SATURDAY NOVEMBER 12
Ice Road Truckers (TV3, 7.30pm). You need to be a special kind of risk-taker to drive 18-wheelers on the most treacherous roads on Earth, but not all the truckers are manly men doing manly work: Lisa Kelly (pictured) is a 28-year-old former bus driver and freestyle motocross champion who foots it with tough guys Hugh “Polar Bear” Rowland and Alex, er, “Alex” Debogorski. Season three also features veteran George “King of the Haul Road” Spears and Jack, er, “Jack” Jesse. They haul everything from construction materials to oversized drilling rigs on the Dalton Highway in Alaska, and among the dangers they face (apart from cliffs, hairpin bends and -56°C temperatures) are avalanches and white-outs. Supplies had to be trucked in because volcanic ash from the Mt Redoubt eruption grounded planes.
Poirot: Murder on the Orient Express
Maori Boy Genius (Maori, 8.30pm). A documentary by Auckland film-maker Pietra Brettkelly about a Hawke’s Bay teenager who attended Yale University at just 15. Nga Rauira Pumanawawhiti began his first university degree at 12, and at 15 attended a summer session at Yale. Pumanawawhiti, the eldest of six children, was educated in kura kaupapa and learnt English at age four. Brettkelly says Pumanawawhiti, clearly a future leader, has “political aspirations and educational plans beyond our shores, confident that his future success lies in the strength of his Maori culture and language in a contemporary, international world”. She describes her documentary as a coming-of-age film that “hints at the coming-of-age of New Zealand, of a future of true biculturalism and a genuine respect for diversity”.
Poirot (Prime, 8.40pm). Of all the Agatha Christie stories, Murder on the Orient Express would appear to be the one to adapt, and it seems to have been the one David Suchet was waiting for. “I have never seen a man so excited in my life,” producer Karen Thrussell told the Telegraph about the moment Suchet, who has played Hercule Poirot for 22 years, received the script. However, the rights to the story only became available in 2008, following the poorly received 2001 version starring Alfred Molina. Given the financial strain ITV was under in the economic downturn (this is the channel that cancelled Heartbeat among a slew of other cost-cutting measures), it’s a wonder a drama as expensive as a Poirot mystery was ever made again. It is a grand production, too, “nicely done, lavish and glossy”, said the Guardian. Carriages have been carefully recreated, down to resin reproductions of Lalique glass panels in the restaurant car. The story might be well known, but writer Stewart Harcourt (who also wrote this series’ The Clocks) and director Philip Martin (who won an Emmy for Prime Suspect and Baftas for Wallander and Mo Mowlam biopic Mo) have made their version much darker: it is set in 1938, with World War I looming. “This isn’t a parlour game, a Christmas charades exercise of fancy dress and pretending. It’s a story about vigilante justice,” Martin told the Telegraph. The four mysteries in series 12 bring to 65 the number of times Suchet has played Poirot, and he is determined to film the remaining six books, including the one that features the death of Poirot. “I won’t have closure – that horrible word – until we film his death,” he told the Telegraph. “After that I’ll probably be in Styles [the old people’s home where Poirot ends his days] myself, watching all the reruns.”
SUNDAY NOVEMBER 13
Miss World 2011 (TV2, noon). Really? Really?!
MONDAY NOVEMBER 14
30 Rock (Four, 8.00pm). An experiment by 30 Rock that gave the series season-high ratings in October last year: tonight’s episode was broadcast live using the set of Saturday Night Live, Tina Fey’s old stomping ground. The idea was seeded during the 2008 writers’ strike, when the 30 Rock cast performed an episode live as a benefit gig. This episode, called Live Show, was co-written by Fey, and features guest stars Jon Hamm and Julia Louis-Dreyfus. In it, Liz Lemon (Fey) is upset her co-workers forgot her 40th birthday. For fun, there are a few instances of actors breaking the fourth wall, including to refer to the fact the episode was taped on video rather than film. Another fun fact: there were two separate tapings, for the West and East Coasts, with slight differences in the scripts.
Prime Rocks: Video Killed the Radio Star (Prime, 9.30pm). This week profiles Wayne Isham, whom you will have never heard of, but you most likely will have seen his work – if you like Mötley Crüe, Bon Jovi or, ah, ’N Sync, that is. He’s known for larger-than-life videos, and interviewees include Lars Ulrich, Sebastian Bach, and Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora, who discusses making You Give Love a Bad Name. “He captured us interacting with our fans honestly,” says Sambora. Following on from Video Killed the Radio Star is the second episode of Rock’n’Roll Exposed (10.00pm), Don Letts’s documentary series about photographer Bob Gruen. Tonight, Yoko Ono and Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day discuss working with Gruen.
