More grandiose houses on Grand Designs, and another excellent Dickens adaptation. [more]
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25
Badd Energy/Roy Irwin, Recorded Live at Roundhead Studios (95bFM, 11.00am and Friday, 2.00pm). Badd Energy, a “trippy quartet that kick out motley jams blending stoner-swamp riffs with laid-back 808 raps” (whatever they are), are finally getting the exposure they want with the upcoming release of their second album,... [more]
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25
ET: The Extra-Terrestrial (Four, 6.30pm). Steven Spielberg presents a delightfully enduring fable about courage and childhood and the loneliness of the long-distance alien. (1982) 8
The Hot Chick (TV2, 8.30pm). A carefree young woman wakes up to discover her greatest nightmare is a reality – she’s trapped in a... [more]
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25
Cricket (Sky Sport 2, Sky 030, 1.31pm). After three Twenty20 matches, the Black Caps are into the one-day series with South Africa. Tonight’s match is from Westpac Stadium in Wellington; on Wednesday, the teams meet at McLean Park, Napier; and the final match is at Eden Park... [more]
The memorial services from Christchurch and Gerard Smyth's When a City Falls. [more]
The MasterChef NZ mock seriousness returns, and Morning Report is live from Cashel Mall today and tomorrow. [more]
More intrigue on Homeland (also a new time slot), and Reese meets his match on Person of Interest. [more]
Nigel Latta turns his attention to the grown-ups, Top Gear goes to India, and the Sunday goes to Christchurch. [more]
Harry Potter grows up (and is on Jonathan Ross), and Dictaphone Blues live in session. [more]
That sinking feeling
Still revelling in the wide open spaces of the 15x15 grid, and with this particular pattern offering space for a couple of 15-letter answers, I began this puzzle with a challenge to myself, the old YELLOW SUBMARINE.
The wordplay wasn't too hard to come up with: it had to... [more]
Somewhat harrowing drama Single Father begins, and in happier news, 7 Days returns. [more]
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18
Dictaphone Blues/Cat Venom, Recorded Live at Roundhead Studios (95bFM, 11.00am and Friday, 2.00pm). Dictaphone Blues used to be three chaps from Christchurch who moved to Auckland to make their fortune playing “fuzzy guitar pop with largely vintage influences”. Now they are four, and their debut album, On the... [more]
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18
Kicking & Screaming (Four, 6.30pm). Robert Duvall and Will Ferrell in a Judd Apatow-produced odd-couple sports comedy about living up to your dad’s expectations. There’s a whole lot of soccer and stuff about how winning isn’t everything, as well as a mediocre script, and very few laughs make... [more]
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 18
Lonely Planet's Year of Adventures (BBC Knowledge, Sky 074, 8.30pm). A way of travelling the world without leaving home. Adventurer Ben Fogle sets off on a year of adventures, based on the Lonely Planet book of the same name: among the challenges are climbing the via ferrata mountain... [more]
Booth and Bones together is actually not the kiss of death, and Pam from True Blood sighted in Once Upon a Time. [more]
The awesome fourth season of Sons of Anarchy begins, and Fiona Farrell's The Broken Book remembers Christchurch. [more]
Go Girls is back; Misfits is brilliant; and the Valentine's Day movie is Wild at Heart. Say what? [more]
Your new guilty pleasure Revenge; the unmissable Homeland; and high-roller Luck. [more]
House is in the Big House; and Paul Henry's return to television involves lying for fun. [more]
SUNDAY FEBRUARY 12
Would I Lie to You? (TV3, 7.00pm). It seems that we’ve finally learnt the lesson that Britain has known forever – panel shows are entertaining and cheap. Stop reading now if the thought of Paul Henry back on television gives you nightmares: he’s the host. Meanwhile, team captains... [more]
SATURDAY FEBRUARY 25
Cricket (Sky Sport 2, Sky 030, 1.31pm). After three Twenty20 matches, the Black Caps are into the one-day series with South Africa. Tonight’s match is from Westpac... [more]