Television
The Best of the Week
SUNDAY APRIL 29
Waka Man (TVNZ 1, 8.35am). By the look of his guns, fitness fanatic and star of reality series The GC Alby Waititi has been doing quite a lot of waka ama, and in this series, he paddles or sails around some of our waterways meeting people with deep ties to the water and waka culture.
Midsomer Murders (Prime, 8.30pm). Let it not be said that Midsomer doesn’t recycle. Tonight’s final episode stars Simon Callow as a grumpy violinist; he first appeared in 2006, back in the John Nettles days, as a chain-smoking doctor.
Seven Types of Ambiguity (TVNZ 1, 10.05pm). Not unlike The Slap, in that it features the perspectives of a number of unreliable narrators,
Seven Types of
Ambiguity is centred around a child, and is based on an award-winning Australian novel. Hugo Weaving leads a cast that includes Alex Dimitriades, Susie Porter ( Puberty Blues) and Leeanna Walsman ( Wentworth). It begins when an out-of-work schoolteacher kidnaps a boy, setting in motion revelations of long-buried secrets and lies.
(Begins April 22.)
MONDAY APRIL 30
Lost & Found
(Three, 8.30pm).
Stop it, David Lomas, you’re making us cry. The family reunion series returns for a fourth season with more tales of history and heartbreak. The first episode features two men who want to find their birth mothers.
Off the Beaten Track with Kate Humble (Choice
TV, 8.30pm). It’s blimmin’ cold when Kate Humble sets out on her journey to meet communities in the farthest reaches of her adopted home, Wales. The specialist wildlife presenter is also going to
look at how the landscape is being shaped and changed, especially as there are so few people in Wales. She begins at the Great Orme, an exposed headland in the north of Wales, where an area of land is in danger of losing its natural biodiversity. Humble’s Welsh sheepdog, Teg, is a celebrity in his own right and a great helpmate: “I may be accepted in these communities only because I’ve got the right nationality of dog,” she quips.
An Hour to Catch a Killer (Three, 9.30pm). We thought the “golden hour” referred to emergency medicine, but in this documentary, it comes from the British police murder manual. ITV gained unprecedented access to a police investigation and all the tools used to track down a killer within the first hour of a murder, which is when evidence is at its most fresh. The documentary follows a real murder investigation in Gateshead, from the 999 call made by the flatmate of a woman who has been stabbed, to the arrest and interview of a suspect. Every move is captured on body cameras worn by police as well as CCTV. Not forgetting the human element, presenter Trevor McDonald makes a visit to the family of the slain woman.
Flying Across Britain with Arthur Williams (Choice TV, 9.30pm). Anglophiles and vintage-plane lovers, you’ve hit the jackpot. Former Royal Marine Arthur Williams, who learnt to fly after he became wheelchair-bound, takes a series of short hops across the UK in his own vintage plane in an exploration of that nation’s aviation history. In addition, he gets to fly a Spitfire, land in a seaplane and go behind the scenes of a US Air Force base in Britain.
TUESDAY MAY 1
Landscape Artist of the Year (Sky Arts, Sky 020, 8.30pm). It turns out that the snobs were wrong – you can make a fine arts reality show. Both Landscape Artist of the Year and its sister show, Portrait Artist of the Year, are continuing in the UK. Here’s season three, which begins at the ruins of
Knaresborough Castle in Yorkshire.
WEDNESDAY MAY 2
Alice Snedden’s Bad News (TVNZ On Demand). Why there is almost no satire on New Zild TV is a mystery, but perhaps comedian Alice Snedden, who has been writing for Jono and Ben and Funny Girls, can fill the gap where a home-grown Trevor Noah should be. As well as writing and stand-up, Snedden has studied improv at the Upright Citizens Brigade in New York, and she is going to tackle politics and current issues in this web series.
The Selection (Prime, 8.30pm). Another week, another group of masochists who want to test their physical and mental limits. This US series features 30 men and women going through special-opsstyle training and exercises, including
psychological tests, interrogation and being tear-gassed. Hands up who’s happy to be watching from the couch.
Ross Kemp: The Fight Against Isis (Prime, 9.30pm). Ross Kemp is never a particularly eloquent presenter, but fortunately the pictures of devastated areas of Iraq and Syria speak for themselves. In this doco from last year, he’s following Kurdish forces as they fight Isis terrorists and he and his camera crew become the first Westerners to cross the Euphrates River into newly secured Kurdish territory. It’s scary at times; he is pinned down by sniper fire at one point and meets a captured Isis soldier. “Kemp’s mission was to get himself shot, or nearly shot,” quipped one UK reviewer.
THURSDAY MAY 3
Design Junkies (TVNZ 1, 7.30pm). Somehow, reality television isn’t quite so bad when contestants are showing off their creative skills, rather than doing something stupid like, say, getting married. Design Junkies is based on a Dutch format and features six Kiwis taking on an “upcycling” challenge each week. They range from an already established artist, James Wright, to 25-year-old Kere Wylie, a designer fresh out of Victoria University. The artists are also given $3000 to create a “masterpiece” over the course of the series. Artist and designer Shane Hansen hosts, and the judges are design-store owner Emma Eagle and furniture designer Tim Webber. It’s not an elimination-style competition, but there will be a winner, whose prize is a trip to the Milan Furniture Fair.
Insert Name Here (UKTV, Sky 007, 7.30pm). The third and possibly last season of the comedy panel show presided over by Sue Perkins. It seems odd that the BBC is procrastinating; it’s perfectly entertaining and even fulfils Reithian values, with its mix of factoids and fun. Two panels, led by Josh Widdicombe and Richard Osman, answer questions about famous people with the same name. It begins with “Tom”; Nish Kumar, Kate Williams, Gabby Logan and Katherine Ryan are on the panels.