Data Loading...

2021-01-23 New Zealand Listener Flipbook PDF

2021-01-23 New Zealand Listener

2,183 Views
92 Downloads
FLIP PDF 42.17MB

*UgTOPUUPPMBUFUP NBLFB/FX:FBSgT SFTPMVUJPOUIBU DPVOUT

4BWFBOBWFSBHFBZFBSJO,JXJ4BWFSGFFT 4XJUDIJONJOVUFT]TJNQMJDJUZLJXJ 4JNQMJDJUZ/;-UEJTUIFJTTVFSPGUIF4JNQMJDJUZ,JXJ4BWFS4DIFNF'PSB1SPEVDU%JTDMPTVSF4UBUFNFOUQMFBTFWJTJUPVSXFCTJUFTJNQMJDJUZLJXJ "TBU+BOVBSZ5PTFFIPXNVDIZPVDPVMETBWF HPUPIUUQTTJNQMJDJUZLJXJDBMDVMBUPSTLJXJTBWFSLJXJTBWFSGFFTDBMDVMBUPS

THE RIGHT TOOLS

Psychotherapist Philippa Perry on her inﬂuential parenting book

ROAD TO SEDITION N Where to now for the man, MAGA & the Republican Party?

JANUARY 23-29 2021

FAIL SAFE

Success in the wake of failure Life-changing advice for parents & all of us CUT TO THE CHASE

The Chase’s Vixen on stage fright, her grandfather & the thrill of the win

WRITE STUFF

How to selfpublish your book

OLIVER’S TWISTS

Top chef Jamie’s tasty, no-hassle recipes

CONTENTS

ISSN 2381-9553: Vol 274, No. 4179. January 23-29, 2021

GETTY IMAGES

COVER IMAGE: GETTY IMAGES

Te Kaiwhakarongo Aotearoa

FEATURES

36 | A place on The Chase It was a long road to becoming the ﬁfth Chaser on the popular quiz show, but The Vixen says the job is just perfect for her.

COVER STORY

14 | Fail well Failure can teach us a lot, but the key to success is knowing how to make it a temporary detour, not a dead end.

by Donna Fleming

LIFE

by Janet Wilson and Mark Broatch

24 | Divided states of America The presidency of Donald Trump may have infected politics so badly that it has changed the country forever. by Paul Thomas 31 | Attention, please With her book about parenting selling more than 240,000 copies and gaining high-proﬁle fans, UK psychotherapist Philippa Perry has well and truly stepped out of her celebrated husband’s shadow. by Louise Chunn

38 | Health Long-awaited advances bring hope of earlier detection of breast cancer. by Nicky Pellegrino

40 | Nutrition Staying well hydrated is vital to the health of young and old. by Jennifer Bowden

42 | Food With everything from fakeaways and traybakes to family and freezer favourites, Jamie Oliver’s new cookbook provides loads of inspiration. 45 | Wine Murder, mayhem and mysterious

COMMENTARY

DIVERSIONS

3 | Editorial 4 | Letters Plus Caption Competition,

58-61 | Diversions & Puzzles 5 59 | Wordsworth Jessica Malcolm

Quips & Quotes and 10 Quick Questions 8 | Bulletin Jonathan Kronstadt 10 | Life Bill Ralston 12 | Politics John Armstrong 94 | The Good Life Greg Dixon p42 Editor-in-Chief PAMELA STIRLING Art Director DEREK WARD Chief Sub-editor GEOFF CUMMING Political Columnist JANE CLIFTON Books Editor MARK BROATCH Entertainment & Arts Editor RUSSELL BAILLIE

2

results in the world of wine. by Michael Cooper 46 | Psychology When we’re bored, time seems to slow down, and some experts say this is a human survival trait. by Marc Wilson 48 | Sport If you really believe the Black Caps are the best team in the world, take a look at the data. by Paul Thomas

BOOKS 50 | Publish or be damned Selfpublishing is long and involved but has its upsides. Young Adult author Ted Dawe explains how and why he did it. 52-57 | Books Twenty-nine authors respond to Covid-19; Ben Sanders’ Books of My Life; Australia, New Zealand and the Armenian Genocide; Short cuts; poetry; and a crime roundup

ENTERTAINMENT

Assistant Art Director SHANE KELLY Senior Designer RICHARD KINGSFORD Editorial Assistant JESSICA MALCOLM Editorial Office 317 New North Rd, Kingsland Editorial postal address PO Box 52122, Kingsland, Auckland 1352 Editorial contact [email protected]

62 | Dawn Raid: music documentary

Russell Baillie

p48

Published by Are Media Managing Director BRENDON HILL General Manager STUART DICK Editorial Manager SARAH HENRY Commercial Brand Manager BRIDGET HEWITT [email protected]

64 | Music Graham Reid 66 | Film reviews 68 | Television 70 | TV ﬁlms 7 71-91 | TV programmes 9 92-93 | Radio programmes 9 | Classical 93

Elizabeth Kerr Sales Director RACHEL McLEAN Senior Account Manager GUY SLATER [email protected] Classiﬁed Sales KIM CHAPMAN classiﬁ[email protected] Subscriptions Email [email protected], magshop.co.nz or phone 0800 624 7467

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

EDITORIAL

The road back

D

onald Trump is down but not yet out, and an axe attack on our Parliament is possibly another indication of the ugly forces he has unleashed against democracy and the rule of law. Whatever comes of the impeachment process, few would dispute that Trump used his wealth and celebrity to license the intimidatory politics that metasticised into the horrifyingly violent invasion of Capitol Hill by his supporters. Despite widespread revulsion at such politically motivated ferocity, Trump is still slyly seeding revolt, with the FBI expecting more extreme Trump supporters await his address attacks. His dark legacy risks before marching on spreading like a contagion Capitol Hill. Below, beyond the US. a rally against Covid The shocking murder of restrictions in London. British MP Jo Cox by a Brexit supporter and the bashing of our Greens co-leader James Shaw may have been isolated incidents. But America’s pro-Trump militias are in danger of becoming a new political template for the disaﬀected and marginalised. Don’t like the outcome of an election or a policy decision? Refuse to accept or abide by it. Attack and intimidate. American security authorities have long cautioned that their country’s primary terror risk now exists inside the US, from alienated factions in the homeland rather than from exterior forces such as the Islamic State. And once the President tipped the wink to those internal terror forces, a dangerous genie was out of its bottle. Former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger rightly compares Trump’s actions to the Nazis’ in the way they inﬂamed a sense of bilked nationalism and superiority among the German people, scapegoating various “others” as being the cause of all their problems. Trump tacitly egged on conspiracy-mongers such as QAnon. Now the same American “patriots” who would disdain and disparage Muslim clerics’ declaration of fatwah have themselves mooted executions of those who – with perfect propriety – upheld the law against Trump’s electoral challenges.

vigorous new strains of the coronavirus. This resistance may be a passive form of disregard for others’ safety and rights, but it’s no less alarming a trend. The British Government and oﬃcials have, through dithering and inconsistent rules, lost the conﬁdence of a signiﬁcant section of the public, weakening respect for the law. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Government was hardly alone in facing diﬃcult choices and incomplete information at the pandemic’s outset. But in changing the social-distancing rules so frequently, it has unwittingly licensed some citizens to regard the crisis management as a farce with which they need not co-operate. There are lessons here for all political leaders –namely, that it is imperative in a democracy to trust the public with the known facts, however unpalatable and confusing, and to try to make crisis rules as simple and consistent as possible. Though New Zealand’s Government did much better than many, there’s little room for hubris, given that the SimpsonRoche report into our Covid-19 management was released right on Christmas, an obvious if not cynical eﬀort to bury its adverse ﬁndings in tinsel. The upside, if there is one, amid the global turmoil is that the US violence and the virulent spread of Covid in the UK will motivate many citizens to take a clear stance. The global dismay over the storming of Capitol Hill indicates that tolerance for Trump’s style of divisive politics has plummeted. And any lingering suspicion that the world has overreacted to Covid will have been severely challenged by the realisation that whole families in the UK are dying, with infection rates as high as one in 30 in London. With vaccines now in play, there will be an end to this crisis – if people respect the rule of law. And though Team Trump will endure in some deﬁant form, there are signs the Republican Party’s heaviest hitters are unifying in defence of the American Constitution and against the modus operandi of someone whom comedian Seth Meyers so aptly described as “a sleazy Maﬁa don cold-calling election oﬃcials illegally begging for votes like a telemarketer”. When the man with the nuclear codes is deemed too dangerous to have a social media account, it is indeed time to uphold, now and in the future, Abraham Lincoln’s sacred resolution, on behalf of democracy, that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the Earth”. l

There are lessons here for all political leaders, including those in this country.

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

3

GETTY IMAGES

A

cross the Atlantic, a diﬀerent form of dangerous civil unrest is taking root, as many Britons refuse to cooperate with the latest lockdown to halt the spread of

LETTERS

Silent drowning In the article about Ameliaranne Ekenasio (“I’ve learnt to be myself and step into my own power”, January 16), the impressive Silver Ferns captain talked about accidental drowning and the importance of active supervision of children. As a sensible parent, swimmer and sailor, I thought I was well informed about water safety. I knew, for instance, to rescue someone drowning with “reach (with an object), throw or row” to avoid being drowned yourself. But until recently I didn’t know that children and adults can and often do “silently drown” without splashing, shouting or arm-waving. With all their energy going to try to stay aﬂoat, the strain on their face can even look like a smile. So, don’t assume your kids are okay because they aren’t screaming for help. Keep a close eye on them and stay within easy reach whenever they are near water. Drowning Prevention Auckland (dpanz. org.nz) has more details. William Dashﬁeld (Ngaio, Wellington) LETTER OF THE WEEK

WORKING TOGETHER While thanking Colin James for his excellent essay (“Beyond Jacinda”, January 16), I must assure him I am among

Letter of the week Next week’s winner will receive Listener columnist Michael Cooper’s New Zealand Wines 2021, which is designed to help buyers choose the best-quality wines available.

4

many of the 1942-61 cohort who have high expectations of accelerated progress on the big three: climate change, poverty reduction and housing aﬀordability. Addressing one issue he raises, I share his concern for the “large problem” of “how to get government agencies (and ego-loaded ministers and patch-focused chief executives) to work collegially …” We could start with silos within the mega-ministries created, as I recall, to improve crossdisciplinary collaboration. Towards the end of last year, I met to discuss design-led enterprise with a senior executive in charge of innovation at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE). It soon became apparent that his team reports only to the Minister of Research, Science and Innovation and develops policy to be delivered by, among other agencies, Callaghan Innovation. There is zero liaison with the MBIE team that reports to the Minister of Economic Development and develops policy to be delivered by, among other agencies, the Better by Design [strategy development] programme. Ten years ago, I wrote in the epilogue of New Zealand by Design, “Our secret weapon is our capacity for interdisciplinary teamwork. It is so secret – so embedded in our egalitarian heritage, our intimate scale, and our intrinsic versatility – that many of us fail to recognise it.” It seems we must consciously develop and facilitate this aptitude. Michael Smythe (Northcote Point, Auckland)

HOME TRUTHS Just when you are at a loss for words to sum up a situation, some bright spark enters the fray: “Due to travel restrictions this year, the US had to organise the coup at home.” Rob Buchanan (Kerikeri)

OBESITY EPIDEMIC The leading letter on the obesity epidemic (January 16) was the perfect segue into the leading article by Colin James about whether Jacinda Ardern will transform the core or tweak the edges of the major societal challenges we face, such as obesity. We are the second (for children) and third (for adults) fattest country in the OECD – not 22nd fattest as erroneously reported. Those statistics in themselves are shameful, but a total lack of serious action by the Key, English and Ardern governments is even more so. The UK Tory Government, in the midst of total chaos from Brexit, Covid and public health restructuring, is able to push through regulations to protect children from unhealthy food marketing and require supermarkets to have checkout aisles and price promotions free of unhealthy foods. More than 45 jurisdictions have taxes on sugary drinks. Why can’t New Zealand take its

Covid approach to obesity – prioritise public health, look at the evidence, listen to the experts, enact bold policies and communicate clearly? Bold policies on childhood obesity are, in fact, highly supported by the public, so transformative changes will be popular with all except those who proﬁt from unhealthy foods. Professor Boyd Swinburn University of Auckland

CODGER’S LAMENT Not all elderly are averse to information technology (IT). Many actually invented it, worked in it and still happily work in it and use it. As an IT technician, I found many of my customers were elderly, the oldest “newbie” being 92. And there are courses and help available through SeniorNet. There are branches everywhere, which are run by over-ﬁfties for over-ﬁfties. Choose your device and method of learning. There’s no need for set classes if that’s not your style. H Moore (Maraenui, Napier)

LUNG POWER A big thank you to Mark Broatch for one of the best articles I’ve read about the power of breathing (“Breathers of the

Letters to the editor {[email protected]} The Editor, NZ Listener, PO Box 52122, Kingsland, Auckland 1352 ● Letters must be under

number can be helpful.

300 words. Preference is given to shorter letters. ● A writer’s full residential address is required on all letters, including emails. A phone

● Pen names or letters submitted

elsewhere are not acceptable. ● We reserve the right

to edit or decline letters without explanation.

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

Caption competition

Ivanka holds the box close to her heart because it says “Keep refrigerated”.

WINNING CAPTION

THIS WEEK’S PICTURE

Ellie Henderson, Motueka

FINALISTS Ivanka Trump: “A miracle! I’ve found the 11,780 votes Daddy needs!” – Colleen Bassett, Cambridge

– Doug Macintyre

lost art”, January 9). If you want to improve endurance, strength and precision through breath, may I suggest Breathing for Warriors, by psychologist Belisa Vranich? I’ve been teaching my 93-year-old mother (from Kaitaia) exercises from this book and she’s getting terriﬁc results. She can now measure her oxygen level with an oximeter and knows how to increase her level from 85 to 95 in just 15 minutes. Michele Comeau (Las Vegas, Nevada) Mark Broatch’s mostly uncritical account of US author and journalist James Nestor’s beliefs merely refers generally to “a study in Nature” and his research colleague Anders Olsson, who “would estimate most of us actually have a slight CO2 deﬁciency”. Really? Please could a respiratory physiologist shed light on the body’s homeostatic mechanisms? Dayll Jensen (Paekākāriki)

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

Ivanka: “Please courier to Mar-a-Lago Club, Palm Beach, Florida.” – Bruce Elliott, Auckland Nestor implies that New Zealanders “sit for eight hours stooped over” a computer keyboard. I do not. At 75, I do a manual job ﬁve days a week. So do many of my compatriots of various ages. We work in factories and forests, on farms and ﬁshing boats; we drive trucks, taxis, trains and boats and planes; we work in classrooms – some work in bedrooms; some work in hospitality; some work in hospitals; some work in movie theatres; others work in operating theatres; some build houses (not enough) – they are carpenters and joiners and electricians and plumbers and glaziers and painters and paperhangers and carpet layers and tilers and landscape gardeners … And so on. Gordon Gandy (Taita, Lower Hutt)

THERAPEUTIC DRUGS In New Zealand, psychedelic drugs, including LSD and psilocybin (magic

Ivanka: “Of course I can make these popular – I’m an inﬂuencer!” – Michael Smythe, Auckland

in helping us through this very difficult period.” – Robbie Blair, Snells Beach

“Jared and I would like to thank all the wonderful US farmers for their support

The woman behind Ivanka in the grey jacket: “So the Devil wears Prada.” – Erik Pound

mushrooms), are classiﬁed with methamphetamine and heroin as Class A drugs. This classiﬁcation mirrored US legislation in the 1960s, which outlawed these drugs for purely political reasons. At this time, research projects that were ﬁnding huge therapeutic beneﬁts for conditions such as addiction, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder were abruptly terminated. Today, there is again a rapidly growing body of scientiﬁc evidence from research organisations mentioned in the article “High anxiety” (December 12) and others, which are conﬁrming these early ﬁndings from the 50s and 60s. My recent experience as a

highly educated 50-plus-yearold with a responsible position in society is that taking magic mushrooms in a therapeutic context has made me happier, kinder, less anxious and less stressed. These beneﬁts continued for months after a single “dose”. The only criminal thing about LSD and psilocybin is that these substances, which could make signiﬁcant improvements in our epidemic of anxiety and depression, have been illegal for more than 50 years. It’s time our lawmakers removed psychedelics from the Class A drug schedule and allowed their therapeutic use. Name and address supplied

Caption Competition {[email protected]} TO ENTER Send your captions for the photo above to listenercaption@aremedia. co.nz, with “Caption Competition No 393” in the subject line. Alternatively, entries can be posted to “Caption Competition No 393”, NZ Listener, PO Box 52122, Kingsland, Auckland 1352. Entries must be received by noon, Tuesday, January 26. THE PRIZE Broadcaster Paul Henry writes about his “charming and eccentric ramble” through the US during the Covid-19 pandemic in his third book.

5

GETTY IMAGES

The daughter of an evicted man collects a food parcel.

Ivanka: “Let them eat cake.” Onlooker: “Fruitcake!” – Lyall Lukey, Christchurch

LETTERS

Quips& Quotes

“Resigning with two weeks left feels less like some moral stand and more like leaving early to beat the traﬃc.” – Jimmy Fallon of the

10

Quick Questions

1. Which of these ﬁgures of old-time America is a ﬁctional character? ❑ Annie Oakley ❑ Davy Crockett ❑ Wild Bill Hickok ❑ Hopalong Cassidy

by GABE ATKINSON 4. Which TV show generated the catchphrase “Book ’em, Danno”? ❑ Blue Heelers ❑ Miami Vice ❑ Shark in the Park ❑ Hawaii Five-O

departing Trump staffers

“The Republican Party today is like a massive religious cult surrounding an organised crime family headed by a deranged narcissist.” – Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland

“Americans have diﬀerent ways of saying things: they say ‘elevator’, we say ‘lift’, they say ‘President’, we say ‘stupid psychopathic git.” – Alexei Sayle

“I believe the Republicans can make this country what it once was – an Arctic region covered with ice.”

2. Which classic ﬁlm prominently features a ﬁctional estate called Xanadu? ❑ Citizen Kane ❑ Breakfast at Tiﬀany’s ❑ Some Like It Hot ❑ Rebecca

5. Which of these words may refer to a form of public transport? ❑ Omnibus ❑ Arquebus ❑ Syllabus ❑ Rhombus

3. The pavlova is thought to be named after Anna Pavlova. What was her occupation? ❑ Revolutionary ❑ Ballerina ❑ Aviator ❑ Chef

6. Which of these South American animals is considered an apex predator? ❑ Electric eel ❑ Piranha ❑ Howler monkey ❑ Armadillo

7. Which of these is not a kind of dried grape? ❑ Raisin ❑ Zante currant ❑ Sultana ❑ Red currant 8. Which of these ﬁlms does not star Julia Roberts? ❑ Runaway Bride (1999) ❑ America’s Sweethearts (2001) ❑ Working Girl (1988) ❑ My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997) 9. Which statement is true? ❑ Every Kobe steak is Wagyu beef ❑ Every Wagyu steak is Kobe beef 10. Which human organ produces insulin? ❑ Liver ❑ Pancreas Answers on ❑ Gallbladder page 60. ❑ Spleen

– Steve Martin

“We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public oﬃce.” – Aesop

Funny You Should Ask

“Nobody believes the oﬃcial spokesman, but everybody trusts an unidentiﬁed source.”

Why can’t I draw?

– Ron Nesen

“Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.” – HL Mencken

“English is a simple, yet hard language. It consists entirely of foreign words pronounced wrongly.” – Kurt Tucholsky

“You need to stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone’s going to get hurt, someone’s going to get shot, someone’s going to get killed, and it’s not right.” – Georgia Republican ofﬁcial Gabriel Sterling to President Trump in December, asserting that the Georgia election was conducted fairly and correctly. He has since received death threats.

6

The QI elves are a team of writers and comedians who ﬁnd the answers to impossible questions, doing the research for the long-running QI TV series, podcasts and the spin-oﬀ books. We are running some of their ﬁnest ﬁndings from their book Funny You Should Ask. You can. Everybody can draw. Whether or not you get good at it is totally up to you. You may think you don’t have natural talent, but hard work is vital, too. A 1993 study of violinists found you could tell the top-ranked musicians simply by looking at how much they had practised. The average amount of practice required to get to the top was 10,000 hours, but the musicians had a purpose, a goal and a teacher. We never said it would be easy. Of course, there are artists who are born with a gift. Pablo Picasso’s drawings might appear to be simplistic at times, but as he once said when visiting an exhibition of children’s drawings: “When I was their age, I could

draw like Raphael. It took me a lifetime to draw like them.” This is borne out by a masterful selfportrait created when he was just 15 that can be seen in the Picasso Museum in Barcelona. But it’s not just about raw talent. As a teenager in rural Japan, Yayoi Kusama, now known for her polka-dot pumpkins and light installations, started exhibiting in group shows. She was given no family encouragement, and as a woman in mid-20thcentury Japan, societal norms were against her. But neither problem could suppress her wish to become the artist she knew she could be, and today her works are sold for more money than any other living female artist’s. She had talent, but she also had determination. At some point, everyone, no

matter what level they’re at, needs to learn from someone or be inspired by something. That’s how artists grow and improve. A teacher may say that drawing is about looking, and this means really looking. To be able to draw a true representation of the scene in front of you, you need to look up at it, as well as down at your paper. Most important, if you think of your creation as art, then that’s what it is, whether or not it is regarded as such by someone else. Funny You Should Ask: Your questions answered by the QI elves, by John Lloyd and Sarah Lloyd (Faber, $27.99)

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

BULLETIN FROM WASHINGTON, DC

JONATHAN KRONSTADT

Trump’s tragics Those causing the unprecedented chaos in the US capital were manipulated by masters of their craft.

