Your guide to the week’s best on Sky and free-to-air TV
Mr Bates vs. The Post Office (8.30pm, Nightly from Sunday, March 31, TVNZ 1)
This four-part ITV drama is a dramatisation of the British Post Office Scandal. Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 subpostmasters were wrongly convicted of theft, fraud and false accounting, as a result of the faulty Horizon computer system.
The court cases, criminal convictions, imprisonments, loss of livelihoods and homes, debts and bankruptcies took a heavy toll on the victims and their families.
Led by Toby Jones, the cast also features Monica Dolan, Julie Hesmondhalgh, Alex Jennings and Ian Hart.
“In narrating this injustice with empathy, immediacy and urgency, television drama has succeeded where journalism has failed, making the Post Office scandal a story the British public cannot ignore,” wrote The New Statesman’s Anna Leszkiewicz.
How to Please a Woman (8.30pm, Friday, March 29, TVNZ 1)
British actor Sally Phillips is joined by Kiwis Erik and Josh Thomson for this 2022 Australian comedy about a 50-something woman who finds new purpose in her life when she transforms a failing removal company into an all-male house cleaning service – with benefits.
But, when it threatens to get out of control, she’ll have to confront her own sexual hang-ups in order to help it survive – and thrive.
Most definitely not for the prudish or faint-hearted, How to Please a Woman is a raucous, if slightly ragged tale.
Manu World Champs Grand Final (6pm, Saturday, March 30, Duke)
Coverage of the pinnacle of this most Kiwi of aquatic endeavours. After qualifying rounds in Christchurch, Hamilton Wellington and Auckland, the best “bombers” from across the motu were gathered together for a celebration at Auckland’s Viaduct Harbour on March 8. Categories included both male and female sections for kids, youth and adults.
Reality (8.30pm, Saturday, March 30, Rialto)
Sydney Sweeney (Madame Web, Anyone But You) headlines this true-crime drama based on the FBI interrogation transcript of American intelligence leaker Reality Winner.
Unfolding in real time, it shows the events of June 3, 2017, which led to her arrest for the unauthorised release to the media of government information about potential Russian interference in the 2016 US elections.
“A stranger-than-fiction reminder of the precarious times in which we live, and of what happens when individuals challenge authorities less troubled by truth than retribution,” wrote The Observer’s Mark Kermode.
Mysterious Ways (8.35pm, Saturday, March 30, TVNZ 1)
Anglican vicar Peter Simmons (Richard Short) finds himself caught between the love of a good man and his faith in God in this 2023 Kiwi drama. His decision to marry his boyfriend of many years, Jason (Nick Afoa), meets with disapproval from his employers, the community, the media and the couple’s families.
“This is a solid and smart drama, put together by some immensely talented people,” wrote Stuff to Watch’s own Graeme Tuckett.
Red, White & Brass (7pm, Sunday, March 31, Three)
2023 Wellington-set Kiwi comedy which brought to life the true tale of a Tongan church group who formed a brass band in order to be the pre-match entertainment for their beloved country’s match against France at the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Starring former TVNZ Popstars contestant John-Paul Foliaki and The Panthers’ Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi, it marked director and co-writer Damon Fepulea’i’s feature debut.
“Pretty much the definition of a feelgood film,” wrote Graeme Tuckett.
Everything Everywhere All at Once (8.30pm, Sunday, March 31, TVNZ 2)
Michelle Yeoh headlines this Oscarwinning 2022 action adventure-comedy about an ageing Chinese immigrant who finds herself having to explore multiple universes in order to save our own reality. “The film works magic by embracing excess, finding a kind of harmony and possibility within it, and reminding us of the beauty and lunacy of the human experience along the way,” wrote Slant magazine’s Derek Smith.