What to watch this week

The Spine of Night (Thursday, Shudder)

New Zealand’s Lucy Lawless joins Richard E Grant, Patton Oswalt and Joe Manganiello on vocal duties for this ultra-violent, hand-rotoscoped fantasy epic.

It’s the tale of a group of heroes from different eras and cultures (including a daring tomb-robber, star-crossed lover and a maniacal necromancer) who must band together in order to defeat those in possession of ancient dark magic that has unleashed ages of suffering upon mankind.

‘‘Spine is a throwback to the go-for-broke days of Heavy Metal, but unlike that multi-storied fantasy this one tells a cohesive tale,’’ wrote San Jose Mercury News’ Randy Myers.

Halo (Thursday, TVNZ OnDemand)

After two decades of failed attempts (including a Sir Peter Jackson-produced movie) to adapt the beloved video game franchise, finally we have a nine-episode, 26th-century-set series that sees Master Chief and his colleagues attempting to thwart an alien threat (known as the Covenant) to human existence.

Pablo Schreiber, Natascha McElhone and Bokeem Woodbine are among those getting in on the action.

Bridgerton (Friday, Netflix)

Based on the book series by Julia Quinn, Shonda Rhimes’ much loved Regency-era period drama is back for an eight-part second season, but without the Duke of Hastings (aka Rege´-Jean Page).

The focus this time around is on Viscount Anthony Bridgerton (Jonathan Bailey). Duty, desire and scandal collide when he meets his match in his intended bride Mary Sharma’s (Shelley Conn) headstrong big sister Kate (Simone Ashley).