I

’m a big fan of protests. As a teenager, I giddily marched against the Vietnam War and generalised about US imperialism. I believed in the cause, loved big crowds and felt lucky to have had it all happening just 12km from my home in Washington, DC. In the Trump era, political protest has been revitalised, but what happened at the US Capitol last week was less principled protest than collective petulance: an “if we can’t have the government, then nobody can” kind of thing. Donald Trump has enabled America’s jackasses, because if the president doesn’t have to respect anyone or anything, why should they? There were ﬁve deaths. After the building was secured, politicians and pundits climbed over each other to brand the event “shameful”, but one of Trump’s and his enablers’ most durable assets is their inability to feel shame, so I don’t think they felt that particular sting. I was at home trying to get some work done when the aggregation of the aggrieved ﬁrst formed behind the White House. Because I’m a bit of a masochist, I was listening to the warm-up acts at the Save America rally (what a prophetic title), including Trump’s lawyer/henchman

8

Rudy Giuliani (“Let’s have trial by combat!”) and son/henchman Donald Trump Jr (“If you’re not going to be a hero, we’re coming for you, and we’re going to have a good time doing it!”). Then the orange man himself spoke and somewhere in

the horrifying history of the black American experience. I couldn’t help but wonder, as I watched the pale police response to the storming of our national legislature, how all this would be going down had the rally been the brainchild of a black US

As they scaled the Capitol’s walls, in a very real way their actions were childish screams for attention. his 90-minute screed told the crowd he’d walk with them to the Capitol, something he had no intention of doing. But the crowd went anyway, and that’s when the fun started. At ﬁrst, it seemed a relatively aimless band of 30- to 60-year-old white people milling around wearing stupid hats, but the next thing you know people are climbing up the building, smashing windows, breaking down doors and somehow getting inside. Surreal is an overused term, but it ﬁts here.

WHAT IF … At the far end of the National Mall from the Capitol sits the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the Smithsonian Institution’s newest and arguably ﬁnest museum. Much of its exhibit area is devoted to a relatively unﬂinching look at

president who for four years had stoked black grievance, frustration and anger and who, after losing re-election by a solid margin, blanketed the airwaves with tales of a stolen election, complete with everything from dead people voting to dead-Venezuelan-dictatorowned voting machines. And who then, as his Electoral College defeat was being counted down in the halls of Congress, whipped 30,000 of his acolytes into a frenzy and sent them oﬀ to surround the US Capitol. I’m going to go out on a limb and say many more people would be dead, many fewer would have got into the building and the museum would have to get cracking on a new exhibit. The people who stormed the Capitol probably genuinely believe the alternative reality of a stolen election Trump and his minions started weaving

even before the ﬁrst vote was cast, a ﬁction that would be laughable were it not so destructive. I worked in several small daily newspapers in Minnesota and Iowa, and the newspaper oﬃces were always election central – where the votes were brought, counted and oﬃcially entered. If any of the Trumpsters had asked me, I’d have told them that our national elections are far too decentralised to allow enough voter fraud to make a measurable dent in anyone’s totals, and besides, the people who run such things take their oaths and responsibilities very seriously. They’d no more allow or enable voter fraud than burn the ﬂag. But the people who smashed their way into the Capitol don’t seem to care about facts. They’re bitter about whatever raw deals – real or imagined – they’ve got in life and have been given licence by the most powerful man in the world to translate their rage into domestic terrorism.

ATTENTION SEEKERS As they scaled the Capitol’s walls, they reminded me of children climbing a playground toy, and in a very real way their actions were childish screams for attention. Once inside, they did such things as break into House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s oﬃce so they could pose for selﬁes

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

3am the night after the crashthe-Capitol festivities – who can sleep at a time like this? Earlier, we had planned a champagne celebration of the Democratic Party’s sweep of the two Senate runoﬀ elections in Georgia, by a black preacher in Martin Luther

There were enough objections and hypocrisy-laden speeches that spun speakers 180 degrees from their pre-attempted-coup positions to maintain my deep well of cynicism, but there was something inspiring about all those old folk staying up

They’re bitter about raw deals they’ve had and have been given licence to translate their rage into terrorism. King’s former church and a 33-year-old Jewish documentary ﬁlm-maker, who will stick out like happy but sore thumbs. The celebration was scuttled by the insurrection, but when I ﬂipped on CNN at 3am, the people’s business was back in business, as the House and Senate had reconvened to tally and oﬃcially enter the Electoral College votes.

all night to make good on at least a portion of their oaths of oﬃce. I hope that as they left the building, they were greeted by a sunrise that resurrected some of their idealism and energised them for the monumental challenges they face. I was born and raised in Washington, DC, and it’s a truly beautiful city. You

should really come here if you can. Just wait until the deadly virus cloud clears – and until Trump is gone, after possibly becoming the ﬁrst president to be impeached in stereo. In few places is the city’s beauty more vividly and satisfyingly expressed than on the National Mall. Last week, it saw wall-to-wall ugly, and the same and/or new and improved kinds of ugly are likely in the coming days, months and years. But there’s something about standing there, in the shadow of Washington, Jeﬀerson, Lincoln and the statue of Freedom atop the Capitol’s dome, that gives one what another great American president, Barack Obama, called “the audacity of hope”. Manufacturing hope takes more audacity these days than it used to, but all the alternatives are as soulless as the man we almost re-elected. l

9

CHRIS SLANE

sitting in her chair with their feet on her desk. You know, mature stuﬀ. They were manipulated, plainly and simply, by masters of the craft. It’s a three-step process: 1) Splatter the airwaves with dozens of dizzying ﬁctions of voter fraud from Arizona to Pennsylvania. 2) Wait a couple of days for the misinformation to penetrate the national psyche. 3) Try to force Congress, the Vice President and, heck, maybe even the Pope to overturn the election based on polls that show 40% of the nation is now 100% convinced the election was stolen because Trump and a blonde woman or brunette man on Fox News told them so. And then they came to my hometown and made an enormous, self-indulgent, violent mess. I awoke at about

LIFE

BILL RALSTON The end is nigh

ANDY TRISTRAM

I

t is 2021, yet it feels as if we as a country are stuck like a freezeframe in the dark days of 2020. As we listen to a constant refrain from public health Jeremiahs warning of the potential for a new outbreak of some super-version of the coronavirus, it’s hard to relax on the beach, enjoy a beer or reluctantly drag ourselves back to work. Is this the new normal, sitting around waiting for the axe to fall? Thank God for US politics. The ﬂailing of Donald Trump as his end rapidly approaches is, at least, a distraction from the state of paralysis that aﬄicts us. My biggest hope is that when Trump is hauled, kicking and screaming, out of the White House, he will promptly be arrested for something such as nicking the towels, soap and those little shampoo sachets. Despite the fact Trump incited a mob to attack and try to wreck the US Capitol, polls show he still has a hefty chunk of support among Americans, especially Republicans. What does he have to do to lose their backing? Run naked down Pennsylvania Ave? Nope, those Republican loons would simply admire his new clothes. Still, we can say goodbye to Trump as he tips into the dustbin of history. Desperately trying to avoid the same fate

10

is New Zealander Chris Liddell, who has attracted a bit of ﬂak for being Trump’s Deputy Chief Enabler in the White House. We hear he’s looking for a new job. I kind of hope new president Joe Biden will have him deported back to Godzone where, probably, he would have to become an Uber driver, because I can’t imagine any self-respecting employer taking him on. What would his CV say? “For the last four years, I worked closely with an incompetent lunatic determined to wreck democracy in the United States of America. Under my boss’ watch, more than 390,000 Americans died from a plague and thousands of migrant children were taken from their parents.” More worrying still,

Trump’s Deputy Chief of Staﬀ and close adviser now wants to run the OECD. No way.

W

ith a record like his, I guess he could come back and try to do public relations damage control for the America’s Cup, which has

are racing head-to-head on the water, and Liddell could then claim credit for the dramatic turnaround in public opinion. He could become the new president of the National Party. Having survived the chaos of the Trump White House, he could have a crack at putting the Nats back on the

The ﬂailing of Donald Trump as his end rapidly approaches is, at least, a distraction from the state of paralysis that afflicts us. degenerated into its usual farce of claim, counterclaim, accusation and rule challenges. Somehow, despite the childish rantings of defender and challenger, we always forgive them once the boats

“The environment is a big concern – which is why we spend so much on PR.”

path to actually looking like a political party that is capable of being a government. Nope, fat chance of that happening for the next few years. Labour would have to make a monumental cock-up for it to lose the next election or two. Another Level 4 lockdown could rock its credibility, but the Government has a superb media machine that would surely divert the blame elsewhere. The biggest risk it faces is that, like the rest of us, it, too, will experience a freeze-frame, a policy paralysis brought about by Covid-19 and astronomical debt levels. It needs to try to get back into the business of not just governing but reforming. Oh yes, that and keeping us safe. l

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

AUCKLAND’S SUMMER OF

RACING New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Million Saturday 23 January 2021

Join us for this unmissable event on Auckland’s social calendar with the night boasting not one, but two $1,000,000 races and one massive party.

Auckland Cup Week® Vodafone Derby Day and Barfoot & Thompson Auckland Cup Day Saturday 6 & Saturday 13 March 2021

WHAT’S ON OFFER...

Fashion competitions including The Ned Prix de Fashion (6 Mar) Live music at all events Hospitality precincts and corporate entertaining options for all tastes and budgets Free children’s entertainment including pony rides (6 & 13 Mar) Free general admission for under 15 year-olds Multi-million dollar racing

Tickets and more at ellerslie.co.nz

POLITICS

JOHN ARMSTRONG

Ardern the Ruthless The Prime Minister may rank among our best but her prescription for kindness may not outlast Covid.

GETTY IMAGES

R

uthless, quite ruthless. To aﬃx such a malign and foreboding attribute to the persona of Ardern the Adored is to risk incurring the wrath of the many thousands of voters who have diﬃculty being objective and honest in assessing the complex character of someone who is shaping up to be New Zealand’s greatest prime minister since Michael Joseph Savage in the 1930s – if she hasn’t already attained that status. With her ear-to-ear smile always ready to be deployed in an instant while she prattles on incessantly, Jabbering Jacinda can melt the sourest of visages and soften the hardest of hearts. The Prime Minister’s

preference to accentuate the positives of life has long made her an unstoppable force. Since the coronavirus slunk across New Zealand’s then undefended border, Ardern has been in constant daily collision with the microbe,

The notion is twaddle. It is hard to take seriously, coming from someone of her intelligence and logic. ﬁguratively speaking anyway. Her antidote to the apocalyptic atmosphere that pervades any conversation is an elixir containing two ingredients: kindness and empathy. Her desire to inject these components into the day-today political discourse may be heartwarming in these chill times. But the notion is twaddle. It is hard to take seriously, coming from someone of her intelligence and logic. That has not stopped her waxing lyrical on the subject when given the chance. She told Britain’s Guardian newspaper last year that one of the “sad things” she had

Greens co-leader James Shaw and Jacinda Ardern.

12

noticed about political leadership was that the emphasis on notions of assertiveness and strength probably meant people had assumed you couldn’t have those other qualities of kindness and empathy.

That was rather puzzling, because those respective states of mind are not mutually exclusive. Good prime ministers are very capable of switching from one emotion to the next as required – and Ardern is nothing if not a good prime minister.

KINDNESS CONFUSION The problem with this is she is not usually clear about what she means by “kindness” and who are worthy recipients of hers. Presumably, it does not apply to political enemies. Yet, there are circumstances when a governing party ought to display some kindness towards its Opposition rival, if only because it is much in the wider national interest to do so. There is no better illustration of this than the pandemic. Barring Ardern’s reluctant setting up of a short-lived special parliamentary committee

to assess the measures put in place to mitigate the eﬀects of Covid-19 plus her begrudgingly allowing briefings for relevant Opposition spokespeople, National was completely shut out of the action. That was hardly a surprise. Any leader worthy of the title would be failing in their duty in terms of their party’s interests if they merely looked such a gift horse in the mouth – especially in an election year. Similarly, no one was silly enough to have expected Ardern to have rushed to Government House to inform the GovernorGeneral that she was going to establish an all-party Grand Coalition to run the country during the Covid crisis. You have to wonder, however, about the constitutional propriety and acceptability of what amounted to an almost daily hijacking of the airwaves. The parade of Ardern and other Cabinet ministers at the 1pm brieﬁngs blurred what should have been a clear demarcation between public service announcements and party political broadcasts. Maybe that was unavoidable. It is incumbent on Ardern to have an independent review of the whole matter of

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

silence – and for one reason: Labour’s private polling would have indicated that the party was close to securing a majority. Every vote that switched from Labour to the Greens lessened the chances of this.

MAJORITY DILEMMA Ostensibly, the securing of such a majority should make governing more than just a tad easier for Ardern, with New Zealand First gone and the Greens well and truly under Labour’s thumb. But that’s debatable. Ardern has enough on her hands trying to speed delivery and implementation of Labour’s extensive reform agenda. With Winston Peters no longer around to block things, the trade unions aﬃliated to the Labour Party will no doubt be compiling a policy programme to enhance

workers’ rights. There is the housing crisis, devoid of a quick-ﬁx solution. A revitalised Māori Party is already posing a severe threat to Labour’s hanging on to the

Labour’s enemy is no longer National but something potentially much more dangerous and diﬃcult to eradicate: public complacency, which has swelled in

National got shut out, but the Greens simply got shafted. On this occasion, Jabbering Jacinda served as disguise. six Māori seats it holds. And then there is the virus. Politically, things are very diﬀerent on that front than was the case at election time. National leader Judith Collins is playing the long game, conscious that trying to score cheap political points by launching broadsides at everything Labour does to control Covid-19 could easily backﬁre. In the war against Covid,

anticipation of the arrival of a vaccine, evidenced by the plummeting number of QR code scans. Add the increased contagiousness of the British and South African virus variants alongside growing aversion to a return to lockdown at Levels 3 or 4 and it all adds up to one thing. The room for kindness is going to have to be chopped back. Ardern is probably going to be even more ruthless. l

ANTHONY ELLISON

how a government communicates with the public during a crisis of such magnitude. But don’t hold your breath. The Prime Minister’s “kindness” is highly unlikely to extend that far. Just how far it does extend is a question that the Greens might be best qualiﬁed to answer. National got shut out of last October’s general election by the Prime Minister, but the Greens simply got shafted. On this occasion, Jabbering Jacinda served as disguise for Ardern the Ruthless. During the closing weeks of the election campaign, Greens co-leader James Shaw pleaded with Ardern to give a public signal to Labour supporters to consider casting their party vote for the Greens to ensure his party got above the 5% threshold. No signal was forthcoming, only

13

INTELLIGENT IMPROVEMENT

FAIL WELL Failure can teach us a lot, but the key to success is knowing how to make it a temporary detour, not a dead end. by JANET WILSON

F

ailure – everything from blunders and botch-ups to catastrophes and disasters – attracts its fair share of glib bumper-sticker solutions. Fear and shame are the bedfellows of failure, while its twin, success, enjoys all the limelight. And that’s because we don’t learn from it. For all the proclamations about failure being a “teachable moment”, in ﬁve studies at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, failure did the opposite: it undermined learning. Researchers Ayelet Fishbach and Lauren Eskreis-Winkler asked dozens of teachers to recall a speciﬁc time they had been successful and a speciﬁc time they had failed at work. When asked which stories the teachers would choose to share to help other teachers, nearly 70% chose a success rather than a failure. The same thing happened when they asked online volunteers to think of times they had succeeded at staying focused at work, compared with times they’d failed and become distracted. “Across ﬁve studies, participants learnt less from failure feedback than from success feedback – even when both types of feedback contained full information on the correct answer,” the two researchers wrote in a research article for the Association for Psychological Science. “Failure feedback undermined learning motivation because it was ego threatening: it caused participants to tune out and stop processing information.”

HAPPY AND RESILIENT

Peterson is working with a PhD student who is using data from the “Growing Up in New Zealand” multidisciplinary study of Kiwi kids and their development. During interviews, researchers recorded some of the children, now aged eight, and their mothers talking about a recent setback. They are analysing the data. “Does the parent acknowledge the emotion? Who comes up with the emotion ﬁrst? Is emotion even mentioned? Do they go straight to solution mode?” asks Peterson. “Or do they not go to solution mode and say,

“When we stuff up, we often don’t allow people to have that emotional response. New Zealanders are pretty bad at this.” ‘Don’t worry, you’ll be ﬁne next time.’ We’re trying to see how New Zealand parents are modelling and guiding a failure-type conversation.” There’s a big “but” when it comes to the issue, though. “If failure becomes your norm, then that’s a bit diﬀerent, then that’s where you give up.”

BOUNCING BACK “Talking about failure is diﬃcult and the conversation may need to change depending on how much failure you have in your life. A few years ago, I gave a public talk about how we need to talk more openly

Elizabeth Peterson thinks it’s more complex than that. The associate professor of psychology runs the University of Auckland’s 5E Lab (Engage – Enhance – Enliven – Educate – Enable), a research group dedicated to producing “happy, healthy, resilient and well-rounded people”, which is studying failure in the education system. “Emotion is the big bit that we’re missing,” she says. “When we stuﬀ something up, we have an emotional response Researchers Ayelet and we often don’t allow Fishbach and, people to have that emotional far right, Lauren response. New Zealanders are Eskreis-Winkler. pretty bad at this. It’s often a ‘she’ll be right, mate’ kind of attitude, rather than allowing us to sit with the discomfort and vulnerability and see it as normal and then, once we have calmed down, taking that opportunity to learn from it, rather than escaping or withdrawing from it.”

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

about failure, and one woman challenged me, saying, ‘I’m from South Auckland and kids there are struggling all the time. They don’t need to talk about failure, they just need to succeed.’ “I couldn’t have agreed more. Children ﬁrst need to experience some success to feel good about themselves. They feel especially good if they have put in eﬀort and then succeed, as this helps develop their sense of self, their conﬁdence, their frustration tolerance and their resilience. You deﬁnitely need some padding underneath you before you start to have big conversations about bouncing back from failure.” The good news? Failure doesn’t have to be an absolute. Change really can occur with eﬀort and persistence – and there’s plenty of research that shows how this can be done. It all comes down to how you view your failure, which determines your future success. More than 30 years ago, Stanford University psychology professor Carol Dweck produced research that showed what we believe about our own intelligence has a signiﬁcant eﬀect on our motivation, eﬀort and approach to challenges. If you believe that your intelligence is a “ﬁxed mindset” and it is set in stone, then you are likely to avoid challenges, give up easily, see eﬀort as fruitless, ignore constructive criticism and feel threatened by the success of others. You know the type? Gore Vidal, that most arch and patrician of American writers, demonstrated it well when he said, “Every time a friend succeeds, a little something in me dies.” Contrast that with those who believe their intelligence is malleable and can be developed eveloped through eﬀort and support, who

15

INTELLIGENT IMPROVEMENT

Back to black From an early age, rugby player Akira Ioane seemed destined for the top, but getting there involved real change. Elizabeth Peterson, who runs the University of Auckland’s 5E Lab. adopt a “growth mindset” where challenge is embraced, eﬀort is the path to mastery and criticism can be instructive. “Growth mindset” is a huge tool in Gilbert Enoka’s arsenal. As the All Blacks manager responsible for leadership and mental skills, he knows that “you’re not deﬁned by failing in a certain area”. Enoka trains individuals to identify moments of weakness that require mental strength and work through how they will respond. “It’s about thriving under pressure,” he says, and although failure is “brutal”, he tries to make it a teaching experience. “The key is to

Research shows what we believe about our own intelligence has a signiﬁcant effect on our motivation, effort and approach to challenges. make failure your teacher, not your undertaker. It’s a temporary detour, not a dead end. “You have to go to those tough moments so that you can stand in them and see yourself succeeding. We need to identify those moments that require mental strength and get the players to work out what they would do inside those situations.” Putting failure in context is important to the All Blacks. “We don’t see failure as just one thing. Rugby is not who we are. Can you imagine a bridge that is made up of many planks – each plank representing a diﬀerent identity – father, son, brother, cousin, mate. It is important that we understand and nourish the diﬀerent identities that maketh the player. By doing this, when we get stress inside one identity – for example, our rugby plank – the other planks provide stability as we traverse life’s journey. Enoka says failure for the ABs is a shared experience. “‘We’ trumps ‘me’. You will never succeed on your own, but you will be successful as an individual if the team functions well. It’s not about being above or below – it’s about being side by side.” A ﬁxed and a growth mindset lie on a continuum – something that Darsel Keane, the associate director of the University of Auckland’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, knows well.

16

F

ailure is democratic. It’s an equal-opportunity provider and can aﬀect us all. Just ask Akira Ioane, the Blues loose forward and All Black. Seven years ago, when he left Auckland Grammar, Ioane’s destiny seemed assured as he went straight into professional rugby, playing for the All Blacks Sevens. CNN raised the possibility that Ioane was going to be the “new Jonah Lomu”.

“I got sick and tired of trying to impress lots of people. And when I lost my enjoyment, I sort of lost my way.” Other marquee team placements quickly followed: the New Zealand Under 20s, the Māori All Blacks, the Blues and an appearance oﬀ the bench for the All Blacks against France on their 2017 northern tour. The holy grail of a permanent placement in the All Blacks seemed inevitable. At least that’s what fans on social media kept telling him. “Social media just … sort of blew up,” Ioane recalls. “I was just reading into it. I was like, ‘Oh, yeah, if that’s what everyone else is saying about me, that’s what I should be.’ “I got sick and tired of trying to impress lots of people. And I just … yeah, I wasn’t really enjoying it then. And when I lost my enjoyment, I sort of lost my way.”

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

named in the starting line-up for the All Blacks’ opening Tri Nations test against Australia in Brisbane in November. Even then, success proved elusive: after a promising start, he was subbed-oﬀ after 25 minutes when the red-carding of All Blacks prop Ofa Tu‘ungafasi forced a reshuﬄe. A fortnight later, Ioane grabbed a further chance for redemption in a demo-

All Black Akira Ioane in 2020. Below, Ioane playing schoolboy rugby at King’s College in 2012; as a Blues player in 2018.