TUESDAY NOVEMBER 15
Target (TV3, 7.30pm). They’ve almost finished fighting the good fight for the year, but what bad business behaviour, what naughty tradespersons will Target reveal in its final episode for the season? The edge of our seat? We are on it.
Downton Abbey (Prime, 8.30pm). Episode five is “Vintage Fellowes”, said the Guardian: copious weeping, a melodramatic deathbed wedding and, enter, stage right, the evil Vera Bates (Maria Doyle Kennedy), who would twirl her moustache if she had one. However, Vera has competition in the shape of evil press baron Sir Richard Carlisle (Iain Glen), who is not above a spot of bribery and extortion. Funny that. The Guardian loves, loves, loves Michelle Dockery (Lady Mary), who “had to carry most of this episode” and is “utterly, utterly perfect as an actor”.
We Shall Remain (Maori, 8.30pm). This PBS series about Native American history focuses on the famous Geronimo, the leader who fought against the expansion of Mexico and the US into Apache tribal lands. Geronimo was the last Native American leader to capitulate to the US Government, and he became a prisoner of war before, in old age, he appeared in fairs. Benjamin Bratt, a supporter of Native American causes, narrates. For more information about this series go to: www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain
Dexter (SoHo, Sky 010, 8.30pm). There really are no more free rides: all the good stuff is on SoHo and after this month, it is going to be even more inaccessible. Here’s the latest season, No 6, of Dexter, in which our anti-hero is taking on religion: he wants to enrol his son, Harrison, at a Catholic school, and the big bads for the season are two God-botherers, played by that nice Colin Hanks (son of Tom) and Edward James Olmos. In addition, Dexter is going to make a friend. If you want to catch up on Dexter before the new season begins, the whole of season five is screening on Saturday and Sunday during the day.
Criminal Intent (TV3, 11.10pm). The Law & Order iteration that focuses on a “major case” squad in New York City, and examines the motives of the criminals. Unusually, it ends with a confession, rather than heading off to court. The ninth season begins with a bit of a cast shake-up in the opening two episodes, as detectives Goran (Vincent D’Onofrio) and Eames (Kathryn Erbe) investigate a series of murders that stretch from Somalia to Manhattan. This season, Jeff Goldblum and Saffron Burrows join the team – it’s interesting how some fine actors are washing up on these cop shows: Ted Danson has just joined the cast of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, taking over from Laurence Fishburne.
WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 16
Parenthood (Four, 9.30pm). The one show on TV that is consistently pretty good at depicting Asperger’s Syndrome; let’s hope they don’t blow it with “Amazing Andy”, the bug expert whom Kristina and Adam hire for their Aspie son Max’s birthday party. Max is obsessed with bugs, and so is fellow Aspie Andy, who is played by Michael Emerson, whom you may know as Ben from Lost.
THURSDAY NOVEMBER 10
SGU (Prime, 9.40pm). Nerds, it’s the final season of Stargate Universe, the Stargate spin-off that somehow failed to set the world on fire, despite the presence of proper thesp Robert Carlyle. Yes, that Robert Carlyle. It begins with a bang – the crew are in a desperate struggle for control of the Destiny with mercenary smugglers the Lucian Alliance. What happens after that is probably confusing if you haven’t read the requisite Wikipedia pages. Start with “Stargate Universe”, then move on to “Mythology of Stargate”. Go on, you know you want to.
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 11
Human Planet (Prime, 7.30pm). The final episode turns to the man-made environs of cities. More than half the world’s population live in cities, in which we might think we would be safe from nature. However, it has a way of creeping in, from bed bugs that suck blood at night, to rats in restaurants. In some cities, nature has been incorporated: in Fez, Morocco, leather tanneries rely on wild pigeon droppings; in Dubai, falcons play a vital role. Even in Manhattan, there is a community of beekeepers. Meanwhile, British architect Norman Foster is creating a carbon-neutral, waste-free city in Abu Dhabi, which may be the way of the future.
Mad Love (TV2, 8.00pm). Only three episodes left of this sitcom-with-potential. Well, until it was cancelled after 13 episodes. Because there are only three episodes left, naturally the characters who hate each other are heading towards something else – tonight, Connie (Judy Greer) sees a different side to Larry (Tyler Labine).