worsley (right) tells the story of a group of young, working-class suffragettes who fought the battle for women’s rights, sometimes using violence and arson as a means to their end.
TUESDAY The Great Australian Bake Off Prime, 7.30pm
It’s time to crown a new champion of cream cakes and crispy crumbles. The finalists must create an intricate Battenburg cake and a boozy rum baba. But for their final challenge, they must whip up a decorative centrepiece that tells a story close to their sweet and sticky hearts.
WEDNESDAY TVNZ 2, 8pm
Sheldon’s nemesis, Wil Wheaton, hosts a Dungeons And Dragons tournament filled with celebrity faces including William Shatner and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Ordeal By Innocence SoHo, 9.30pm
When a wealthy heiress is found dead, fingers are pointed at one of her five adopted children. But when a man arrives with an alibi for the accused, the family’s secrets and lies unravel and new suspects emerge. Bill Nighy (Their Finest) and Matthew Goode (Downton Abbey) star in this series based on an Agatha Christie mystery.
THURSDAY Modern Family Three, 7.30pm
In the latest season of this long-running comedy series, eldest daughter Haley is all grown up and preparing to become a mother herself. But parents Phil and Claire are sceptical that Haley and Dylan are ready for parenthood.
Graham Norton’s Good Story Guide Three, 8pm FRIDAY Love Your Garden TVNZ 1, 7.30pm
In tonight’s final episode, Alan Titchmarsh and his team overhaul the backyard of a family in East London. This is a real transformation complete with a tropical water feature and a ‘sensory beach’ which sounds like a fancier version of that school fair classic, the ‘sand garden’. Chat-show host extraordinaire Graham Norton gives viewers a crash course in how to be the best guest on the big red couch.