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

I knew I had more to give.” He started by creating good habits, such as applying himself, “because normally I’m a guy who says, ‘Oh, yeah, I’ll do it, I’ll do it’, then never get around to doing it. “Knowing you’ve ﬁnished something you’ve started got me one step closer to where I wanted to be.”

R

eal change started happening during lockdown, though. “It just gave me more time to work on myself, and I had no one worrying about me and checking up on me all the time.” He and his partner set up two workout sessions a day. “She kept me honest. Some days, I wouldn’t want to do it, and she’d say, ‘Nah, we’ll go for a run’, or, ‘We’ll go down to the park and do some speed work.’ Whatever it was, pushing me [ensured] I did my work.” His reward for that persistence? Being

lition of Argentina. How did he achieve that turnaround? “I just found out what works for me and what I should be doing, and then I make sure I apply those to my everyday life,” he says. He credits friends and family – the “small circle” he trusts – for the help in getting out of that dark place. “Talking to them is the biggest hurdle that people struggle to work with. It’s hard telling someone you love that you’re struggling, but just embrace it. It’s gonna be hard, it’s gonna take time and a lot of eﬀort, but it’s worth it in the end. You’ll reap the rewards when the time comes and everyone knows what you’ve been through and how you’ve dealt with, I guess, adversity. That’s adversity.” l

17

GETTY IMAGES

Hoping for a place in the 2019 All Blacks World Cup team, Ioane missed out after a public roasting from coach Steve Hansen. Ioane was not ﬁt, he was tired and he’d been surpassed by others, according to Hansen. He headed towards provincial rugby and the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup in a “dark place”. “It was pretty shit,” Ioane says. “I wasn’t playing like I used to play and I wasn’t playing the way I like to play. I was getting tired really early in games, which wouldn’t normally happen, and it didn’t help that I was overweight.” It was family and friends that got him through, beginning with his father, Eddie, who played for Samoa in the 1991 Rugby World Cup. “It was my dad who kick-started it. We started having honest conversations about how I was feeling, what I needed or if he could help. Then I had a good sit-down with everyone who really mattered. I just told them I wasn’t enjoying rugby and I wasn’t enjoying who I was becoming. And they told me they could see it as well.” Ioane considered giving up rugby “lots of times”. “But my friends, my dad and my family talked me out of that pretty quick.

“It’s hard telling someone you love that you’re struggling, but just embrace it. It’s gonna take a lot of effort, but it’s worth it in the end.”

INTELLIGENT IMPROVEMENT

All Black Will Jordan celebrates a try during a Tri-Nations match against Argentina in November. Inset, the ABs’ Gilbert Enoka.

Last year, the centre took 1800 students through its extra-curricular programme while teaching in academic courses 2500 students to develop their entrepreneurial mindset and capability for start-ups through to social enterprises and corporate innovation. It used experiments, coaching and workshops. “People can have a growth mindset in

Change can occur with effort and persistence. It all comes down to how you view your failure, which determines your future success. some areas, then a ﬁxed mindset in others,” she says. “You may have convinced yourself that you’re terrible at maths and therefore can’t learn maths, but that you have great athletic ability and therefore, when you hit a setback, you pick yourself up and try to get better.” Persistence and grit play their part, too. “Oh, I think it’s a huge part of it,” Keane says. “Because without grit and resilience failure will inevitably be failure. “Grit is very much about that

18

ability to pick yourself up. Through hard work and diligence, you can overcome setbacks and reject failures when pursuing goals. And I think that without grit and resilience, failure will stop you in your tracks.”

PERSISTENCE PAYS Not every failure leads to success, though. And what diﬀerentiates the winners from the losers is not persistence, research shows. And if that’s the case, what ultimately produces the results we all dream about? Dashun Wang, associate professor of management and organisations at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, studied the “mechanism governing the dynamics of failure” using big data to research three diﬀerent ﬁelds. First, the team studied more than 776,000 grant applications to the US National Institutes of Health from 1985 to 2015. Then, they investigated the start-up investment records of more than 58,000 entrepreneurs from the National Venture Capital Association from 1970 to 2016 and whether the business had a successful exit. And ﬁnally, in a radically diﬀerent arena, they used information from the Global Terrorism Database, tracking more than 170,000 terrorist attacks by 3178 terrorist organisations, assessing each group’s pattern of success (at least one fatality) and

failure among attacks. In analysing hundreds of thousands of individual eﬀorts, Wang and his team were able to identify a tipping point that separates failure into two dynamics – “stagnation” and “progression” regions. In stagnation, people learn very little from their failures, failing to analyse what they did right and wrong and throwing out prior attempts altogether. Progression is marked by using feedback

If you believe your intelligence is set in stone, then you are likely to avoid challenges, give up easily and see effort as fruitless. to make “intelligent improvement” – keeping the stuﬀ that works and focusing on what doesn’t – that little by little produces better attempts and, ultimately, victory. The key to progression is “failing fast”, the concept Silicon Valley abides by. This means the time between consecutive failed attempts should decrease steadily. The faster you fail, the more likely your chance of success. At the Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, Keane practises failing fast, but

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

Darsel Keane, centre and at left, at Unleash Space, the University of Auckland’s innovation hub and maker space.

there’s a caveat: you have to fail small. “I’m not a fan of this ‘Let’s try everything and just put it out there.’ But I think wellthought-out plans, experiments and tests, learning from them and failing fast are a smart thing to do.” Part of the centre’s portfolio is called Maker Space, which is an opportunity for students to prototype their designs. It may start with a sketch or Plasticine model. In every variation of this prototype, from

Using feedback to make “intelligent improvement” little by little produces better attempts and, ultimately, victory. a low-ﬁdelity one to what may be closest to a market ﬁnal, “you are making small failures”, she says. “But in our environment we have workshops, we have training, we’ve got experts you can call on to talk to for advice and support. “And so the failure – if you 3D-print something and for whatever reason it falls to pieces or it doesn’t quite work the same way – is actually a learning opportunity. It’s not this has failed; it’s just that this method didn’t work, so how can we approach

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

it diﬀerently?”

STARTING SMALL Elizabeth Peterson agrees. “If the consequences of failure become too high-stakes, then it’s too late to get the beneﬁts from learning, which means that you need to get the learning environment right to make it safe to make the mistakes, and ideally you need to start small to get the learning in early, when it’s much easier to bounce back.” And she has some sage advice for how parents can help their kids learn how to navigate failure and practise on the smaller stuﬀ, how they can have the most diﬃcult of conversations when their child comes home from school with a report that shows they’ve failed. It’s a matter of talking with them calmly, not getting emotionally triggered, and being fully present, she says. Then you can ask, “How do you feel about that?” “This is really hard to do well. The tricky bit is not to put the words into kids’ mouths, to name their feeling for them or to dismiss their feeling as wrong, just because their feelings and interpretations of events are diﬀerent from yours. “Ideally, we would elicit the feelings from them and then validate their emotions without judgment. But we need to try not to fall into the validation trap of attempting to convince them their thoughts are not accurate – ‘You’re not stupid’, ‘Of course you can

do it’, ‘You shouldn’t think like that or say that’, ‘Don’t blame the teachers, they are not all idiots’ – as that invalidates them. It tells your kid their feelings are wrong and it’s more likely to make them defensive and feel misunderstood.” Peterson maintains that once kids feel they are seen and understood, it is easier for them to regulate their emotions. It may

“But we need to try not to fall into the validation trap of attempting to convince kids their thoughts are wrong.” take a couple of days or longer before you can rationally return to the topic and start to unpick what happened and brainstorm some next steps. She suggests you can then start to ask, “What do you think went wrong?”, “Was it eﬀort?”, “Was it strategy?” or “Was it luck?” “Could they have done anything diﬀerently?” “All the while we need to try not to be judgmental, so their defences don’t go up and shut down the conversation. “Ultimately, the aim is to get kids to reﬂect

19

INTELLIGENT IMPROVEMENT

Dashun Wang, from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

on the issue calmly, to identify the diﬀerent points of view and what could have been done diﬀerently. Then we need to help them identify the resources they could have drawn on – internal and external – and what they could do to get those resources working for them next time. Finally, they need a clear action plan with concrete, achievable and ideally measurable next steps. “By modelling and scaﬀolding this sort of process in our conversations with kids, we are teaching them that when they ﬁnd themselves in a situation where something goes wrong, they have a familiar process of working through it, from

“They need a clear action plan with concrete, achievable and ideally measurable next steps.” allowing themselves to feel the emotion and seeing the situation from diﬀerent angles, to identifying resources and possible strategies and making an action plan for the future. “If we model and guide this as a process for dealing with setbacks, hopefully, with time, it will get quicker and then become an automatic process they can use by themselves without the need to have it scaﬀolded by an adult.” Which is what we older, bigger kids need to do for ourselves as well. Instead of putting our heads in the sand, face up, stand back and learn, using grit and perseverance.

20

‘IT CAME FROM MY OWN FAILURE & PAIN’ Award-winning novelist and journalist Elizabeth Day tapped the zeitgeist with her podcast discussing failure with prominent thinkers and personalities. Fifteen million followers later, she talks to Mark Broatch.

O

ne big takeaway from your podcast and new book Failosophy is that we can’t always do much about our failures, but we can shape our reactions and processing of them. The idea behind it all is that failure exists as a fact and it is inevitable. No matter what we do in our lives to try to avoid it, we aren’t going to be able to. So, one of my points is that there is no sense in living your life in fear of it and not taking risks, because you deny yourself the opportunity to grow. And once you acknowledge that failure happens to us all, even for people like [actor] Andrew Scott and [writer] Malcolm Gladwell, who came on the podcast to talk about it, it’s actually very liberating. Because it makes you feel that you can try more things. And we cannot control whether or not failure happens; the only thing that we can seek to control is our response to it.

That’s a very hard thing to do – Buddhists have been trying for thousands of years – but there are ways in which you can train yourself to do it. One is just by listening to how other people came through failure and also realising that every single failure will teach us some-

“Happiness is equal to or greater than the events of your life minus your expectation of how life should be.” thing if we choose to learn. Swiss-born British philosopher Alain de Botton said, “The diﬀerence between hope and despair is a diﬀerent way of telling a story from the same facts.” Instead of saying a relationship failed, perhaps say, “I had a great summer.” Or Google X’s Mo

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

Elizabeth Day: “2020 was a year where friendship became extremely important.”

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

content. To go into a relationship thinking, ‘I sincerely hope it lasts and will put in all the work I need to make it last, and it might not and I still love this person in spite of that’, that to me is so much more romantic and extraordinary.

“You are both within your rights to move on. That relationship is not a failure simply because it ends.”

It’s the sense that sometimes a relationship or a person comes to you for a reason; there’s an experience you need to have together. And once that learning has been done or that experience is over, you are both within your rights to move on. That relationship is not a failure simply because it ends. I’ve been through six seriously shitty breakups in my life, including a divorce, and I can honestly say I am extremely grateful for every single one of them now. Because they taught me something invaluable and it means I am where I am now, where I think I fully understand what true love really is and what I need from it.

21

GETTY IMAGES

Gawdat, talking about his 21-year-old son: rather than “Ali died”, he says, “Ali lived.” Mo Gawdat is now one of my most downloaded guests of all time and genuinely someone who has changed my life. He spent years developing an algorithm for happiness. And one of the fundamental premises of that algorithm [“Happiness is equal to or greater than the events of your life minus your expectation of how life should be”] is that we should regulate our expectation of life. If we expect it all to be roses, kisses and candyﬂoss and every relationship to be the most miraculous of our lives, we are destined to be repeatedly disappointed and to end up feeling sadder and less

INTELLIGENT IMPROVEMENT REFLECTIONS ON FAILURE

Confessions from Elizabeth’s Day ‘How to Fail’ podcast. “When you’re 20, you should be trying a million things – especially the things you’re not good at – just to see if there’s some wonderful little thing you can extract from the experience.” – author Malcolm Gladwell “I’d really like to have the skin from my twenties, but I prefer my heart and guts now.” – Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge “It took me a long time to realise I can’t change other people. And I can’t control other people. I don’t control what they do. I can only control myself.” – author Tara Westover “The ability to admit failures is always an expression of strength.” – comedian and author David Baddiel “Having faith in yourself is just a hugely radical act.” – author Jessie Burton

22

And friendships, too? I feel 2020 was a year where friendship became extremely important. It also showed the faultlines in friendships we’ve carried around with us for years. There is no cultural handbook for how to navigate friendship. And it’s incredibly diﬃcult, because we outgrow each other all the time. And if you’re in a friendship that doesn’t enable you to grow because someone always wants you to be the person you were when you formed the friendship, that can be so hard.

“Once you acknowledge that failure happens to us all, it’s actually very liberating. Because it makes you feel that you can try more things.” I don’t know how you break up with a friend in a way that isn’t incredibly painful. Because either you ghost them and just don’t reply to their texts, which comes with its own emotional baggage for both of you, or you lay it all down and say, “This is how I feel about it.” My best friend, who is also a psychotherapist, said the truest friendships don’t come with expectations. They accept you fully as you are. What is failure? Initially, I said failure is something that doesn’t go according to plan. Which I think covers 80%. But then there’s a bigger existential failure, which comes out of nowhere – it’s cataclysmic and it can be incredibly hard to ﬁnd anything positive from it. Common or garden failures such as failing your driving test, an exam, getting a promotion – they can be easily dealt with. But there are much bigger failures, such as illness or homelessness. One of my closest friends had a brain haemorrhage and a stroke at the beginning of 2019 and spent 2020 relearning how to walk and talk. These [events] require a necessary period of just surviving and coming to terms with. I don’t think you can skip easily through every single failure in a Pollyanna-ish way: there’ll be certain failures where you need to grieve the loss of the life you thought you were going to live. And that sadness may stay with you forever. But you don’t have to live in a place of repeated pain;

suﬀering is optional. One failure that’s of an almost-cataclysmic nature for me is my failure, thus far, to have children. That is something that causes me sadness still, but I choose to be at peace with that sadness because it’s also brought me extraordinary things: the gift of time – I’ve written many more books than I would have otherwise; the gift of friendship with other women in similar situations; and the gift of advocacy, because I can talk about it with other people going through something similar. If everything goes right and according to plan and you never make a single mistake, there’s nothing for you to learn. I now choose to believe that the universe is unfolding exactly as is intended. I can completely understand that that way of thinking isn’t for everyone. I hope [motherhood] will still happen for me. Is it an irony that this podcast and the books are the most successful things you’ve ever done? It is great. It’s also absurd. “How to Fail” the podcast came out of a place of my own failure and my own pain. I was dumped, out of the blue, in October 2017, three weeks before my 39th birthday, and I was looking back at the decade of my thirties thinking, “Wow, that didn’t go how I thought it would.” When I did the ﬁrst

“One failure that’s of an almost-cataclysmic nature for me is my failure, thus far, to have children.” series, I did eight episodes, had eBayed my wedding dress to fund a brilliant sound engineer who’s still with me. I did not for a second think that it would run to as many seasons as it has or that it would ﬁnd such resonance with now more than 15 million people. Truman Capote wrote that “failure is the condiment that gives success its ﬂavour”. Grit, perseverance, that’s the real spice of life, right? [With] every single one of those past relationships I mentioned, it took me a really long time to learn the lessons that I was being sent. When I got to my late thirties

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

and started online dating, that also was a form of data acquisition for me. I went on a lot of dates, and most of them were wildly disappointing and dispiriting. But they taught me something about what I wanted. So, by the time I met my husband online – we got married in November – I was able to recognise this was someone who is fundamentally decent. It was much quieter being met with kindness than being met with the ﬁzzled-out ﬁreworks of romantic linguistics.

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

The positivity movement doesn’t much like dwelling on failure? No, and I discovered after Failosophy was published that Donald Trump is a huge advocate of the positivity movement. There’s wonderful stuﬀ we can learn from

“Men hadn’t categorised it as a failure. Their point was: ‘Yeah, but I’ve ended up here, so what do I have to complain about?’”

isn’t. Twitter is like a semidetached relationship. Instagram I adore. I’m quite a visual person, and to me it feels like a much kinder community than the other forms of social media. How I use it is how I think other people should: not to use it when I’m feeling anxious; to curate my own feed, so I don’t make me feel bad about myself; I mute people, I follow people I ﬁnd creatively stimulating or funny. And I don’t respond to negative or unkind comments. I force myself to leave it for 24 hours, and by then the need has passed. Instagram is how I have connected with a lot of people in New Zealand. I think you are my third-biggest audience. Which I am so grateful for.

the positivity movement – to be kinder to ourselves, to train our brains to be happier, and a portion of the book is devoted to exactly that. But I’m not a fan of positivity squeezing out all other feelings and emotions. Feeling sad is a necessary part of human emotion. Life is texture. The idea that you’re failing if you’re not feeling happy all the time; you’re allowed to feel however you need to feel.

Favourite interview? My ﬁrst with Mo Gawdat. We’re still in touch, and he’s a really good friend. Lemn Sissay, incredible poet and memoirist, who talked about his failure to get married and have children. Phoebe Waller-Bridge, because she’s a good friend of mine and my ﬁrst-ever guest. I loved Andrew Scott – his failure to be heteronormative is one of my favourite failures of all time. Other than my husband, he is my ideal man. Camilla [Thurlow from Love Island] is lovely. She is a very special person.l

How do you manage your social media? I used to be on Facebook every single day. I feel it’s masquerading as friendship, but it

FAILOSOPHY: A handbook for when things go wrong, by Elizabeth Day (HarperCollins, $22.99)

23

GETTY IMAGES

Failure is probably easier to get over if you’re wealthy and educated and genetically and socially lucky? Yeah, because you’ve got resources. Wealth, privilege – all that cushions anything that you’re going to experience. Someone with a roof over their head and a healthy independent income is not automatically going to end up on the street if they fail. And to touch on an interesting thing with gender: when I launched the podcast, I found that nine out of 10 times, the men I approached all said, “I don’t think I failed, so I don’t think I’m right for the podcast.” Whereas all the women said, “I’ve failed so many times, I can’t whittle it down to three.” Then, when I got to interview those men, of course they’d failed. They hadn’t categorised it as a failure, because their point was: “Yeah, but I’ve ended up here, so what do I have to complain about? Everything you would categorise as a failure,

I have categorised as an obstacle that I have overcome on my path to eventual success.”

From left, Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge, actor Andrew Scott, and author Malcolm Gladwell.

ESSAY

DIVIDED of STATES AMERICA The presidency of Donald Trump may have infected politics so badly that it has changed the country forever. by PAUL THOMAS illustration by ANTHONY ELLISON ●

I

t was entirely ﬁtting that President Donald Trump’s term should draw to a close with a mob of white neo-fascist yahoos running wild in Washington, DC, storming the seat of US power and rubbing in their vandalistic presence in that hallowed space. What better encapsulation of the Trump presidency? The signs were there from the start. Four years ago, we noted that although it was hard to believe that “a 70-year-old billionaire whose brand is blazed across the American skyline could be a revolutionary, Donald Trump represents drastic change; he’s engaged in the overthrow of the established order.”* It’s ﬁtting, too, that Trump’s presidency should end with the international community unable to believe what they were seeing in Washington, unable to contain their consternation – or, in some cases, glee – at witnessing the US’ excruciating embarrassment. They’ve now witnessed the rejected leader refusing to go quietly, exhorting a mob, in which alt-right extremist groups were heavily represented and highly visible, to march a few blocks and disrupt the constitutional formalities conﬁrming his defeat, with the mob responding to his codiﬁed call to insurrection – “If you don’t ﬁght like hell, you’re not going to have a country any more” – like a pack of Pavlov’s dogs. They’ve witnessed the mob meeting so little resistance

that it amounted to living proof in real time of the racism embedded in American law enforcement. And they’ve witnessed the successful “assault on the citadel of liberty”, as President-elect Joe Biden called it, by a ragtag army of thugs and fantasists a few thousand strong, inviting speculation of law enforcement involvement and complicity. (Several Capitol police oﬃcers have been suspended and more than a dozen are under investigation. Police departments in a number of states have launched investigations into whether some of their oﬃcers took part in the assault.) This is what four years of Making America Great Again delivered: an international laughing stock for America’s adversaries, whose oﬃcial outlets delighted in trolling the US with expressions of concern couched in the sort of language State Department spokespeople use when political strife and anti-democratic mayhem break out in failed states and “shithole” countries – “We urge all parties to exercise restraint and call upon the Government to respect the will of the people …” For America’s friends – counting down the minutes until Biden’s January 20 inauguration and the promised return to an international order in which the world’s most powerful nation unequivocally stands with those who practise and promote liberal democracy as opposed to cosying up to tyrants and kleptocrats – the chaotic scenes raised the question of whether pre-Trump America can be restored.

For America’s friends, the chaotic scenes raised the question of whether pre-Trump America can be restored.

* Paul Thomas, Listener, January 28, 2017

24

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

25

ESSAY Incited by, at right, Donald Trump Jr, Rudy Giuliani and Donald Trump, supporters of the President gather in Washington to protest against the ratification of Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory in the 2020 election, and, fuelled by Trump’s continued claims of election fraud, storm the Capitol Building on January 6.

Given Trump’s disdain for laws, it’s conceivable these donations could be used to fund his or his children’s future political ventures. Has Trumpism infected the body politic to the extent that a full recovery isn’t possible and the US must henceforth live with a condition whereby violence, hatred and a willingness to subvert democracy can ﬂare up at any time? The catalyst for the insurrection was the legal and political campaign – relentless, reckless and inept in equal measure – conducted by Trump and his cohorts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result on the grounds of widespread malpractice and out-and-out fraud.

