Painting, Lego, honey and a lawyer.
SATURDAY JUNE 20
Landscape Artist of the Year (Prime, 6.00pm). Want to literally watch paint dry? Stephen Mangan and Joan Bakewell begin the quest for a new British landscape artist in Yorkshire.
Great British Railway Journeys (Living, Sky 017, 7.30pm). Michael Portillo and his many colourful jackets are on the rails again for season 10 of the series. He's taking three new trips through England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, including King George V and Queen Mary's royal tour of Britain’s industrial heartland in the early 20th century.
SUNDAY JUNE 21
Lego Masters Australia (Three, 7.00pm). How is it there are so many adult Lego nerds? This confuses me. However, I often get sucked in at that crucial flop-on-the-couch point of the evening. In the final of season two, the winners take home AUD$100,000, more than $106,000 in our money.
Honey Wars (Prime, 8.00pm). A new local series perhaps along the lines of Shearing Gang or The Loggers – it follows the Murray whānau of Tai Tokerau Honey, producers of the famously potent mānuka honey.
MONDAY JUNE 22
Perry Mason (SoHo, Sky 010, 8.30pm). We’d watch anything with Matthew Rhys in it, and you can add Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black) and John Lithgow to that list. Rhys takes the role occupied by Raymond Burr in the 1960s, except that this is a kind-of prequel, set in 1932 before Mason became a defense attorney. He’s hired to investigate the kidnapping of a baby that seems to be mixed up with a lot of people, including Maslany’s evangelical church preacher.
Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn (SoHo2, Sky 210, 9.30pm). Shiver. Did it just get cold in here? The guy who was McCarthy’s chief counsel, who prosecuted Julius and Ethel Rosenberg and who mentored Donald Trump in his early business career is profiled by the Rosenberg’s granddaughter Ivy Meeropol. The documentary “captures in emotional detail the enduring chaos and grief he inflicted on others” according to the Atlantic.
THURSDAY JUNE 25
Quiz (SoHo, Sky 010, 8.30pm). The show of the play of the book of the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? cheating scandal that gripped the UK in 2001 – did Major Charles Ingram, his wife Diana and college lecturer Tecwen Whittock cough their way to a million quid? A court found Ingram guilty of … something. Matthew Macfadyen plays Ingram, Sian Clifford plays Diana, and Michael Sheen is typically brilliant as quizmaster Chris Tarrant. Also available on Lightbox.
Untouchable: The Rise and Fall of Harvey Weinstein (Rialto, Sky 039, 8.30pm). Ursula MacFarlane's film tells that dreadful story, prioritising the victims, says the Guardian's Lucy Mangan, who gave the film five stars.
STREAMING
The Twilight Zone (TVNZ OnDemand, Thursday). The first season of Jordan Peele and Simon Kinberg’s rebooted series was kind-of Black Mirror-lite, but it had its moments, particularly the camcorder that could rewind time. Season two, which streams from today, once again features a great cast, including Joel McHale, Topher Grace, Gretchen Mol, Morena Baccarin, Tony Hale, Colman Domingo and Jurnee Smollett-Bell. Peele has written one of the episodes, as have sci-fi author Steven Barnes with his wife Tananarive Due, who is a film historian with expertise in black horror. Season one is still available on TVNZ OnDemand.
Savage (Amazon Prime Video). Clever and funny Australian comedian Alice Fraser talks movingly about her mother in this stand-up special; you’ll laugh, you’ll cry; you’ll nod in agreement. Fraser has her own podcast, Tea with Alice, and is often on The Bugle with Andy Zaltzman. There are a bunch of Aussie comedians on Amazon Prime Video, including the lovely Celia Pacquola, whose comedy series with Luke McGregor, Rosehaven, is also available on the platform.
The Eddy (Netflix). It’s perhaps trying too hard to be a French Treme, but the vibe is backstreet Paris and the cast is a refreshing melting pot, centred around an unprepossessing jazz club. Creator Jack Thorne has written some real corkers, including National Treasure, Kiri and The Last Panthers as well as the stage play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Damien Chazelle (La La Land) directs the first two episodes and American pianist and composer Randy Kerber is in the band. The lead is André Holland, who was in Moonlight and The Knick.