GETTY IMAGES

LEGAL FIASCO The legal component was a ﬁasco. Trump’s lawyers ﬁled 61 suits in state and federal courts seeking to overturn results in the swing states that delivered the election to Biden and running mate Kamala Harris; 60 were tossed out, in many cases with withering contempt. The sole success resulted in the invalidation of a handful of votes in Pennsylvania, a state Trump lost by 81,600 votes. Two suits sought to involve the US

26

Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. Even though Trump’s three appointments to the court have cemented a conservative majority, both suits were rejected without a murmur of dissent. Legal analysts pointed out that despite their repeated public claims of voter fraud, Trump’s lawyers were careful not to make such claims in their written or verbal submissions. There are consequences for lying in court. Actually, there may be consequences for lying outside court. Dominion Voting Systems has ﬁled a US$1.3 billion defamation suit against Trump lawyer and adviser Sidney Powell, an even more unhinged promoter of voter fraud conspiracy than Rudy Giuliani, as unlikely as that may seem. Despite being warned to cease and desist, Powell continued to claim that Dominion’s machines were programmed to ﬂip Trump votes to Biden by a diverse cabal of conspirators, including former Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez – who died in 2013 but obviously never had a wooden stake driven through his heart – and Satan-worshipping, cannibalistic paedophiles, aka past and present leaders of the Democratic Party. Powell appears to have embraced the QAnon conspiracy theory; QAnon followers have certainly embraced her. That no evidence to support claims of voter fraud has been forthcoming isn’t surprising. As we know, Trump is a narcissist whose persona is based on winning. The election-fraud narrative is a fallback device to be deployed whenever losing is a realistic prospect or a reality. Since declaring his candidacy in 2015, he has asserted the illegitimacy of virtually every election he, or anyone on whose behalf he campaigned, didn’t win. When Senator Ted Cruz won the Republican Iowa caucuses during the 2016 primary season, Trump tweeted, “Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it.” (When order was restored on Capitol Hill and the certiﬁcation proceedings resumed, the unwaveringly venal Cruz was one of ﬁve Republican senators who voted to overturn Biden’s victories in both Arizona and Pennsylvania.)

Having claimed that Hillary Clinton won the 2016 popular vote only because millions of illegal immigrants cast ballots, newly installed President Trump set up the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity chaired by Vice President Mike Pence. It was disbanded within a few months with nothing to show for its short-lived existence.

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

THE CONS CONTINUE

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

The apparent desire of some to lynch Mike Pence, the de facto leader of the Republican establishment, suggests the deal is playing out.

into several accounts, including [new Trump political action committee (PAC)] Save America, which is loosely regulated and could be used to personally beneﬁt the President after he leaves oﬃce.” One wonders how many of those who believed they were funding the legal battle read or absorbed the notiﬁcation in ﬁne print stating that 75% of their donation would be going to Save America. There

27

GETTY IMAGES

Of course, Trump is, at bottom, a con man, and the campaign to overturn the election was also a scam. In the month following the election, Trump’s fundraising apparatus brought in US$207.5 million from no fewer than 498 pitches to mostly small-dollar donors. As the Washington Post reported, “The contributions from thousands of donors across the country are deposited

ESSAY

GETTY IMAGES

Certifying the election results: Vice President Mike Pence and Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Right, President-elect Joe Biden. are few restrictions on such PACs, but their funds cannot be used for campaign purposes, including campaign-related litigation. Given Trump’s disdain for laws, ethics and propriety and the blurred line between his political and commercial activities, it’s quite conceivable these donations could be used to fund his or his children’s future political ventures, if not simply funnelled directly into his businesses. Nor should it be a surprise that the total failure to substantiate the attacks on the election’s integrity hasn’t given Trump supporters pause for thought. MAGA adherents are cult members for whom there’s no such thing as objective truth. Instead, there are the Great Leader’s pronouncements and the heavily partisan if not propagandistic output of right-wing media organisations, such as Fox News, Newsmax and One America News, and their social media bubbles. Prolonged and exclusionary exposure to these information sources amounts to voluntary brainwashing. You’d need many pairs of hands to point a ﬁnger at everyone who bears some responsibility for the events of January 6, but that process starts and ends with Trump. From the moment in 2016 when he became the Republican standard-bearer, the notion that American politics could descend into seditious violence ceased to be far-fetched. The alarm bells sounded. We wrote at the time: “That Trump, a demagogue who makes little attempt to conceal his authoritarian tendencies and whose political persona is fuelled by ego and vengefulness, a fairground huckster who knows from long experience that a section of the public is inﬁnitely impressionable and credulous … can get this close to the White House is a

28

chilling reminder of democracy’s fragility.”* The extreme right was swift to grasp the signiﬁcance of Trump’s rise. His rhetoric, wrote David Neiwert, author of Alt-America: The Rise of the Radical Right in the Age of Trump, had a “downright electric” eﬀect on ethno-nationalist extremists. The openly racist VDare website hailed Trump’s deﬁance of “the elite consensus increasingly deﬁned by increasingly blatant hatred of the historic American nation in general and of white males in particular”.

that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots.” A day later, having been inundated with condemnation, he issued a statement declaring that the seat of American democracy had been “deﬁled” by people who “do not represent our country”. But he didn’t call those people insurrectionists or rioters or a mob attempting a coup; he called them “demonstrators who inﬁltrated the Capitol”.

NOT SO GRAND OLD PARTY

An estimated 18 million Trump supporters strongly approve of what the mob did, and another 24 million see the mob as people like them. Unfortunately, many in the political class and the mainstream media didn’t pay enough attention to Trump’s nod-and-wink ﬂirtation with the extreme right and/or swallowed his dissembling too readily. Neiwert: “Trump makes a statement showing sympathy with an extremist point of view; he responds to the uproar by temporarily backing away … [The alt-right] dismissed his disavowals as Trump’s concessions to political realities. What mattered to them was the original signal.” He played the same game this time. Immediately after the storming of the Capitol, he tweeted, “These are the things and events * Paul Thomas, Listener, October 15, 2016

The Republican Party has a lot to answer for. The GOP’s hypocrisy over ﬁscal rectitude – zealously in favour of it when Barack Obama was president; couldn’t care less about it when Trump moved into the White House – is a snapshot of the abandonment of core beliefs and principles that paved the way for their Faustian pact with Trump. When Trump’s nativist populism secured the White House by adding white working-class males to the GOP’s big business/evangelical base, the party set aside its misgivings at practically every level and fell in behind. The apparent desire of some insurrectionists to lynch Pence, the de facto leader of the Republican establishment, suggests the deal is playing out as Faustian pacts do. In fact, Trump failed to deliver on his side of the bargain: the Republicans lost the House of Representatives in the 2018 mid-terms, they lost the presidency last November and they lost control of the Senate in the Georgia run-oﬀs earlier this month. What neither the party hierarchy nor Trump appears to have taken into account is that his ability to motivate and mobilise voters crosses party lines. Trump

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

base? Opinion is divided. “Trump has become the political equivalent of a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade,” wrote the Washington Post’s Philip Rucker, “ﬂying down New York’s Sixth Avenue only to be punctured, twist in the wind and deﬂate.” Veteran Republican pollster Frank Luntz was taken aback by acrimonious divisions among Trump supporters at a recent focus group: they split into diehards, those who agreed the election was stolen but felt it was time to move on, and those appalled by Trump’s behaviour since November 2, particularly the incitement. “When you’ve got a uniﬁed force, you can speak to them as their general,” Luntz told the Washington Post. “But when they have broken down into tribes, it’s impossible to

Whatever its wider signiﬁcance, it seems likely that January 6 was the start of a struggle for control of the Republican Party.

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

grassroots-conviction wing has just been shot with a steroid.” If the fighting talk emanating from Trump’s sons is anything to go by, the family intend to consolidate their grip on the party by purging anyone who fails the loyalty test. On Fox News, Eric Trump vowed to work to ensure the defeat of every Republican in Congress who “didn’t stand up against the fraud. They will be primaried in their next election and they will lose.” Party oﬃcials who preferred to remain anonymous cast the forthcoming power struggle in terms that suggest their money is on Trump. “Unless and until the party can ﬁnd a message that is more popular with the white working class than Donald Trump,” said one, “there is no bright future for Republicans.” Referring to the barrage of criticism directed at Trump by Republican leaders as “the establishment strikes back”, another went on to say, “We’ll see who has the most staying power.”

MAGA MANIA Indeed. Can Citizen Trump, deprived of the bully pulpit, his Twitter platform and the reach provided by blanket media attention, keep the MAGA movement alive and retain his hold on the Republican

deliver a message that reaches everybody. Trump is much less powerful than he was 72 hours ago.” Brendan Buck, an adviser to two former Republican Speakers of the House and occasional Trump critic, thinks writing Trump oﬀ is another example of the disastrous – in terms of punditry – tendency to be overly inﬂuenced by metropolitan opinion while not bothering to take the pulse of the heartland. “It’s folly to suggest that everyone will just turn their back on [Trump],” says Buck. “His power has always rested in the sway he has with voters. I have seen so many times where you thought this was the moment things would change. But [Congressional Republicans] went home, their constituents demanded continued loyalty to Donald Trump and they came back refreshed as Trumpers.” Impeachment proceedings, due to be initiated by House Democrats hours after the Listener went to press, may play a part. Will the Republican leadership see it as an opportunity to further damage Trump, if not drive him out of public life altogether? Or when it comes to the crunch, will they try to have it both ways to avoid riling the base: condemn more in sorrow than in anger and

29

ANTHONY ELLISON

got 74.2 million votes in the election, the second-highest tally in US history. Biden got 81.2 million. Although the Georgia results reinforced that Trump isn’t the unstoppable electoral juggernaut he claimed to be, the polls have consistently shown he’s more popular with the base than the congressional Republican Party. As Donald Trump Jr told the mob before they went on the rampage, “This isn’t their Republican Party any more. This is Donald Trump’s Republican Party.” And though Trump’s role in the insurrection persuaded some Congressional Republicans to cut ties with him, the subsequent polls indicate that many Trump voters don’t see either the assault or his incitement of it as a big deal. Extrapolating from the poll ﬁndings, the Washington Post estimated that 18 million Trump supporters strongly approve of what the mob did, while another 24 million see the mob as representing people like them. Whatever its wider significance, it seems likely that January 6 was the start of a struggle for control of the Republican Party. As Stan Barnes, a former Arizona state lawmaker and long-time GOP consultant, put it: “The natural tension between the money wing of the party and the

ESSAY vote not to convict? On the basis that it’s hard to break the habits of a career, one expects the latter. The outcome of the power struggle will have a major bearing on Republicans’ disposition towards the Biden administration and Biden’s ability to lead a country roughly split between those who believe January 6 saw an attempted coup instigated and carried out by people who want to end the American experiment in democracy and self-government and those who think Congress had it coming.

THE BIDEN QUESTION While Biden has been, well, presidential since his victory, providing a reassuring glimpse of a leadership style, built on restraint, professionalism, character and fundamental decency, for which most Americans and America’s friends in the international community yearn, there are times when one can’t help but wonder if his age and institutionalism blind him to inconvenient truths. When Biden earnestly insists “this is not America, this is not who we are” he is, of course, correct in the sense that, prior to January 6, the only people to have stormed the Capitol were British soldiers – in 1814. But his wider premise – that the mob were an un-American aberration – is questionable. Based on what we’ve witnessed over the past two decades and particularly since 2016, “this” is a very real part of America that will brush oﬀ his appeals for unity and view much of his agenda as an existential threat and a call to arms to defend “their” America. Writing in the Globalist last year, New York-based international analyst and ﬁnancial consultant Richard Phillips advanced the proposition that the US increasingly resembles a developing country. He cited: ■ Out-of-control ﬁscal and monetary policies, such as tax cuts for the very rich. ■ The rise of the police state. ■ An inadequate and ineﬀective health system. ■ A degrading environment. ■ Deteriorating infrastructure. The inevitable next manifestation, he wrote, was an assault on the mechanics, the process and the principles underpinning democracy, which is pretty much what has taken place since Trump lost the election. “The polarisation that one currently sees in US politics and society, which is stoked to a fever pitch each and every day by a President determined to hold on to power at any cost, inches the US towards a potentially

30

cataclysmic level of civil strife, the contours of which already became evident this past summer. “A large cross section of the US electorate seems content to tag along for this ride … Astonishingly, like pre-pubescent children in the back seat of the car during a long drive, they happily ask one question over and over: ‘Are we there yet?’” One assumes the ranks of those inclined to dismiss Phillips’ analysis as alarmist have shrunk since January 6. And that some of the defectors would now describe the analysis as prescient. In a similar vein, recent US research has found that 18% of Americans are “highly disposed” towards authoritarianism and 23% are “just one step below” (Listener, October 10, 2020). That corresponded with research ﬁndings during the 2016 primary season that the single factor predicting whether a Republican voter favoured Trump over his rivals for the GOP nomination was an inclination to authoritarianism.

“When Republicans are broken down into tribes, it’s impossible to deliver a message that reaches everybody. Trump’s now much less powerful.” Biden may well be the right person in the right place at the right time. His promise to be president of all Americans, not just those who voted for him, must grate with those who found themselves marginalised and demonised by Trump and his supporters. Likewise, Biden’s declared readiness to “reach across the aisle” to work with Congressional Republicans must grate with Democrat oﬃce holders, staﬀ members and activists who’ve lived through a decade-plus of Republican intransigence and a winnertakes-all approach to practically everything. However, as a veteran of the Senate, a wellliked individual and a known commodity, Biden is uniquely well equipped to cajole and prod the Republicans into stepping back from reﬂexive obstructionism. Indeed, Senate Republicans may well be looking forward to dealing with Biden rather than the mercurial, unreliable and vengeful Trump. If nothing else, if Biden and the Republican leadership can conduct their dealings with something approaching civility, it may help reduce the American body politic’s

dangerously high temperature. For their part, the Republican ﬁrebrands in the House can be counted on to remain partisan to the point of bloody-mindedness and beyond.

END OR BEGINNING? What unfolds in the coming weeks and months may tell us whether January 6 was the beginning of the end or the end of the beginning. Was it the moment Trump and the MAGAverse overreached and shook the broad conservative movement out of its complacency and complicity? Or did it signal the end of the phoney civil war conducted on social media, in cyberspace and increasingly on the streets these past few years? Once the unthinkable occurs, it ceases to be unthinkable – it becomes an option. (The FBI is warning that extremist groups are planning “armed protests” in all 50 state capitals and in Washington, DC, in the lead-up to Biden’s inauguration.) Outgoing Republican congressman Denver Riggleman, a former US Air Force intelligence analyst, believes America dodged a bullet on January 6: “When you put radical, radical ideas together with messianic belief systems, that’s a recipe for disaster. We’re lucky things didn’t burn this time.” The International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based think tank founded by right-wing hate ﬁgure George Soros, among others, provided a bleak assessment: “The [US] is awash with ﬁrearms, has gun homicide levels unmatched by any other high-income country and is home to a white supremacy movement that is growing in virulence. Racial injustice, economic inequality and police brutality are chronic sources of tension.” A far cry from Ronald Reagan’s “shining city on the hill” or the exceptional nation that American politicians habitually evoke. Biden’s insistence that there’s nothing Americans cannot achieve when they come together ignores the reality that “the United States” is an increasingly jarring misnomer. Immediately after the January 6 assault, CNN commentator Van Jones cited three things as evidence “something beautiful is trying to happen”: Biden’s victory, Senate Republicans’ resistance to Trump and the Senate run-oﬀ victories of “a Jewish kid and a black preacher” – Jon Ossoﬀ and Raphael Warnock – in Georgia, a deep south state that was one of the seven original Confederate states. He’s right. The problem is that if there’s ever been a place and time where beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it’s America in 2021. l

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

PARENTING

ATTENTION, PLEASE With her book about parenting selling more than 240,000 copies and gaining high-proﬁle fans, UK psychotherapist Philippa Perry has well and truly stepped out of her celebrated husband’s shadow. by LOUISE CHUNN

J

ust before the end of 2020, the culture section of the London Sunday Times lauded an elite list of people from the arts as “bright sparks in a year full of gloom”. In among The Charlatans’ singer holding Twitter parties and Andrew Lloyd Webber trying to save British theatre from extinction was a 63-year-old

but also a highly regarded writer, documentary-maker and public ﬁgure. Like a senior member of the “great and good”, he has been made a CBE, given the BBC’s annual Reith Lectures (to put this in context, this year’s lectures were given by the departing Governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney) and picked up a British Academy Television Award for his Channel 4 documentary Grayson Perry: Who Are You? Like his provocative and political artworks,, his media creations g go for the diﬃcult subjects: class divisions, sexual violence and masculinity, super-wealth,

ALAMY

“I’ve yet to meet a parent who hasn’t altered theirr parenting to some degree ree after reading ng it, me extremely included.” ncluded.”

of Grayson Perry’s Art Club, the TV series “that helped the nation to dig out its paintboxes and Philippa to get out of her husband’s orbit”. Everybody in the UK knows Grayson. He’s the Essex-born transvestite potter who in 2003 won Britain’s major visual art award, the Turner Prize. He took to the podium to collect his cheque for £20,000 accompanied by his wife and daughter while dressed as his alter ego Claire, in a pastel-hued satin Little Bo Peep outﬁt and full-on p panto-dame makeup. p It took a while to quieten the laughter and outrage, but in the 17 years since, he has become not only a huge artworld success, extending also into print-making, textiles and grand-scale tapestries,

psychotherapist with h a distinctive black-and-white e bob and a best-selling book on n raising children. And the reason ason for Philippa Perry’s inclulusion? She was, it claimed, med, “the perfect sidekick” k” to the artist/presenter er

Hot ticket: Philippa Perry, centre, with daughter Flo and husband Grayson at an event opening. JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER R

31 31

PARENTING

32

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

even the politics of the Trump-era United States. His latest TV show, Grayson Perry’s Art Club, was much more benign (and involved wearing nothing fancier than a T-shirt and paint-splattered chinos). His spur-of-the-moment idea for engaging the great British public in art during the pandemic was an instant success, with a million viewers every week and 10,000 ordinary people submitting works to be

“Most people have got a script from their parents or from their childhood, and it takes a lot of work to rewrite it.”

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

large Cheshire town of Warrington, about 30km from both Liverpool and Manchester. “My parents were quite old-fashioned as far as parenting goes; they did what was done to them. They weren’t bad people, but they weren’t sensitive. Here’s an example: when I’m a teen, we go on a lovely foreign holiday. Because we’re well oﬀ, I have a room on my own and a couple of waiters bang on my door all night

“Being the wife of a trannie is great; he always makes me look fantastic.” asking to be let in. I phone my dad and his response is, ‘Absolute nonsense! Of course they’re not trying to get in.’ “They wanted me to be happy, I knew that, but as a child and teenager, I could never expect to be believed,” she says, and this pillar of parenting – listening to what your children are trying to tell you – is evident throughout the book. So,

33

GETTY IMAGES

PÅL HANSEN

shared on screen and eventually shown at the Manchester Art Gallery. His wife appears throughout the show, sweeping out the artist’s studio, sitting for a series of quick portraits, making a pot, tossing in a few well-chosen words. She’s there because she is Mrs Grayson Perry – they are in their lockdown bubble living in a Georgian In demand: with house in Islington – but also Grayson at a preCovid theatrical because, in her own right, she launch. is a broadcaster, who has made formula to her parenting book, TV and radio programmes on which has become de rigueur agony aunts, love and therapy. But with among new(ish) parents. I gave it to my a “parenting book for people who don’t own daughter when she was expecting buy parenting books”, called The Book You her ﬁrst baby last March. Turns out every Wish Your Parents Had Read (And Your prospective mother at her Baby and Bump Children Will Be Glad That You Did), which group in Peckham had a copy, too. The was published in hardback in March 2019, hardback has sold more than 240,000 Perry ceased to be a plus-one for her huscopies and garnered a huge army of fans. band. She has become a star herself. And The paperback has just been published anyway, she always was a pretty extraorand features praise from the likes of dinary woman. Nigella Lawson, Bryony Gordon, Richard Osman and Alain de Botton. As columnist (and mother of ﬁve-yearASTUTE LEARNING old twins and a baby) Hadley Freeman I ﬁrst met Perry about 10 years ago. She wrote in the Guardian, “The book is ﬁrm had just published a graphic novel (she’d with parents but also forgiving, full of the written the words, not done the drawings), currently popular attachment-parenting Couch Fiction, which dissects how therapy theories (children’s needs come ﬁrst) works, by focusing on one man’s experiwhile chucking in some common sense ence of seeing a therapist. Perry had been (sometimes parents need a break). It is a psychotherapist for many years, but had incisive and persuasive – God, it’s persuastopped practising in order to do “other sive. I’ve yet to meet a parent who hasn’t things”. They included a monthly feature altered their parenting to some degree for Psychologies magazine, which I was after reading it, me extremely included.” then editing, in which she ﬁctionalised a therapy session to explore a common situation or emotion, mixing story-telling ROBUST AND QUIRKY and humour with psychologically astute Born Philippa Fairclough, Perry grew up learning. She has brought a similar with her parents and older sister in the

PARENTING

It’s behind you Children can be trying, but guiding them towards adulthood is a two-way street.

A

s a psychodynamically trained psychotherapist, Philippa Perry’s base belief is that, as a subheading in the opening chapter of her book says, “The past comes back to bite us (and our children)”. Our attitudes to parenting are formed by our own childhoods, in that we tend to either subconsciously replicate that parenting or resist it and want to use a diﬀerent style. Seeing what dysfunctional parenting can lead to – from her years of talking to clients and from her own life – she wanted to arm new parents with better information about the overall role of parenting.

GETTY IMAGES

“I’m not saying you should completely surrender your standpoint … I am saying that their view of the world is equal to yours.” So the book starts with a large section in which readers are encouraged to recognise what their own parenting was like and how it might be aﬀecting them. “One issue might be that as a child, you felt that the people who loved you perhaps didn’t always like you. They might sometimes have found you annoying, hard work, disappointing, unimportant, clumsy or stupid. When you’re reminded of this by your child’s behaviour, you are triggered, and you end up shouting or acting out whatever your default negative behaviour is.” Perry writes a lot about the development of a relationship between parent and child. She is not a fan of sleep-training, toddler-taming or anything that implies that parents need to, above all, keep total control over their oﬀpsring. She urges

34

parents to explain and be patient, watch for a baby’s cues when they are preverbal, and wait for a child to decide that they will meet you rather than bulldoze your way to compliance. She writes that many of us resist allowing our children, whether baby, toddler, even adult, to aﬀect us. We are diaphobic, meaning we fear real dialogue, and want to run the show. “I’m not saying you should completely surrender your standpoint … I am saying that their view of the world is equal to yours.”

G

iven this, it’s unsurprising that she doesn’t think strictness is the best option for parents. She believes this teaches a child that inﬂexibility is right and can also set you on a cycle of reciprocal inﬂexibility – or, to put it another way, stand-oﬀs and screaming matches – or a withdrawal from communicating with y you. She is all for or boundaries, but they should uld relate to us all, not just our ur children, and they should uld be placed with love. It’s best to state the terms ms of boundaries early (before you lose ose control), and they should not be empty threats. When chil-dren are young, ng, the breaking of boundaries may result in their r being physically ally removed from m the situation; when en they are older, more sophisticated ophisticated psychology iss brought into play, but also “a heavy dose off parently optimism that at they will master their emotions

and their impulsivity”. She reminds us that human beings “don’t reach maturity until we’re (roughly) in our mid-twenties”. One thing that resonates through the book is communication. Talking to your children – whether they are babies, toddlers, school age, teens or adults – is

She is all for boundaries, but they should relate to us all, not just our children, and they should be placed with love. encouraged at every turn. It’s not as if she doesn’t know children can be trying, y g, but by y moving the focus away from a parent’s own emotional response, Perry res does seem to lower the temperature on the usual problems, from temper fr tantrums to teenage criminal activity. activity At the end, she points out that th “despite all the mistakes we m make, all the love m we w hold back from giving, all the anger we dump on our child … [our [o refusal] to see things thing from their standpoint standpoi or [asking] too much of them, we bonded to them are still bo and them tto us”. hope is that the Her hop book may just make it easier, for both a little eas sides.

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021 LISTEN

too, on occasion, is her robust, quirky, unvarnished way of expressing her message. As she says, “Most people have got a script from their parents or from their childhood, and it takes a lot of work to rewrite it.” That’s where Perry’s own work on herself came in.

frustrates her. She expresses this freely on Twitter and Facebook. She never ﬁnds writing easy but had long thought she would try to write a book about parenting. “I was 35 when I had Flo. When I was pregnant, I was aware that I wanted to do it diﬀerently from my parents and did a huge amount of reading. One of the books that really stayed with me was Compassionate Child-Rearing, by US psychotherapist Robert Firestone, and it’s absolutely bloody amazing. He pointed out that in the West, we tend to deaden our responses to our children so that we’re not stirred up by them. This really resonated with me and I have done a lot of work with this idea. When our children are at a similar stage to the when-we-were-feelEye poppers: ing-vulnerable stage, we the couple at a fear opening the box to our Royal Academy of Arts event. memories, so instead we react angrily to them. It protects us from having to feel with our children.”

LATE STARTER

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

was cruel and violent. I’ve seen him in both personae: when Perry was writing for Psychologies, he came to a staﬀ Christmas party dressed in a multi-coloured version of a classic potter’s baggy sweater, but I also went to a Mind event where one of his TV shows

Her answer is to build a relationship with children. “Not take them over and not ignore them, but listen to them.” was up for an award. Grayson was dressed in massively high glittering platforms and a full-length robe that brought Cleopatra to mind. He acted the same in whichever outﬁt he wore – he’s funny, matey and easy to talk to. Philippa is also no slouch in the wardrobe department. She loves to wear eye-popping colours and designs courtesy of Pleats Please Issey Miyake, along with Balenciaga trainers. She has found the lockdown hard work because she loves to dress up and hang out with her friends – both old-timers and new celebrity-style folk – and the party-free life bores and

MODEL OF INFLUENCE Her answer to this is to build a relationship with our children. “Not take them over and not ignore them, but listen to them, hear them. The world is diﬀerent from the one we grew up in, but we can learn about the world as it is now through them and let them inﬂuence us. And if we do that, they are far more likely to be inﬂuenced by us, as they will have given them a model of how to be inﬂuenced. That’s what dialogue is.” Part of her hugely popular book came out of feeling that she was not heard by her upper-middle-class conventional parents, that the dialogue was missing. But, as she told the Guardian recently, “I’m a narcissist with a very fragile ego, because I could have done with a bit more attention as a child. But if I’d had enough attention, then I wouldn’t have written the book. So it’s all okay.” If any of this strikes a chord, Perry would say that’s okay, too. As she writes early in the book, “I hope I’ve convinced you to examine how you react to the feelings your children trigger in you. Be aware of how you talk to yourself. Look out for your inner critic. And be less judgmental – about yourself, your parenting and your children.” ALAMY

First, though, she had to escape her parents’ clutches. At 10, she went to boarding school (which she hated) and then a Swiss ﬁnishing school. But rather than university, she ended up in a secretarial college in Oxford. “After that, I did all sorts of diﬀerent jobs – managing a McDonald’s in Oxford Circus, being a paralegal – just to pay the rent, really. I always thought I wasn’t good enough and a bit thick [she is dyslexic]. So, I never thought I could have a glittering career; I’ve been a late starter on that front. “But I was always very interested in psychology. I did a psychology A-level at night school, and when I went to art college in my late twenties, I studied art about psychology – anything but actually studying psychology.” It was when she volunteered for the Samaritans that the penny dropped. “I realised I was experimenting, trying to ﬁnd out whether it was safe to explore feelings. Listening to the brave people who phoned up, I found it was not only safe but beneﬁcial.” By now in her thirties, she started therapy herself, followed by counselling training and then ﬁnally, at the Metanoia Institute in London, psychotherapy training. She had married while in Oxford but was divorced when she met Grayson at an evening class in 1987. They have been together ever since and have a grown-up daughter, Flo, who is a writer and illustrator – she illustrated the new edition of Couch Fiction, published late last year. The couple are surprisingly cosy and routine-loving: Philippa, in particular, describes herself as a long-time TV addict and Twitter fan. One senses she is pretty bored with being asked about Grayson’s cross-dressing, but she has given great answers in the past, from “Being the wife of a trannie is great; he always makes me look fantastic” to “As obsessions go, it’s better than football”. She doesn’t see it as any sort of compromise with his heterosexuality but as a way of feeling better about a dysfunctional childhood, in which his stepfather

TOP TIP: An extract from Philippa Perry’s book will feature in next week’s Listener.

35

TELEVISION

A PLACE ON THE CHASE It was a long road to becoming the ﬁfth Chaser on the popular quiz show, but The Vixen says the job is just perfect for her. by DONNA FLEMING

H

ere’s a question for quizzing genius Jenny Ryan from The Chase: does she ever feel bad when she beats a team of contestants? Even the slightest bit sorry? She has to think about the answer for a moment. “Sometimes. It’s tricky,” says the professional quizzer known as The Vixen. “We get a lot of contestants who are really deserving, but we don’t give away money to people for being nice. You have to be an excellent quizzer or else catch us on a particularly bad day, and we don’t have many of those.” But what about those who do really well, only for the Chasers to nail it in the ﬁnal chase? “There have been a few times where brilliant, deserving players have not quite done enough in their ﬁnal chase to set a high enough target and you do feel a bit sorry for them,” admits Ryan.

She still feels bad about the time she faced oﬀ against a team that included a very clever young man called Charlie, who’d previously been on University Challenge.

“We get a lot of contestants who are really deserving, but we don’t give away money to people for being nice.” “He e answered a swe ed most ost of o the t e questions quest o s for r his team. They got 24 or 25, which is a winning inning score most of the time. I thought they ey had me beaten, but I had one of those magical agical two-minute rounds where here I knew everything wh and nd was on ﬁre. I still feel an a bit b guilty about that.”

But Ryan did get the chance to apologise. “I ran into Charlie a little while ago – we happened to be at the same venue, watching a drag show. I caught his eye and put my head in my hands to show I still felt bad for him. And I did buy him a bottle of prosecco.”

BUILDING THE SKILLS It’s now just over ﬁve years since Ryan joined the hit show and she’s no longer the new kid, following the arrival of the sixth Chaser, Darragh Ennis, last month. She admits it took her a while to get the hang of being able to banter with host Bradley Walsh and the contestants and then “zone out” out for o the t e ﬁnal a chase c ase segment, which involves rapid-ﬁre questions. ques “Part of the skill set of o what we do is to forget that you’re on TV,” says Ryan. “You’ve got to know when wh to be in top-performance mode mod when you are chatting with Brad bu but then when to tune out. It is like being bei on autopilot. It took me at least the th ﬁrst series to be able to do that.” The Chasee couldn’t couldn be a better ﬁt for the 38-year-old from fro Bolton, a former mill town just north of Manchester. no She grew up w with a thirst for general knowledge, thanks to kno her grandfather Kevin Ryan. grandf He looked after her before she started start school and not only taught her to read tau

Jenny “The Vixen” Ryan and a group shot of, from left, Chasers Mark Labbett and Ryan, host Bradley Walsh, and Chasers Anne Hegerty and Shaun Wallace.

336 6

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021 LI

1

1. Bradley Walsh with Jenny Ryan as Madonna on The Chase Celebrity Special in 2018. 2. Ryan on The X Factor: Celebrity in 2019. 3. Attending the National Television Awards in 2018 at London’s O2 Arena.

2 and write but also encouraged her, when they read newspapers together, to look up details of subjects she knew nothing about. “The research skills I have in quizzing come from my grandad.” The pair would also watch quiz shows together, and The Vixen says her grandfather, who died when she was 10, would be thrilled and proud that she now earns her living answering trivia questions on TV. “He’d be so envious as well.” Ryan was a law student at Leeds University when she made her TV debut on University Challenge. She noticed that while the other contestants were nervous about being on camera, she felt completely at home. “It felt like being a quizzer on TV was my destiny. I love quizzes, but I also love television. So The Chase is perfect for me.”

LANDING THE JOB Still, to get there, she had to serve her time behind the scenes, working as a question writer on programmes such as QI and The Weakest Link. She also tried her luck as a contestant on several shows, her team winning on one called Only Connect. She was doing well on a spin-oﬀ of the popular Eggheads quiz show, which was hunting for a new general-knowledge

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

3 genius to join the panel of experts, until she was knocked out by another quizzer from the Greater Manchester area called Anne Hegerty. Hegerty went on to join series two of The Chase, after it launched in 2009, and recommended Ryan when producers were looking for someone new

“We just feel like it is a parochial little British show, so it is absolutely wild to hear how popular it is in New Zealand.” to join her, Mark Labbett, Shaun Wallace and Paul Sinha in 2015. After months of exhausting auditions, Ryan ﬁnally landed the job. “It was really daunting to walk out on set that ﬁrst day. You can’t help thinking about how many people watch the show around the world and you don’t want to make a fool of yourself.” It’s no surprise that The Chase is a hit at home in the UK, but she’s still a little blown away by the fact that millions of

Kiwis watch the programme and know who she is. “We just feel like it is a parochial little British show, so it is absolutely wild to hear how popular it is in New Zealand. It’s really interesting to see how it resonates with people around the world.” Ryan reckons the secret of the show’s success is its high-octane format and her “superstar” fellow Chasers – “absolute icons of the quizzing world”. And then there’s host Walsh, who plays a huge part in drawing in viewers. The aﬀable actor and TV presenter is great fun to work with, says Ryan, and a lot smarter than he lets on. “He plays up the Everyman, slightly dim character, and we tease him for that. But he’s actually incredibly smart. There are a lot of times when he will tell you interesting facts about things, which don’t make the edit. He knows a lot.” One of her favourite parts of being on the show is being able to surprise Walsh. “It’s very funny sometimes when he’s reading the ﬁnal chase questions at speed and you can almost see a micro-expression on his face when something comes up and he’s thinking, ‘She’s not going to get this, ha ha.’ And when I answer, his jaw drops and he almost falls oﬀ stage. I love those moments.” l

37

LIFE HEALTH by Nicky Pellegrino

Breast test Long-awaited advances bring hope of earlier detection of breast cancer.

M GETTY IMAGES

ammography has been the view as the scanner takes several gold standard for breastimages, or “slices”, of each breast, cancer screening for decades reducing the amount of overlapnow, and the technique ping tissue. Research has shown hasn’t developed that this can improve much in that time. Women aged 45-69 detection and reduce the who participate in the free public need for those anxietyprogramme, BreastScreen Aotearoa, inducing call-backs, will be familiar with the process of particularly for women having their breasts compressed in with denser breast tissue. two diﬀerent positions so that X-ray “Tomosynthesis is really images can be captured and any early good for dense breasts that signs of cancer hopefully detected. are not too dense,” says In women aged over 50, traditional Adèle Gautier, of the Breast two-dimensional mammograms ﬁnd Cancer Foundation NZ. 85% of unsuspected breast cancers. But if Dense breasts have you go to a private radiology clinic, you relatively high amounts might be oﬀered an alternative, possibly of glandular and ﬁbrous Adèle Gautier, top, and Martyn Nash. at extra cost depending on your insurer. connective tissue and relaTomosynthesis is the latest generation of digital screening. A similar procedure, it also involves the breasts being compressed between two plates, but oﬀers a more three-dimensional

38

tively low amounts of fatty tissue. This can make it harder for radiologists to identify any concerning changes as the denser tissue may

obscure the often tiny calciﬁcations they are looking for. About 40% of women have heterogeneously dense breasts, which means there are some areas of fatty tissue, but the majority is dense.

UK researchers are working on a blood test to detect breast cancer up to ﬁve years before clinical signs. “For them, tomosynthesis is going to give a better read,” says Gautier. “Unfortunately, it’s not the solution for the really vexing problem of people with very dense breasts, which is around 10% of women.”

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

HEALTH BRIEFS all these very diﬀerent-looking images and bringing the information together in their heads to get a three-dimensional view of the breast. They’re trying to solve this threedimensional problem all the time, and they’re pretty good at it, but there are a number of cases where it’s diﬃcult to do. As engineers, we can make it a whole lot easier for them.” Nash and his team have received $1.05 million in philanthropic funding to develop an automated analysis technique that merges information from diﬀerent medical images of the breast, making it easier to ﬁnd abnormalities. They are using biomechanics to predict the movements of the suspicious tissues so the surgeon can be given a much better idea of where to ﬁnd them.

“Clinicians are bringing the information together in their heads to get a three-dimensional view of the breast.” The new three-dimensional visualisation technology is in the clinical research phase and, with feedback from doctors at Auckland City Hospital, the computer software is being developed all the time. “As bioengineers, we know how to predict how the body moves. We’re using the laws of physics to predict how the breast changes shape; that’s the crux of it,” says Nash.

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

O

ther new technologies are on the way to help revolutionise breast screening. In the UK, researchers from the University of Nottingham are working on a blood test to detect breast cancer up to ﬁve years before any obvious clinical signs. The test identiﬁes the body’s immune response to substances produced by tumour cells and will hopefully provide an easier, cheaper screening method in the near future. In the meantime, if you want to choose tomosynthesis rather than traditional 2D mammography, you will have to go private. It is a low-radiation procedure – Gautier describes it as being about the same as taking a ﬂight to Christchurch. But it requires extra equipment, the scan takes slightly longer and the images are larger, so take up more storage space, and all these factors are barriers to BreastScreen Aotearoa being able to oﬀer it. “Integrating new technology into a population-wide screening programme is a massive undertaking,” says Gautier. l

Researchers from Yale School of Medicine believe that the speed-versus-eﬃcacy trade-oﬀ of administering a single dose of the Covid-19 vaccine may overrule the need for a double dose in the short term. While the double dose is more eﬀective than one alone, the team says that even the one jab at a 55% eﬀectiveness would be more beneﬁcial to the greater population in the long run, as it is likely to lower transmission rates enough to stop infection rates growing.

ASTHMA SUSPECT A protein involved in inﬂammation, Interleukin-13 (IL-13), may play a key role in asthma attacks, say researchers from Australia’s University of Newcastle, who studied the lung immune response during an asthma attack using a mouse model. They say the results could guide the development of therapies for people for whom steroids are often ineﬀective during attacks.

MASKS EFFECTIVE Masks can block 99.9% of Covidlinked droplets, say researchers from the University of Edinburgh, who measured droplets spread by coughs and speaking, with and without surgical or handmade cotton face masks. They estimate a person standing 2m from someone coughing without a mask is exposed to over 10,000 times more respiratory droplets than from someone standing 0.5m away wearing a basic single-layer mask.

GETTY IMAGES

The other commonly used diagnostic tools for breast cancer are MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), which is a way of looking for areas of increased blood supply that can indicate tumour growth, and ultrasound. The challenge is that, for each of these tests, the breast is placed in a diﬀerent position and, since it is a soft organ, it changes shape, making it diﬃcult for clinicians to identify the exact spot that needs further investigation or treatment. “For an MRI, the person is lying on their tummy and the breast is hanging down into specialised imaging coils,” says Professor Martyn Nash, of the University of Auckland Bioengineering Institute. “In ultrasound, the patient is lying on their back and the breast is relatively ﬂat. And in mammography it is compressed. What clinicians are doing is taking

ONE JAB FAVOURED

39

LIFE NUTRITION by Jennifer Bowden

Water’s great Staying well hydrated is vital to the health of young and old.

W

hether you’re older or younger, summer presents the same risk – dehydration thanks to the escalating heat and less-than-optimal ﬂuid intake. More than half of older adults are either dehydrated or very close to dehydration, studies have shown, and one global study found about 60% of children aren’t meeting water and ﬂuid intake guidelines. Our body needs water

to function correctly. When we lose more ﬂuids than we consume, it places our health at risk. In older adults in particular, dehydration

Dehydration is a signiﬁcant contributor to morbidity and death in older adults. is associated with a high risk of adverse health outcomes and is a signiﬁcant contributor to morbidity and death. This includes “falls, fractures, heart disease, confusion, delirium, heat stress, constipation,

kidney failure, pressure ulcers, poor wound healing, suboptimal rehabilitation outcomes, infections, seizures, drug toxicity and reduced quality of life”, according to a 2015 Cochrane Review. Sports scientists have led the way in studying the impact of dehydration on sports performance, noting that a 2% loss of body weight through sweat has a signiﬁcant eﬀect on physical and mental performance. Among elite cricketers, performance declines when they don’t stay well hydrated with drinks at the sideline. One study of top Sri Lankan cricketers found that 85% of the ﬁelders and bowlers were unable to maintain levels of speed and accuracy when dehydrated. Fielders suﬀered

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

NUTRITION BITES when 9- to 11-year-old children drank more water for four days, they had faster reaction times on a task-switching test and an increased ability to multitask.

O

lder adults are at greater risk of dehydration because their “thirst response”, which guides their ﬂuid intake, declines with age. In addition, their ability to retain salt and ﬂuid reduces as kidney function declines. On top of that, many medications can also increase dehydration risk. Unfortunately, there are no simple tests to determine dehydration in older adults – even possible symptoms such as loss of elasticity of skin or dry mouth are unreliable. Instead, researchers have found that merely asking an older adult whether they’ve been drinking ﬂuids between meals or are feeling fatigued is likely to more accurately gauge their hydration status.

A study of Sri Lankan cricketers found 85% were unable to maintain speed and accuracy when dehydrated.

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

Email your nutrition questions to [email protected]

An important link between brown fat and cardiovascular health may exist in the human body. Although white fat stores excess energy, brown and beige fats are thermogenic and dissipate energy as heat, helping to maintain body temperature in cold conditions. Using scans of 52,000 patients, researchers found that the presence of greater levels of brown adipose tissue in the human body was associated with improved blood glucose and cholesterol levels, along with lower odds of type 2 diabetes, coronary artery disease, cerebrovascular disease, congestive heart failure and hypertension.

EARLY FUSION Tooth tartar from Mediterraneans who died more than 3000 years ago has revealed that exotic Asian spices and even bananas were used in the region several centuries earlier than thought. Archaeologists who studied proteins found in the ancient residents’ tooth tartar believe that even in the Bronze Age, trade in food connected distant societies.

PET THEORY Feeding Fido scraps from the dinner table may be a long-held habit that originally played a role in the domestication of dogs, archaeologists say. Using energy content calculations for the species that both humans and wolves historically hunted – horses, moose and deer – archaeologists found there would often have been excess lean meat. They theorise that after hunting and eating, humans may have fed these leftovers to wolves to reduce competition for prey, facilitating the domestication process.

GETTY IMAGES

a sizeable reduction in throwing speed and accuracy for overarm and sidearm throws – sidearm-throw accuracy dropped by 22% – while bowlers’ speeds dropped and their accuracy decreased by 20%. Batsmen were mildly aﬀected, running 2% slower when completing three runs, which could be the diﬀerence between a run-out and a run. But even those sitting at home watching cricket on television can be signiﬁcantly aﬀected by dehydration, with recent studies ﬁnding that even a relatively small loss of 0.6% of body ﬂuid aﬀects mood and memory. Children are particularly susceptible to dehydration because they often rely on adults to supply them with drinks. In one study,

Having fresh water handy is a signiﬁcant ﬁrst step in ensuring children and older adults stay hydrated. For instance, when water dispensers were installed in New York school cafeterias, the students drank three times as much water. Similarly, US Army employees more than doubled their intake when a water jug was placed on their dining table instead of 6m away. Parents, too, are important role models when it comes to water consumption. And it’s not so much what they say but what they do that has the most signiﬁcant impact. Hence, parents who make a habit of regularly drinking water and encouraging water consumption over other drinks are more likely to instil similar habits in their children. It’s a good idea to keep a water bottle handy in the car, on the bus or at your desk – make water so convenient that it’s easy to say yes to more. Another tip is to keep a jug of chilled water in the fridge and place it on the dining table at breakfast, lunch and dinner – while remembering to drink between meals. The goal is to drink regularly throughout the day, not just one big glass with medications in the morning. l

BROWN FAT BENEFITS

41

LIFE

PHOTOGRAPHY LEVON BISS ©

FOOD

Less effort, more flavour With everything from fakeaways and traybakes to family and freezer favourites, Jamie Oliver’s new cookbook provides loads of inspiration. 42

I

n his latest book, 7 Ways, UK chef Jamie Oliver looks at the ingredients consumers regularly buy each week, meal staples such as chicken breasts, salmon ﬁllets, mince, eggs, potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms. But rather than trying to change what we buy, he wants to provide fresh inspiration for using 18 favourite ingredients. In his new book, he shares seven achievable and tasty ways to cook these ingredients and create nutritious meals in a hurry.

AVOCADO PASTRY QUICHE Sweet pea, cheddar & basil ﬁlling, mixed garden leaves 2 ripe avocados 400g self-raising flour, plus extra for dusting sea salt and black pepper 4 tbsp cold water 6 large free-range eggs 300g frozen peas 90g cheddar cheese ½ a bunch of basil (15g) 100g bag of mixed salad leaves extra virgin olive oil 1 lemon

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

Above, moreish aubergine salad. Left, avocado pastry quiche. Evenly pour in the ﬁlling and bake for another 15 minutes or until set, then ﬁnely grate over the remaining cheese. Dress the salad leaves with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice, season, then sprinkle over the quiche to serve. Serves 6. Total time: 1 hour.

MOREISH AUBERGINE SALAD Feta cheese, mint, olives, almonds, lemon & honey 2 aubergines (250g each) 1 bunch of mint (30g) 20g skin-on almonds 1 lemon

1 tbsp runny honey 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 8 mixed-colour olives 40g feta cheese black pepper 100g bag of mixed salad leaves Preheat the oven to 180ºC. ENERGY 340kcal Place the whole aubergines FAT 24.1g directly on to the bars of the SAT FAT 5.3g oven, then roast for 50 minPROTEIN 9g utes, or until beautifully soft, CARBS 25.1g tender and juicy. SUGARS 15.7g Pick the baby mint leaves and put aside. Pick the rest SALT 0.8g of the leaves into a pestle and FIBRE 9.3g mortar, then add the almonds and roughly crush and pound together. Finely grate in the lemon zest, squeeze in the juice, and muddle

43

PHOTOGRAPHY LEVON BISS ©

Halve, stone and ENERGY 764kcal peel the avocados. FAT 52.6g Weigh the ﬂesh SAT FAT 11.3g – you want 200g PROTEIN 21g to get your ratios CARBS 55.9g right (if you don’t SUGARS 2.4g have enough, simply top up to SALT 1.1g 200g with extra FIBRE 4.9g virgin olive oil). In a large bowl, smash up the avo, then gradually rub in the ﬂour, a pinch of sea salt and 4 tablespoons of cold water until you have a dough. Knead until smooth, then wrap and rest for 15 minutes. For the ﬁlling, crack the eggs into a blender, then add the frozen peas and most of the cheddar. Rip in the top leafy half of the basil, add a pinch of salt and black pepper, then blitz until smooth. Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Roll out the avocado pastry on a ﬂour-dusted surface to just under ½cm thick. Loosely roll it up around the rolling pin, then unroll it over an oiled 25cm x 35cm baking tray, ease it into the sides and prick the base with a fork. Roughly tear oﬀ any big bits of overhang, then bake for 10 minutes, or until lightly golden.

LIFE

in with the honey and 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Squash and stone the olives, tear the ﬂesh into the mix, and crumble in the feta. Mix it all together, then season to perfection with black pepper. Divide the salad and baby mint leaves between your two plates. Slice the soft aubergines down the middle and place on top, then smother with the incredible, moreish pesto-style dressing. I like to attack the whole thing, chopping, tossing and mixing everything together as I tuck in. Delicious hot or cold. Serves 2. Total time: 55 minutes.

SEARED STEAK & RED CHIMICHURRI

PHOTOGRAPHY LEVON BISS ©

Smashed sweet potato, charred spring onions & crispy bits 1 x 260g sirloin steak 2 cloves of garlic, unpeeled 2 sweet potatoes (250g each) 1 bunch of spring onions 2 fresh red chillies ½ x 460g jar of roasted red peppers ½ a bunch of flat-leaf parsley (15g) ½ a tablespoon each of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar sea salt and black pepper Remove and ﬁnely dice the fat from the steak. Put it into a non-stick frying pan on a medium-low heat with the unpeeled garlic cloves, turning them

44

ENERGY

487kcal

FAT

17.1g

SAT FAT

7.4g

Above left, seared steak & red chimichurri. Right, crispy salmon tacos. every minute in the fat as it gently crisps up. Meanwhile, peel the sweet potatoes and chop into 4cm chunks. Cook in boiling salted water for 10 minutes, or until tender, then drain, smash, season and keep warm. Trim the spring onions, halve and seed the chillies, then lightly brown on both sides in the steak fat. Remove 4 spring onions and the crispy fat bits to a dish, then place the rest of the spring onions and the chillies in a blender and squeeze in the soft garlic ﬂesh. Drain and add the peppers, along with the parsley, and ½ a tablespoon each of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar, then blitz until smooth, and season to perfection. Turn the heat under the pan to high. Cut oﬀ the sinew, season the steak with sea salt and lots of black pepper, then cook to your liking, turning every minute. Let the steak rest for 1 minute on top of the spring onions, then slice. Spoon 2 tablespoons of sauce on to each plate (save the rest for future meals), sit the steak on top with any resting juices, then serve with the sweet potato, spring onions and crispy bits. Serves 2. Total time: 20 minutes.

PROTEIN 32.7g CARBS

51.6g

CRISPY SALMON TACOS

SUGARS

11.4g

SALT

1.2g

FIBRE

7.6g

Cajun spice, mango, sweet cherry tomatoes & lime 160g ripe mixed-colour cherry tomatoes

1 small ripe mango ½ a small ripe avocado 2 spring onions 2 x 130g salmon fillets, skin on, scaled, pin-boned, from sustainable sources 2 heaped tsp Cajun seasoning 4 small tortilla wraps 2 limes Quarter the cherry tomatoes. ENERGY 584kcal Stone, peel and roughly chop FAT 24.6g the mango. Scoop out the SAT FAT 5.8g avocado and ﬁnely slice. Trim PROTEIN 35g and ﬁnely slice the spring CARBS 59.5g onions. Carefully cut the skin SUGARS 17g oﬀ the salmon, then place it in a non-stick frying pan on a SALT 1.8g medium-high heat to crisp up FIBRE 4.1g on both sides. Pat the Cajun seasoning all over the salmon ﬁllets, then fry for 5 minutes, turning to get them golden on each of their sides. Once the skin is crispy, move it to sit on top of the salmon. Meanwhile, use tongs to toast the tortillas directly over the ﬂame of your gas hob for 15 seconds, or use a hot pan. Sprinkle the mango, avocado and spring onions over the tortillas, then ﬂake over the salmon and crack over the skin. Toss the tomatoes and the juice of 1 lime in the residual heat of the pan for 30 seconds, then spoon over the tortillas. Serve with lime wedges for squeezing over. Serves 2. Total time: 20 minutes. l 7 WAYS, by Jamie Oliver, is published by Penguin Random House © Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited (2020 7 Ways).

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

WINE by Michael Cooper

patronising and misogynistic” email from Harré. Their spat immediately went public, here and overseas.

S

o, what happened at the 2020 International Wine & Spirit Competition? Held in London since 1969, the show awarded more than 250 silver and bronze medals to New Zealand wines, but just one gold.

The sole goldmedal winner was described as “the perfect benchmark for the rosé style”.

Wine dramas Murder, mayhem and mysterious results in the world of wine.

W

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

WINE OF THE WEEK Neudorf Tiritiri Nelson Chardonnay 2019 Grown at Upper Moutere, this is a great introduction to the Neudorf style, with strong, citrusy, slightly appley ﬂavours to the fore, a gentle seasoning of biscuity oak and lots of youthful vigour. (13.5% alc/vol) $27

GETTY IMAGES

ine has been in the news beverage manager”, with expertise lately, but not always in a in wine and food pairing. More good way. The trust that owns than 10 male MSs in the US have Marlborough’s electricbeen suspended and several female ity network and Yealands MSs have protested by suspending Wine Group announced last month it would not be or resigning their membership. paying its usual pre-Christmas dividend North Canterbury is to residents. Kaikōura MP Stuart Smith, not normally a hotbed a former chair of New Zealand Wineof wine controversy, growers, has long questioned whether but winemaker Jess Marlborough Lines has the skills to Mavromatis reportedly manage a big export-focused winery. received a message on Other news has been more sensational. December 5 from Jim Elizabeth Zhong, owner of Carrick, the Harré, chair of judges at prominent winery in Central Otago, and Winery owner the supermarket-run New Kennedy Point Vineyard, on Waiheke World Wine Awards, who Elizabeth Zhong: murdered. Island, was murdered in Auckland in lives near Waipara. After late November. After acquiring Cartasting Ekleipsis Pinot rick, her “dream vineyard”, in 2016, Zhong put it Noir Nouveau 2018 in a restaurant, back on the market in 2019 to help fund her ﬁlm Harré swiftly advised Mavromatis production business. It didn’t ﬁnd a buyer, and that her wine was “disgusting!” Carrick was put into receivership in November. and that “you should be ashamed Allegations have surfaced recently that Zhong of yourselves. Find a new hobby.” owed business associates many millions of dollars. Returning that night from a wedLast October, the New York Times exposed a ding anniversary dinner with her pattern of sexual harassment by members of husband, Nick Gill, general manager the Americas branch of the Court of Master of the acclaimed North Canterbury Sommeliers. The letters MS (master sommelier) winery Greystone, Mavromatis assure employers that “you are a professional found the “condescending,

The judges praised te Pā Marlborough Pinot Noir Rosé 2020 ($19) as “a perfect benchmark for the style. A broad and concentrated palate of sweet candied cherries, strawberries and cream and ripe rhubarb are lifted on the palate by fresh acidity. The ﬁnish is long and lingering.” Only two other rosés won gold. But were no Kiwi sauvignon blancs similarly deserving of top recognition? No pinot noirs? At the 2019 show, New Zealand won 10 gold medals. Chris Stroud, UK-based marketing manager – Europe for New Zealand Winegrowers, was “disappointed” by the results, according to te Pā, and Philip Gregan, chief executive of NZ Winegrowers, has “no idea” what happened. Maybe it’s a sign of the times. A rival beverage is enjoying surging demand in the UK, with Brits spending double the amount on gin in 2019 as in 2017. And guess what? The London panellists awarded gold medals to three New Zealand distilleries for their gins. l

45

LIFE PSYCHOLOGY by Marc Wilson

drag behind the same car that was in front of me before I peeled oﬀ. That said, it feels like I’ve saved time, even though I know rationally that this isn’t the case. So, I’m reassured to ﬁnd that research backs up my subjective experience. Part of the reason my backstreets detour seems quicker is that I’m more active, compared with feeling like I’m waiting for the next chance to put my foot on the accelerator. As William James, one of the most important ﬁgures in the history of psychology, said, “Boredom results from being attentive to the passage of time itself.” In the intervals between accelerator-pressing, we’re counting the moments. In short, when we’re bored, we perceive time as slower, and some experts have suggested this is a survival trait.

It feels like I’ve saved time, even though I know rationally that this isn’t the case.

Going the extra mile When we’re bored, time seems to slow down, and some experts say this is a human survival trait.

GETTY IMAGES

R

educed speed limits have been encroaching on Wellington. Since July 2020, all central city streets except main arterial routes have moved from 50km/h to 30km/h, following reductions in Kelburn in 2019. Now, the lowered speed limit has spread to my home suburb of Karori. If it weren’t for the fact that these aren’t the only areas aﬀected, I might suspect someone’s targeting me. If I was paranoid. In reality, some of the changes to Karori roads, including the addition of traﬃc lights at many intersections and bus lanes, have improved trafﬁc ﬂow. Previously at peak times, I could literally walk beside the bus I would

46

have taken to work and arrived there about the same time. These days, I have come to appreciate the value of walking to work, as it gives me the chance to get some exercise and mentally prepare for the day ahead (or empty my head completely at the end of the day on my walk home). Post lockdown and a truly crappy 2020, I now appreciate that the extra 15 minutes I might gain from driving to work are less important ta than the beneﬁts of walking. But I do drive sometimes, and a on those days it’s not uncommon to see the u Karori Rd congestion and decide to weave my car through side streets until I end up back on the main

William James

Our capacity to judge the passing of time is important, such authorities argue, for being able to anticipate how to manage those same events if they arise in the future. This is just one piece of information that may be important, and we’re designed to seek out or pay attention to information that may be important when it comes to our survival. When there’s not enough going on in our immediate environment, we feel this subjective slowing that creates our experience of boredom. Boredom is evolution’s way of saying we need to do something diﬀerent (or die).

C

onsider a series of studies published in 2014 by Timothy D Wilson (at the University of Virginia) and colleagues. Across 11 studies, they report that, unsurprisingly, people don’t enjoy being left alone with nothing to do for up to 15 minutes. Even when instructed to sit and entertain themselves with only their own thoughts, a third of participants admitted to “cheating” by doing something else. Consistent with the “boredom as survival” information, bored folks ﬁnd it harder to concentrate without anything going on. So, Wilson and his colleagues asked, “But would you rather do an unpleasant activity than no activity at all?” Such as give themselves mild electric shocks? You can probably guess the punchline. A surprisingly high proportion of participants shocked themselves. In fact, two-thirds of men and a quarter of women self-administered at least one electric shock. And this wasn’t out of curiosity, because all of them had been shocked once, and only those who said they’d be willing to pay money not to receive a second shock were included in the boredom-induction phase of the study. So, for my next study, I’ll be installing a shock generator in my car. l

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

IN CINEMAS

JANUARY 21

LIFE SPORT by Paul b P l Th Thomas

Pakistanis also conceded 64 extras, mostly via the simple but daft expedient of bowlers banging the ball in so short the wicketkeeper would’ve needed a jet pack on his back to stop it ﬂying away for four byes/wides. So, do you really believe the Black Caps are the best team in the world? The data suggests otherwise.

T

his is one of our best teams and potentially the best ever. They’re ﬁrmly ensconced in the top tier of international cricket, immensely eﬀective at home and increasingly clinical when it comes to putting away inferior opposition. But to be the undisputed best, you have to beat those opponents who also have a claim and aspirations to being the best. You also have to be able to win when conditions aren’t in your favour, if not indeed curated to maximise home advantage. Dropped three times: Kane Williamson on Since 2005, the Black his way to scoring Caps have won 47 tests: 238 runs in the 39 of those victories have second test against 7th-ranked Pakistan been against countries earlier this month. ranked 6th or lower. A third of their 15 test wins away from home were against Zimbabwe, who have declined to the point they’re no longer regarded as a test-playing nation. Four of the Black Caps’ eight victories over top-tier opponents Azam, they were depressingly short have been against England, who often of international class and predictably seem to take their lead from Henry crumbled in the second test at Hagley Wadsworth Longfellow’s little girl Oval, having exhausted their limited with the little curl right in the middle reserves of resistance in the ﬁrst test. of her forehead: when they’re good, they’re very good indeed, but when they’re bad, they’re horrid. Since 2015, the Black Caps have played nine tests against Australia – three at home, the rest away – resulting in eight losses and a draw. To provide some context: between October 1985 and August 1986, another great New Zealand team The 1st XIs of our leading cricket played twin three-test (home and schools would be mortiﬁed to shell away) series against Australia and an one o regulation catch after another away series in England and won all as a the Pakistanis did while Kane three. Williamson and Henry Nicholls W This may seem like raining on the were batting them out of the w Black Caps’ parade, but to bring in game and into the dust. Both g Longfellow again: “Into each life some were dropped three times. The rain must fall.” Besides, given the fanboyish nature of much of the media Henry Nicholls was also lucky coverage, there’s zero chance of the not to have been caught parade being rained oﬀ. l out by Pakistan.

If the Caps fit

If you really believe the Black Caps are the best team in the world, take a look at the data.

GETTY IMAGES

L

ast summer, the Black Caps crossed the Tasman as the second-ranked test team in world cricket. When they ﬂew home on a tailwind of Australian derision after being trounced in all three tests, I asked, “Did you really believe the Black Caps were the second-best team in the world?” Twelve months on, the Black Caps are No 1 in the ICC test rankings. Before re-framing the question, let’s consider what they’ve done since. They’ve played and won six home tests against India, the West Indies and Pakistan. Beating India is a big deal, although that Indian side were running on empty, having reached the last leg of an insane nine-month non-stop playing programme. Pakistan are the 7th ranked team; West Indies the 8th. (The rankings stop at nine with Bangladesh.) Truth be told, both were pretty hopeless. To say the current Windies are a shadow of the mighty teams from the Caribbean that dominated world cricket for 20 years doesn’t begin to capture the scale of the disparity. Pakistan have lost their last 15 tests in Australasia and South Africa. Without injured captain Babar

48

To be the undisputed best, you have to beat those opponents who also have a claim.

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

NOTICEBOARD

Discover Ulva Island Bird Sanctuary Kiwispotting at Mamaku Point Birdwatching and botanical expertise Locally owned and operated Small groups #LoveLocal discounts

www.ulva.co.nz [email protected] +64 276 881 332

Robert Jahnke - Te Tatau ki Kirikiriroa 2019, Hamilton

Join a small group art and cultural tour in 2021 Discover the Waikato including Raglan and Kawhia in February Visit Whanganui’s famous ‘Open Studio’ weekend in March Meet artists and makers in the Bay of Plenty in June. Visit our website for more journeys and day tours in 2021.

0800 323 333 [email protected] www.arttravel.co.nz

Our primary readers are spending 1 hour and 21 minutes reading their copy

HOUSEHOLDS OF READERS SPEND

$116m

Welcome to the Noticeboard directory, your guide to products and services available throughout New Zealand.

EVERY ISSUE PERIOD

The directory provides a unique, cost-effective opportunity for advertisers, large and small, to reach a highly desirable target market.

To advertise here, contact Kim Chapman:

ph 07 578 3646 • classiﬁ[email protected]

EXPERIENCE THE SEASONS by the water’s edge Book today for your next getaway. We look forward to welcoming you.

L A K E WA N A K A | N E W Z E A L A N D

0800 108 311 www.edgewater.co.nz Complimentary drink on arrival. Use promo code: NZLIS

TO ADVERTISE HERE: contact Kim Chapman, mob: 021-673 133/email: classiﬁ[email protected]

NOTICEBOARD

NOTICEBOARD

BOOKS

PUBLISH OR BE DAMNED What do you do when your novel is rejected by mainstream publishers? Self-publishing is long and involved but has its upsides. Young Adult author Ted Dawe explains how and why he did it.

S

o, you’ve written a book? Well done. They say everyone’s got a book in them, and you’ve upheld the accuracy of this unreliable adage. It took a year or 10? Well, that’s to be expected. Now what? Monumental though the writing part is, the next steps can be even more challenging. There are uplifting stories, such as JK Rowling getting screeds of rejections before ﬁnally locating a publisher who could see the merits of her Harry Potter manuscript, and 2020 Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart getting turned down by no fewer than 44 publishers for Shuggie Bain. But these are countered by publishers who say they have a waist-high stack of manuscripts on the ﬂoor next to their desk. This is known in the trade as the “slush pile”. Why has this heap of aspiring-author manuscripts ended up in publishing purgatory? Publishing is a business, and every dud book lowers the strike rate. To succeed in the marketplace, your book needs to have ignited someone’s enthusiasm. This means it will receive the expert editing help that will maximise its readability, design expertise to enhance its desirability on bookshop shelves, and a print run of suﬃcient volume to bring the per-book price down, along with a marketing push and

50

distribution to shops and online sellers. For someone who has devoted a year or more of their life to writing a book, the thought of giving away the dream of seeing their work in print is not appealing. If you’ve been rejected by the mainstream ﬁrms, there are any number of agencies that can provide these ser-

The expression about the “only advice worth listening to is the advice you pay for” has never been more accurate. vices, often with a high level of expertise and relatively modest costs. The real challenge actually comes at the next step: marketing and distribution. As a self-published author of three novels, I must confess that this stage never gets any easier. When I ﬁrst visited a bookshop brandishing a copy of Into the River, which would go on to win awards and attract not a little controversy, the manager shook his head. “How will readers ﬁnd out about this book?” The question was the deal-breaker for granting shelf space to my humble oﬀering.

B

ut let’s go back to that manuscript. There are degrees of self-publishing. Some boutique publishing outlets

will take you all the way from manuscript to marketing and distribution. This, of course, comes at a cost to you, and it’s usually not cheap. Some publishers are prepared to share the cost: the people who see merit in your manuscript but are unwilling or unable to expose themselves to the full ﬁnancial risk. Then there is the option of doing what I did: the whole kit and caboodle from manuscript to bookshop. The New Zealand Society of Authors (NZSA) can help. This is a clearing house and fellowship of news, tips, grants, competitions, services and experienced writers. Membership is $140 a year. This, in my opinion, is the best-value spend in the whole process. After this, ﬁnd an editor. Skip the frustrating and fairly pointless process of farming out the manuscript to friends/ family. The expression about the “only advice worth listening to is the advice you pay for” has never been more accurate. Editors can be found through the NZSA website and online searches and typically cost about $1500. A basic edit follows this process: the initial readthrough where the editor determines whether they want to proceed and makes a few broad-based comments and directions. Then there may be one or more subsequent readings and recommendations. Finally, there is the line by line edit, where ﬁne details are examined and highlighted using the track and trace changes tool in a Word document. After

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

this comes the proofreader(s). Removing typos is a fastidious process and best done by more than one person. Each new set of eyes will see new errors.

N

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

into a book. Most commercial publishers get their work printed in China, as it’s far cheaper than elsewhere. There are drawbacks, though, such as a waiting time of perhaps 12-14 weeks before the books arrive at your doorstep (and possibly longer given Covid-related shipping delays). This route can manifest other annoyances, too. The publishers of David Hill and Phoebe Morris’ recent book, Taking the Lead, were pressured to remove all references to the Dalai Lama.

51

GETTY IMAGES

ow your manuscript is ready for the process of turning it into a book. First, let’s look at cover design. Spend time in bookshops and libraries checking out cover images. They usually fall into two camps: the ﬁgurative or the design-based. You want something that will not look out of place among all

those earnest covers in the shop (clamouring like wallﬂowers to be chosen), but also something that has its own point of uniqueness, something that speaks to what the book is about. How much will this cost? Let’s say something between $1000 and $2000. Now comes the internal design, important but thankfully less expensive. Costs vary considerably, but factor in something between $500 and $1500. Which brings us to the exciting stage where computer ﬁles get turned

BOOKS

Prose & costs A COMMERCIAL PROVIDER PROJECT MANAGEMENT

30 hours @ $80 an hour ($2400) COVER DESIGN

$2200 estimate INTERNAL DESIGN AND LAYOUT $2000 approx PROOFING AND CORRECTIONS 8 hours @ $65 per hour ($520) PRINTING (1000 COPIES) NZ printer (quoted $14,228 or $14.22 a copy) China print ($5240 or $5.24 a copy POST PRODUCTION E-BOOK $350 PUBLICITY 15 hours @ $100 an hour ($1500) DISTRIBUTION Negotiated with other distributors REVIEWS These are the writer’s responsibility to organise, although the assistance of a publicist can be very useful (though it’s more cost).

THE SELF-PUBLISHER PROJECT MANAGEMENT

No cost COVER DESIGN $500-1500. Depending on the favours and expertise the self-publisher can leverage. INTERNAL DESIGN AND LAYOUT $500 approx PROOFING AND CORRECTIONS Use of literary associates (bribes $200-300) PRINTING (1000 COPIES) NZ Printer (Ligare) $8500 or $8.50 per copy POST PRODUCTION E-BOOK $100 PUBLICITY $1900-$3500 packages available DISTRIBUTION Very diﬃcult to arrange REVIEWS Similar to the commercial provider. A literary proﬁle or track record helps considerably. Blogs and online reviews may be more available than printed reviews. Word of mouth, social media and personal connections all play a part.

52

I

go local. There are a few local printers, as well as options in Australia and Singapore. Check the copyright page of commercially published books to see what they use. My most recent novel, Answering to the Caul, was printed by Ligare in Glenﬁeld, Auckland, which was cheaper than other options and used the industry-standard 80gsm Munken Print Cream paper stock, as opposed to unsettlingly white photocopy paper. You can do a small initial print run, reducing the chance of a garage-full of unsold books. If you strike gold and need another printing, this can often do be done in a week to 10 days. Then there is marketing and distribution; creating a summarising cover sheet/ advance title information sheet and trying to get publicity and reviews from publications, media producers and book sites;

If you are a socialmedia whizz, you might initiate an avalanche of downloads that will bring the big publishers to your door. awareness via writing competitions; and perhaps seeking Creative NZ funding for your next book (let alone getting an agent for potential overseas deals). All these have been important steps for me, each one carrying its own challenges and costs. I was fortunate. Into the River was self-published before being picked up by Longacre, now part of Penguin Random House, though none of my subsequent books have been taken up. If you’re daunted by the challenges of getting a book into print, and they are not inconsiderable, or haven’t the time and energy, then perhaps publishing an e-book on Amazon is best for you. The outlay is more modest and more of the theoretical returns come back to the author; it does require a bit of technical nous, but if you are also a whizz at social media, you might initiate an avalanche of downloads that will bring big publishers to your door, as happened to The Martian’s Andy Weir. As for me, like US poet Robert Frost, I took the road less travelled and, in terms of freedom and control at least, it’s made all the diﬀerence. l

Chronicle of a plague Twenty-nine authors respond to Covid-19 with tales intended to nourish the soul. by OWEN MARSHALL

I

t was inevitable that one of the consequences of Covid-19 would be an attempt by ﬁction writers to cope, understand and share by way of their craft. Aware of this, the New York Times Magazine has created an anthology with the aim of oﬀering “perspective and solace” to readers. As the title, The Decameron Project, indicates, the project also establishes a link with Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron, completed in 1353: 100 stories that Boccaccio imagines being told by a group of young people waiting out the Black Death – a plague that killed more than 25 million people – in a villa outside Florence. History can usually provide a parallel to contemporary events. The editors cast a wide net: writers from Mozambique, Italy, Brazil, the US, Israel, Scotland, France, Mexico, Ireland, Nigeria … None from Australasia or the Paciﬁc Islands as far as I could ascertain. There is an admirable diversity also in gender, age and status. Famous writers such as Margaret Atwood and Colm Toíbín are there and many others who will be unfamiliar to most readers here. Such considerations should play little part in one’s approach to a story, of course. Many readers may be surprised by how few of these pieces have the pandemic at their centre; how few address it directly and how many seem to have other concerns. The lockdown is often a setting rather than a theme. The reason for this lies in the authors’ familiarity with The Decameron. Many of Boccaccio’s tales were a reforming of existing stories, and his youthful raconteurs were concerned with entertainment and distraction rather than brooding on what lay without. Many of the stories were satires of the Catholic Church, examples of lust and love, jests at

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

Books of My Life

Ben Sanders The latest novel by the Auckland-based crime writer, THE DEVILS YOU KNOW (Allen & Unwin, $32.99), will be released next month.

W human fallibility – sometimes all three at once. So, in this anthology there is Leila Slimani’s tale of a writer who becomes the target of murderous rock throwers, Atwood’s imagining of an extraterrestrial in charge of quarantined earthlings, and Karen Russell’s account of a vehicle crash forestalled when time stops. Like all anthologies, this is a smorgasbord and readers will ﬁnd within it those oﬀerings that best satisfy and nourish

Many of Boccaccio’s tales were a reforming of existing stories, and his youthful raconteurs were concerned with entertainment.

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

In How We Used to Play, the male narrator travels to Washington DC to visit his uncle, an immigrant taxi driver. They talk not of the virus, but the game of imagination they used to play when the narrator was a child. His family could not aﬀord to travel, so his uncle would take him for rides in the taxi and pretend they were visiting wonderful places throughout the world. The memory remains a bond treasured by both. Baker’s Origin Story pictures 90-yearold Beverly coping with her entire family in her small house over lockdown – “Her children, her grandchildren, her greatgrandchildren, somebody’s exchange student from Scandinavia.” Tension arises because the ice cream has to be rationed, but then Beverly adds ice to bulk out the portions and so invents ice ice cream, which gains minor fame in the neighbourhood. It’s a clever, funny story, but one like the others I have mentioned that has personalities and relationships at its heart. I don’t expect this work will have the lasting power of The Decameron, but it’s an interesting response to a severe threat faced by us all. l THE DECAMERON PROJECT: 29 new stories from the pandemic (Scribner, $39.99)

53

GETTY IMAGES

them. Every reading is a collaboration: the author brings something to the table and the other participant has individual experience, traits and predilections, too. Three tales I especially enjoyed were Recognition by Victor LaValle, How We Used to Play by Dinaw Mengestu and Matthew Baker’s Origin Story. LaValle’s is a good choice as the ﬁrst in the collection. Set in a semi-deserted New York apartment building during lockdown, it recounts the growth of a friendship unlikely in normal times. Low-key and with touches of both humour and poignancy, it is an unforced testimony to the human need for companionship.

The plague as described by Giovanni Boccaccio in The Decameron: inspiring today’s writers.

henever I want a laugh and a lesson on great ﬁction, I re-read Martin Amis’ best novel, The Information (Penguin). It’s about a 40-year-old writer who tries to wreck the life of a more successful writer friend. The prose is superb: Amis’ high style maintains Bellowesque wattage at all times, and there’s a Joycean relish in the imagery of middleaged decline (“His teeth were all chipped pottery and prewar jet glue”). The plot is driven by jealousy and one-upmanship, but the dark thematic backdrop of mortality makes the book a study of what is truly valuable in life. I’ve long admired Cormac McCarthy, and stylistically, Blood Meridian (Picador) is his most impressive work: a hyper-ﬂuent historical western that reads like something Faulkner or Melville would have written to impress Quentin Tarantino. It’s justly regarded as one of the 20th century’s best books, and I revisit it often, with awe. Pete Dexter’s Train (Penguin) is my favourite crime novel. Set in 1950s LA, it follows a young black golf caddy who befriends a smooth, irreverent police sergeant. Dexter is a great writer – he won the National Book Award for his earlier novel Paris Trout, and Train is a classy literary blend of noir and social commentary, written in a cool, colloquial style elevated frequently by clever, lyrical ﬂourishes. l

BOOKS

Mortality on her mind Margaret Atwood is looking back more than forward in a new book of poems. by TIM UPPERTON

M

WEEF

argaret Atwood’s name is most often associated with The Handmaid’s Tale, her 1985 novel of a dystopian, ultra-patriarchal religious state – a book that has acquired a new generation of readers during the Trump years. Atwood’s proliﬁc and distinguished ﬁction output – she has twice won the Booker Prize – has somewhat eclipsed her achievement in poetry. The poems came before the novels: her ﬁrst collection, Double Persephone, was published in 1961. Nearly 60 years and 20 volumes of poetry later comes Dearly, a gathering of poems written over the past decade. At 81, Atwood is looking back more than forward: ageing and mortality are on her mind. But hers is a capacious mind, and there’s room for much more. A good poem never just sits on the page: it makes something happen, in the same way that saying your wedding vows makes you married. Atwood’s poems perform their meanings: in one of her best-known poems, Siren Song, readers as well as sailors are lured on to the rocks. That poem is not included here, but sailors and sirens are: in Late Poems, for example, where Most poems are late of course, too late, like a letter sent by a sailor that arrives after he’s drowned. Or in Siren brooding on her eggs, where the male-consuming siren croons to her nearly hatched oﬀspring, “Mama’s right nearby,/and Daddy must have loved you:/ he gave you all his protein!” That tone, both playful and sinister, is

54

Atwood’s signature; she makes us laugh when we shouldn’t. It’s a tone we hear occasionally in our own Fleur Adcock and in the late British writer Angela Carter. Like Carter, Atwood is drawn to myth and fairy tale, often subverting the tropes and plots of these genres to feminist ends. She

A good poem makes something happen, in the same way that saying your wedding vows makes you married. also has the surrealist’s knack of making the familiar strange: in the mundane routine of Table Settings, for instance: Doling out the forks little crab claws, tines filched from lions. Throughout the collection, she demonstrates her close attention to animals (of a

Margaret Atwood: most affecting are the elegies for the beloved missed “dearly”. spider: “I’m mostly ﬁngers”) and her distress at the manifold threats to the natural world, such as the ubiquitous plastic “washing onto the beaches, neo-seaweed/ of torn bags, cast wrappers, tangled rope”. Most aﬀecting are the elegies for the beloved missed “dearly” in the title poem and others. Here, the tone is gentler, less acerbic, more reﬂective. “It’s an old word, fading now,” the poem begins. It is, of course, not just the word that is old and fading. This achingly sad poem winds its way through the speaker’s grief to the inevitable conclusion, the loss from which there’s no recovering: Sorrow: that’s another word You don’t hear much any more. I sorrow dearly. l DEARLY: Poems, by Margaret Atwood (Vintage, $34)

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

Crime roundup

Troubling, tense and traumatic Rising star switches from Scandi noir to the plight of human trafficking in an intense thriller. by CRAIG SISTERSON

T

hrough three impressive crime novels starring deaf Swedish journo Tuva Moodyson, Will Dean has conjured up a great sense of rural landscapes seasoned with creepiness and claustrophobia. He dials that up to 12 in his standalone THE LAST THING TO BURN (Hodder, $34.99), an intimate, intense psychological thriller set amid bleak British farmland. Lenn and “Jane” are a farming couple living in isolation, but only Lenn is there by choice. Jane is really Thanh Dao, a Vietnamese immigrant who arrived in a container ship with her sister and is now trapped, living a harrowing life in an open prison. Escape seems impossible; attempts have harsh consequences. She has limped for years. When Thanh Dao falls pregnant, she must risk everything. Dean has crafted a superb thriller about identity and control where the pages whirr by even though the subject matter can be traumatic. It’s a strong character study humming with tension, reminiscent of Stephen King’s Misery while being its very own thing. A tough read, but an excellent one. When readers ﬁrst met Clementine

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

“Clem” Jones, the disgraced city lawyer had secreted herself away in tiny Katinga and was trying to coach the local Aussie Rules team to a historic championship while investigating the oﬀ-ﬁeld troubles of an Aboriginal player. Now, in WHITE THROAT (Text, $38.99), the sequel to Sarah Thornton’s Ned Kelly Awardshortlisted debut, Clem is back in action. Housesitting in coastal Queensland, she is quietly helping an environmental group try to save a rare turtle, to the chagrin of local developers and politicians. When her pal Helen, the group’s leader, is found dead and the cops say suicide, Clem strikes out on her own dangerous investigation. Meanwhile, she’s being pulled in all directions by the entreaties of her Katinga players and townsfolk and big-city law ﬁrms. Thornton delivers an engaging, action-packed tale with a good touch for setting, where readers’ enjoyment may ﬂuctuate depending on their feelings towards Clem, who can veer from heroic to self-pitying, crafty to foolish. Another exciting crime voice that’s emerged from Australia in recent years is award-winning Māori storyteller JP Pomare (Ngāpuhi). TELL ME LIES (Hachette, $29.99) again demonstrates his mastery of the psychological thriller. A

Will Dean: his latest thriller is seasoned with claustrophobia and creepiness. shorter novel that started life as an Audible Original, Pomare’s latest begins with psychologist Margot Scott attacking one of her clients on a train platform. What provoked, or could justify, this violent act? Pomare guides us through a web of deceit as Margot’s seemingly perfect life is upended by her interactions with a suite of clients, including the seemingly charming man she spotted on the platform. In a sea of psychological-thriller writers, Pomare elevates himself with the quality of his writing and characterisation. Pacy and full of twists, this book makes readers sure, then unsure, that we know where it’s heading. Like Margot, readers will suspect we’re being manipulated, too – while being able to enjoy the journey far more than she can. Overall, another really good read from a fresh Kiwi talent. Can’t wait for the next one. l

CONTRIBUTORS Ted Dawe is the author of a number of books for young people, including Into the River and Answering to the Caul. Owen Marshall is a novelist, poet and one of the country’s ﬁnest writers of short stories. Craig Sisterson is a founder of the Ngaio Marsh Awards and the author of Southern Cross Crime. Tim Upperton is a poet and writer based in Palmerston North. David Littlewood lectures at Massey University in Palmerston North on New Zealand’s political and social history and topics relating to the two world wars.

55

BOOKS

In living memory Kiwi author reminds us of NZ’s role in Turkey’s war deeds. by DAVID LITTLEWOOD

T

his is a fascinating book about what nations seek to remember and forget. James Robins, a New Zealand journalist, demonstrates that the founding mythologies of Turkey, Australia and New Zealand are intertwined, and argues that Australian and New Zealand governments have been disturbingly complicit in Turkey’s attempts to erase the Armenian Genocide from its history. Despite appearing last in the sub-heading, the genocide itself takes centre stage. Robins advances an all-too-familiar explanation for why the Ottoman Empire and then newly created Turkey persecuted its ethnic minorities so severely at the turn of the 20th century. Most important was

Poetry by NINA MINGYA POWLES

Two portraits of home – after Werner’s Nomenclature of Colours, 1814.

An Armenian mother kneels beside her dead child in the Syrian desert.

the desire of inﬂuential groups to build a strong and independent nation state, one underpinned by a homogenous population. This vision left little room for those who could not, or would not, conform. Armenians – along with Greeks and Assyrians – were blamed for everything from military defeats to foreign meddling. With the heightened tensions of World War I and its aftermath, hundreds of thousands of them were forced to trek into inhospitable deserts or freezing mountains, suﬀering immensely. Ever

since, Turkey’s leaders have sought to minimise this persecution in the national story, instead lionising the statesmanship of Mustafa Kemal (later Atatürk). Australia and New Zealand make their appearance with the Gallipoli landings in 1915. By posing an apparently mortal danger to the Ottoman Empire, they triggered an escalation of the genocide. Several Anzac prisoners of war subsequently witnessed killings at ﬁrst hand, and a few even lost their lives trying to protect Armenian refugees. When

[IMG_098]

morpheus butterﬂy wing blue

albatross white

plastic-orchid blue

hawthorn-blossom white

the blue of the sounds the blue of the sounds

skimmed-milk white

the blue of the sounds

distant-forest green

unripe-mango green

feijoa-tree green

kōwhai-petal yellow fantail-feather cream

ALAMY

volcanic grey

, from Magnolia Seraph Press, $30

56

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

accounts of the genocide ﬁltered back to Australia and New Zealand, they prompted a remarkable spree of relief eﬀorts – funds were raised, food and medical relief was dispatched on mercy ships, and an Australasian Orphanage was even established in Lebanon. The ﬁnal part of the book sees Robins castigate the failure of Australian and New Zealand governments to confront Turkey over the genocide. He suggests that such reticence stems from the two nations’ own processes of remembering and forgetting. They, too, are keen to present a clean and unifying foundation story, one that focuses on the heroism of the Anzacs at Gallipoli. This has led not only to a reluctance to discuss colonisation – which carries uncomfortable parallels between the treatment of Aborigines/ Māori and the Armenians – but also dictated a “special relationship” with Turkey. Any attempt to broach the genocide would jeopardise access to Gallipoli for the annual pilgrimage, while prompting diﬃcult questions about the modern formulation of the Anzac narrative.

A

“There is no diﬀerence between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours”, this has come to rest on ideas of shared chivalry and sacriﬁce. That Kemal was a leading protagonist in the genocide is, like the fact of the killings themselves, necessarily left unremarked. Robins’ arguments are made in a compelling fashion. I struggled a little with the occasional simpliﬁcations, frequent editorialising and seemingly random use of the past and present tense. Yet the employment of a “journalistic” style is a major contributor to the book’s power. Had Robins sought to downplay his obvious passion and anger in favour of the cautious tones adopted by most academics, he may have proved less eﬀective at communicating the horror of the genocide and the urgency of confronting it. This book deserves to ﬁnd a wide audience in Australia and New Zealand; it would be even better if it prompted their governments to reconsider how they approach the Armenian Genocide. l WHEN WE DEAD AWAKEN: Australia, New Zealand and the Armenian Genocide, by James Robins (Bloomsbury, $40)

s exempliﬁed by constant recitation of the famous words supposedly written by Kemal,

[IMG_227]

enamel bowl rim blue

lepidolite lilac

throat of crocus blue chrysoprase blue

Short cuts What have those woolly beasts ever done for us? A huge amount, reckons the delightful chronicle A SHORT HISTORY OF THE WORLD ACCORDING TO SHEEP, by British nature writer Sally Coulthard (Head of Zeus, $37.99). Fed us, clothed us and helped us win wars, she says. Changed our language, too: shoddy, ﬂeeced, tenterhooks, sheepish, of course, all came via the ovine route. By the time of the Domesday book in 1086, sheep were the No 1 agricultural commodity. This country gets a couple of mentions, rudely undercutting UK farmers in the mid-19th century and, inevitably, Shrek. “New Zealand always punches above its weight,” an Australian diplomat is told in Nick Bridge’s THE BOAT THAT BROUGHT ME (Cuba Press, $30). “Hmm,” the Aussie replies, “it would be hard for them to punch below it.” This memoir by the former diplomat comes highly recommended by the likes of Dame Sian Elias, Alan Bollard and Terence O’Brien. The author, married to poet and China scholar Diana Bridge, writes briskly and well about his postings to London, China, India, Singapore and Canberra, among other places, from the 1970s to 1990s, and is insightful about politics, culture and our evolving place in the world.

magnolia-leaf green-black plum black heart of jasmine pink purple-aster black

hot violet hot violet

raspberry ice cream pink peach-skin pink honey-pomelo pink strawberry-wafer pink light blood orange

lower wings of tiger moth red

lantern-festival red

mooncake-wrapper gold electric-billboard blue shanghai-taxi blue

tūī-feather iridescent green neon neon green

high-deﬁnition silver

reﬂected-gasoline blue grass-jelly black wet-cormorant black

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

nightriver black

Apart from the odd iMac in the oﬃce, the Montrose Foundry in Penrose, Auckland, remains largely unchanged since it opened in 1950 – an unfussy, hands-on, masculine world. MONTROSE OF PENROSE, Grant Alexander and Solomon Mortimer’s handsomely designed and photographed tribute to the place in its 70th year, acknowledges a debt to Glenn Busch’s Working Men, from 1984, which captured the images and thoughts of men in the manual trades. Available at tinyurl. com/MontroseNZL, $75. l

57

DIVERSIONS QUIZWORD by Alan Shuker

Puzzle No 1581 Clues across 1. Rawene and Kohukohu are settlements on which New Zealand harbour? (8) 7. Carmen Miranda brought what music to a global audience? (5) 8. What is a deﬁcit in a bank account caused by taking out too much? (9) 9. What unit of energy is named from a Greek word for “work”? (3) 10. Octothorp is the technical name for what symbol? (4) 11. Who oversees the preparation of content for a printed publication? (6) 13. Who was the ﬁrst person to win an Oscar playing an Oscar winner – in The Aviator? (4,9) 15/16. Although he published only 13 poems during his lifetime, who gave the language “far from the madding crowd” and “ignorance is bliss”? (6,4) 18. Used in making mortar, what from a volcano is pozzolana? (3) 20. What is to return an alleged criminal to another nation at its request? (9) 21. The juice of what fruit can be used as an ant deterrent? (5) 22. In Australian Aboriginal mythology, what is Wollunqua? (5,3)

CROSSWORD by David Tossman

Puzzle No 1213 Clues down 1. What American slang term for illicit whisky came from the name of an Alaskan tribe who made a type of liquor? (5) 2. What is the Israeli parliament? (7) 3. In television’s Little Britain, who does Lou push around in a wheelchair? (4) 4. Will Geer is best known for which role in a 1970s television series? (7,6) 5. What fossilised resin is prized in Scandinavia for jewellery? (5) 6. Which French detective features in 75 novels by Georges Simenon? (7) 7. Which branch of mechanics is concerned with forces in equilibrium? (7) 12. An insect’s body has a head, thorax and what? (7) 13. What small round lightweight boat was designed to be carried strapped to a person’s back? (7) 14. Grannie, nearing and engrain are anagrams of what? (7) 15. Ancient Greeks thought which herb was a source of courage? (5) 17. What are earnings realised on an investment? (5) 19. What bird says “Squander the day, but save the soul” in a poem by Mary Oliver? (4)

Clues across 1. Camper unexpectedly embraces love: note the difference (7) 5. A gentle disposition is indicative of simple good taste and afﬂuence (7) 9. Arden at ﬁrst getting in sticks for highways (5) 10. Hard-nosed crony tours Arctic waste (9) 11. Elaborate pie at best is rather expensive (1,3,5) 12. About to transgress with kauri gum, perhaps (5) 13. Seize, you might say, a scone when cooked (6) 15. Instalment of English leader, poised after disturbance (7) 18. Austere craft in middle of bridge (7) 20. Turn down rubbish (6) 22. In poor health and break down about the end of September (5) 24. Argue once, oddly, to motivate (9) 26. George arranged a tulip too (9)

Solution No 1212

27. Pole hiding in Kyrgyzstan or Thailand (5) 28. Trainees lacking leadership become employees (7) 29. The German embraces ﬁt resident (7)

Clues down 1. Hear a soap that is really corny (6) 2. La Bohème is about a US city (5) 3. Satanists contrived to provide help (9) 4. Get it off your chest without stopping (7) 5. Previously plentiful as a specimen (7) 6. Go into business if prize is said to follow (5) 7. An escort’s distraught grandparents (9) 8. Gifted and dishevelled dilettante has lost it (8) 14. Catch rare disorder in part (9) 16. Fine uncle forced to carry weight (9) 17. Foals ate poorly recently (2,2,4) 19. Sewing implements are almost completely unnecessary (7) 20. Told it is referred to again (7) 21. Haste therefore shows restraint (6) 23. Left part of the church in decline (5) 25. Halo left by one’s ear (5)

Solution 1580 Across: 1/4 Emily Brontë, 9 Meccano, 10 Gower, 11 Nash, 12 Cortege, 13 Pye, 14 Whoa, 16 Dart, 18 Bye, 20 Caramel, 21 Ohio, 24 Lotus, 25 Colette, 26 Spoons, 27 B-ﬂat. Down: 1 Ermine, 2 Incus, 3 Yuan, 5 Rag trade, 6 New Year, 7 Earned, 8 Joyce, 13 Parmesan, 15 Horatio, 17 Scales, 18/19 Black Forest, 22 Hotel, 23 Club.

58

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

BRIDGE by David Bird

WEST ♠ J 10 5 2 ♥ J 10 5 3 ♦ 85 ♣A87

NORTH ♠ AK9863 ♥ 6 ♦ 43 ♣ Q 10 5 3 EAST ♠ Q74 ♥9 ♦ K 10 6 ♣KJ9642 SOUTH ♠— ♥ AKQ8742 ♦ AQJ972 ♣— Game all, dealer South

West — Pass Pass All Pass

North — 1S 3S

East — Pass Pass

South 1H 3D 6D

How would you bid the South hand? 1H is unlikely to be passed out, it’s true, but you might as well rebid 6D. Partner can then choose between the red suits and bid the grand slam when he holds the king of diamonds. The deal arose in a Southampton duplicate and was sent to me by Ivor Jones,

TAKE 5 by Simon Shuker

who was sitting West. How would you play the slam when West leads the ﬁve of diamonds and East plays the ten? (It would be poor defence to play the king, of course, since this can hardly promote anything.) The original declarer decided to pull trumps. His idea was to make the contract when the king of trumps fell doubleton – also when the hearts broke 3-2. It was not a strong line. Neither shot paid off and he ended with a minus score on his magniﬁcent hand. After winning the trump lead with the jack, you should play the ace of hearts and ruff a heart. This costs you nothing when hearts are 3-2. It gives you the extra chance that the defender who ruffs the second round of hearts is rufﬁng from an original K-x-x in the trump suit, which would in fact have been the case. East would overruff, but his king of trumps would then fall under the ace. A trump lead looks reasonable, but a heart or club lead would give declarer no chance. BIDDING QUIZ

WEST ♠ 962 ♥ AK7 ♦ 94 ♣ AQ743

West North East South — — 1D Pass 2C Pass 2D Pass ?

What will you say next on the West cards? (Answer on page 60.)

BARDEN’S CHESS PROBLEMS

From a game claimed to have been won in 1590 by Busnardo, a 16-century contemporary of the famous Ruy Lopez, who gave his name to the opening 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5. I’m not entirely sure that it is genuine, but giving White the beneﬁt of the doubt, how did he force a rapid victory? (Answer on page 60.)

Wordsworth th by Jessica Malcolm Readers were asked to create a fourline poem describing either a popular or unpopular holiday destination. Tommy Wilson of Papamoa: In the hem of my dress I sewed a big chain/All of my girlfriends said I was insane/I’m oﬀ on holiday to Wellington I said/The chain stops the dress going over my head. Anne Martin of Helensville: I’d love to see Buckingham Palace/And the lights in Leicester Square/But until they free London of Covid-19/I won’t be going there. And: Benidorm has golden sand/And a sea of sapphire blue/And they’ve lined the beach with skyscrapers/To block the peasants’ view. Auckland’s Mike Jarman: Oh to be in Whangamatā now that New Year’s here/I can meet up with my mates and drink a lot of beer/Smashing bottles is so much fun from on a coﬀee shop/At such a golden seaside place, fun will just not stop. Rex McGregor of Auckland: The Milford and the Routeburn Tracks/Are getaway retreats./But if you’re eager to relax/Try Auckland’s empty streets. John Edgar of Christchurch: Wellington is far too windy/And Christchurch is on shaky ground/But if you don’t mind giant sandﬂies/Then visit Milford Sound. But the winner is Carole Hay of Ōrewa: There are restaurants and cafes that will keep the traveller fed./There are long sandy beaches and a statue of Sir Ed./So the place to be this summer is Ōrewa by the sea/Where a house is unaﬀordable but parking’s mostly free. For next week’s competition, create and answer a question, or answer a riddle, with the name of a popular song. Entries close at midday on Thursday, February 4. Submissions: listenerwordsworth@ aremedia.co.nz. Please include your name and address and No 2055 in the subject line. Entries may be edited.

WIN THIS

This combination of recipes is intertwined with essays on such subjects as the evolution and meaning of the recipe and the heinous notion of the guilty pleasure.

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

59

DIVERSIONS Fill the grid so that every column, every row and every 3x3 box contains the digits 1 to 9.

MEDIUM

758

HARD

569

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

732 1 Place a number from 1 to 9 in each empty box. 2. The sum of each vertical or horizontal block equals the number at the top or on the left of that block. 3. Numbers may be used only once in each block.

BRIDGE BIDDING QUIZ SOLUTION It would be a gamble to bid 3NT now, with no stopper in spades. Much better is to continue with the forcing bid of 2H, showing strength there. Do not worry that you have only three hearts instead of four. You hope that partner has a spade stopper and can make some bid in no-trumps next. Awards: 2H - 10, 3NT - 5, 3D – 3, 3C – 2. CHESS SOLUTION 1 Be6+! Kxe6 2 Qe8+ Nge7 3 d5 mate. 10 QUICK QUESTIONS ANSWERS

LAST WEEK’S SOLUTION

60

1. Hopalong Cassidy is a ﬁctional cowboy. 2. Citizen Kane (1941). 3. Ballerina. 4. Hawaii Five-O. 5. Omnibus. 6. Electric eel. 7. Red currant. 8. Working Girl (1988). 9. Every Kobe steak is Wagyu beef. 10. Pancreas.

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

LOGIC PUZZLE

FAIR GAME

Four fairground attraction owners competed for the most proﬁtable attraction award on a particular weekend: 1. Geoff’s attraction earned $1000 less than Barry’s attraction. 2. The Coconut Shy earned more than Geoff’s attraction. 3. Rhonda’s attraction earned $1000 less than the Ferris Wheel. 4. Concerning Barry and Hannah, one owns the Dodgem Cars and one owns the attraction that earned $3500.

CLUELESS CROSSWORD

Each letter of the alphabet is represented by a different number from 1 to 26. Use your knowledge of English to solve the crossword. Some clue letters are given.

Using these clues and the grid below, can you work out which attraction is owned by whom and how much money it made on the weekend?

Haunted House

Ferris Wheel

Dodgem Cars

Coconut Shy

ATTRACTION Rhonda

Hannah

Geoﬀ

Barry

OWNER

EARNINGS

$2000 $2500 $3000 $3500

ATTRACTION

Coconut Shy Dodgem Cars Ferris Wheel Haunted House

OWNER

ATTRACTION

EARNINGS

Barry Geoﬀ Hannah Rhonda

You may write your answers in this grid:

ABCDEFGHIJKLM NOPQRSTUVWXYZ Your aim is to create words of four letters or more using the given letters once only but always including the middle letter. Do not use proper names or plural/ verb forms that add only “s”. See if you can ﬁnd the nine-letter word using all the letters.

12 GOOD 15 VERY GOOD 19+ EXCELLENT

ALL PUZZLES COPYRIGHT CHRIS WALTERS. VISIT REUBENSPUZZLES.COM.AU. GETTY IMAGES

SCATTERWORD

PERMUTATE TEMPERATE Your aim is to change the top word one letter at a time, each time rearranging the letters to create a new word. Perform one such permutation for each blank line below until you arrive at the last word. There is usually more than one correct solution. See how many you can ﬁnd in 15 mins.

A DM I T

WH E E L

Last week’s solutions. Logic Puzzle: Brian is treating a 30 cm Lorikeet, Fiona is treating a 60 cm Red-fronted Macaw, Jane is treating a 15 cm Doubleeyed Fig Parrot while Seth is treating a 45 cm Kea. Scatterword: PREFIGURE, ﬁgurer, refuge, prefer, ﬁgure, griper, purger, freer, refer, puree, rupee, grief, gripe, purge, urger, prier, riper, purer, free, reef, peer, ﬁre, rife, urge, pier, ripe, pure, frig, grip, prig, purr. 31 words. Permutate: CATCH, AITCH, CHAIR, ACRID, BARDI/BRAID/RABID, BIRDS Clueless crossword:

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

61

ENTERTAINMENT

Legendary label Oscar Kightley writes about why he turned documentary maker with Dawn Raid, a ﬁlm about the pioneering South Auckland music label that launched such stars as Aaradhna, Savage and Adeaze.

N

ew Zealanders don’t tend to be the best folk at cinematically celebrating their own people who have been important to shaping the country’s culture and identity. One could put it down to the example shown by Sir Edmund Hillary, in the days when you had to be the ﬁrst humans to climb the tallest mountain in the world in order to be famous. Despite this considerable achievement, Hillary acted as casually about it as though all he’d done was pop down to the dairy for some milk. It seemed to resonate with the perspective that tangata whenua already had, and thus became an unwritten law on how New Zealanders should behave, especially the ones who achieve greatness. A whakataukī that I learned one time from national treasure Sir Howard Morrison was: Kāore te kūmara e kōrero mō tōna ake reka – the kūmara doesn’t speak of its own sweetness. Consequently, it’s up to the rest of us to speak of the sweetness of all our kūmara. The box oﬃce success of 2009’s The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls

62

seemed like a turning point. The hit ﬁlm helped show not only why Jools and Lynda Topp are loved and adored but also that New Zealanders would go to the cinema to see their music heroes celebrated. More music documentaries followed, such as Poi E (2016) and Herbs: Songs of Freedom (2019) by director Tearepa

As a mate of most of them, I had never delved into or asked about the label’s dirty laundry. Kahi, and The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps (2019) and last year’s Six60: Till the Lights Go Out, which were directed by Julia Parnell. When GFC Films boss Matthew Metcalfe called me in late 2017 and said that he was keen to make a documentary feature about the early 2000s New Zealand hip hop/R&B music label Dawn Raid Entertainment, it took all of a yoctosecond – the shortest unit of time – for me to say “heck, yes”. It was my ﬁrst opportunity

to direct a feature ﬁlm. I’ve made music videos, shorter documentaries and a television comedy series, but features are something I want to do more of. Not just documentaries but scripted stories, too. GFC Films had already made a ﬁlm about Hillary, Beyond the Edge (2013), and the Bruce McLaren doco McLaren (2017.) I knew this was a company that could make this project a reality, so it was exciting that it was behind it.

D

awn Raid Entertainment began rising around the end of last century and was part of a “golden era” for New Zealand arts and culture that coincided with the considerable support and encouragement of the Helen Clark Labour Government. I was one of many fans they had around the country. I had met the heads of this label, Brotha D (Danny Leaosavai’i) and Andy Murnane, at the Ōtara Market. Their early T-shirt stall was an important part of the empire they built, which extended from South Auckland to the rest of the world. Their foundation artists – Adeaze, the Deceptikonz and Aaradhna – became some of our biggest music stars. They have left a legacy of

wonderful music. Their many fans were mystiﬁed and saddened when the ﬂow of hits and artists from Dawn Raid Entertainment stopped, seemingly a casualty of upheavals in the music business brought on by evolving technology. There seemed to be a fallout, in terms of the relationships of the various people involved, but the Dawn Raid Entertainment family mostly kept their secrets close to their chest – until now, thanks to the release of this ﬁlm. As a mate of most of them, I had never delved into or asked about the label’s dirty laundry. Friends don’t need to know everything about what happens in their mates’ work lives. All that had to change, of course, as we went into conducting interviews and shooting for this ﬁlm. It wasn’t always easy for Brotha D and Andy to speak to me about what happened as they went through the highs and lows of building a dream and reﬂecting on what was an extraordinary period in their lives. Their story will resonate with everyone who ever wondered whether they could do something and then thought, “Why not?” It was just as tough for Aaradhna, brothers Nainz and Viiz Tupa‘i from Adeaze, and

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

history that we interviewed. We went into ﬁlming wanting to record their story, so what they achieved would be forever laid down in a ﬁlm. In doing so, we uncovered a story about an extraordinary group

of New Zealanders and how they – like Sir Ed – climbed the tallest mountain they could ﬁnd. l

Clockwise from top left: The Deceptikonz; label heads Andy Murnane and Brotha D; Dawn Raid album covers; Savage; Aaradhna.

Dawn Raid is in cinemas from January 21.

63

DANIEL BOUD

the Deceptikonz – the group that featured Savage who, solo, delivered the label’s international hit Swing. I am indebted to all of them and to other important ﬁgures who were part of Dawn Raid’s

ENTERTAINMENT

W

GETTY IMAGES

Stayin’ alive The pop legacy of the Bee Gees can be heard again in a new documentary and an album in which Barry Gibb takes their old songs to the country. by GRAHAM REID 64

hen the Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson, who knows a thing or two about siblings singing together, inducted the Bee Gees into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1997, he called them “Britain’s ﬁrst family of harmony”. But that Bee Gees aural signature was only part of their story. As songwriters with work performed by artists as diverse as Nina Simone, the Animals, Barbra Streisand, Ed Sheeran and, of course, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton with Islands in the Stream, the Bee Gees – brothers Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb – were without peer. Although most often identiﬁed with 70s dance music during the disco era – which they anticipated and came to epitomise – their 60s songs were often deeply melancholy, the sentiment conveyed by Robin on the funereal New York Mining Disaster 1941 (an uncommon theme in the era of upbeat pop), Massachusetts, the cloyingly maudlin I Started a Joke and many other emotionally bleak songs. But by the late 60s, they were also exploring psychedelic pop and in 1969 delivered the ambitiously orchestrated double album Odessa, which included the country-ﬂavoured Marley Purt Drive, a sign of things to come. The Bee Gees’ story is one of popular success, schisms between the siblings, separation and reconciliation, reinvention (the Miami R&B of Nights on Broadway, which introduced Barry’s falsetto, and the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack), and being critically reviled and rejected by radio in the anti-disco mood of the late 70s. That led to another repositioning, as songwriters for the likes of Streisand, Dionne Warwick, Celine Dion and others.

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

Clockwise from above: the Bee Gees in 1967; Maurice and Robin Gibb with Dolly Parton; Robin, Maurice, Barry and Andy Gibb in 1978; Robin, Barry and Maurice in 1979 with their Grammy for the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. Opposite: in the mid-70s.

I

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

speak of the Gibbs’ magical harmonies where three voices blended as one. Others paying tribute include Eric Clapton, Grammy-winning producer Mark Ronson and Justin Timberlake, who astutely observes

Noel Gallagher called them “a brilliant chapter in the book of music”. he hears Barry’s vocal on You Should Be Dancing like a horn part. In archival interviews, Barry, Robin and Maurice attest to their love of black music. They grew up with the Mills Brothers before hearing the Beatles, listened to soul and wrote To Love Somebody for Otis Redding (who died before he could record it). Islands in the Stream was originally conceived as a R&B song for Diana Ross before Rogers and Parton made it a country-music classic. That much-covered duet (by Miley Cyrus and Shawn Mendes

among others) has been frequently sampled, notably for Ghetto Supastar by the Fugees’ Pras Michel with Wu-Tang’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Mýa. Black artists often appreciated the Gibbs’ soulful R&B more than the mainstream white-rock “disco sucks” audience, especially those who joyously saw their albums – along with records by Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayﬁeld and other black artists who were hardly “disco” – being destroyed at the notorious Disco Demolition Night-cumriot at Chicago’s Comiskey Park in July 1979.

I

f How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? oﬀers closure to Barry Gibb and the Bee Gees’ remarkable story – with youngest brother Andy, who died in 1988, included – there’s the coda of Greenfields: The Gibb Brothers’ Songbook Vol 1. With guests Keith Urban, Brandi Carlile, Alison Krauss, David Rawlings and Gillian Welch, Olivia Newton-John and others, Gibb made the album as a tribute to his brothers. Recorded in Nashville, Greenfields sidesteps being a

predictable celebrity collision respectfully going through the motions on Gibb standards. Among the surprises are the previously unrecorded Words of a Fool with Jason Isbell, where Gibb aches like a heartbroken crooner, intimate treatments of Too Much Heaven (with Krauss’ quivering vocal), Words with Parton and a slower Jive Talkin’. Greenfields’ burnishing and repositioning of these songs makes you hope for subsequent volumes. Black artists picking from the Gibbs’ 70s songbook could be revelatory. However, at the close of the documentary, the frail Sir Barry – who had the 2017 crowd at Glastonbury dancing to the 40-year old Stayin’ Alive – considers their extraordinary life but says of his brothers: “I’d rather have them all back here and no hits at all.” l The documentary The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart? is screening in selected cinemas and on streaming services. Greenﬁelds: The Gibb Brothers’ Songbook Vol 1 is out now.

65

ALAMY; GETTY IMAGES

n the new Bee Gees documentary, How Can You Mend a Broken Heart?, Barry – now 74 and the last Gibb standing after the deaths of Maurice in 2003 and Robin in 2012 – reﬂects on a career that alternated the zenith of pop acclaim, indulgence and wealth with intervals of derision and marginalisation. And stylistic change. “We never really had a category,” Barry says. “We just had different periods. We managed to ﬁt into diﬀerent eras … we didn’t always connect. But we stayed around.” And 55 years after their ﬁrst hit – the minimal Spicks and Specks – their music gets a reappraisal with the documentary and a new album that has Barry and a roster of country stars exploring a dozen songs from the Bee Gees’ vast back catalogue. In the documentary, Mykaell Riley, formerly of the black British political reggae band Steel Pulse, refers to them admiringly as “the chameleons of pop” and Noel Gallagher (calling them “a brilliant chapter in the book of music”) and Nick Jonas, both in bands with brothers,

ENTERTAINMENT

FILM

Lone avenger This brash and bold thriller updates the depiction of bad male behaviour for the post #metoo era. PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN directed by Emerald Fennell

C

arey Mulligan shines as Cassie, the title character in this glossy, tense and

Blame game The loss of a baby leads to a couple’s life falling apart. PIECES OF A WOMAN directed by Kornél Mundruczó

P

ieces of a Woman is an exceptionally bleak, extremely well-acted drama about one woman’s (really, one couple’s)

66

exhilarating rape-revenge thriller. Just turned 30, still living at home and working as a barista, Cassie has swapped med school and a future of picket-fenced imprisonment for evenings in bars. Each weekend, she stealthily

entraps “nice guys” into taking the “drunk” girl home for nonconsensual sex. Their shock, when they realise Cassie is, in fact, stone-cold sober and primed to teach them an unforgettable lesson, is just one of myriad pleasures in this feature-directing debut from

polymath Emerald Fennell, a writer and showrunner on TV’s Killing Eve and the actor portraying Camilla Parker Bowles in The Crown. As always, the doe-eyed Mulligan is superb, the cutesiness of her pastel-painted nails and shaggy blonde hair belying the

loss of a newborn baby. As Martha, Vanessa Kirby (Princess Margaret in the ﬁrst two seasons of The Crown) delivers an extraordinary portrayal of maternal mourning that is aptly upsetting. Her partner’s marginalised mangrief is demonstrated by the brilliant – but deeply problematic in real life – Shia LaBeouf, whose Boston construction worker, Sean, is a three-dimensional mix of tough, gentle and destroyed. In the fallout of their shared tragedy, the couple’s life shatters as parties desperately seek someone to blame. Despite a stunning ﬁrst half, which involves a virtuosic long shot, with the camera weaving through the couple’s

apartment during the birth, it’s hard to know who to recommend the ﬁlm to. Parents and non-parents alike will surely

ﬁnd this distressing, thanks to the strong, naturalistic performances and immersive, breath-holding photography.

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

Carey Mulligan as Cassie, who is on a mission to change male conduct, one jock at a time. ﬁerce female inside who, after the rape of Nina, her dearest friend, goes on a mission to change male conduct, one jock at a time. However, Cassie’s MO gets even darker when

As always, the doe-eyed Mulligan is superb, belying the ﬁerce female inside. a chance encounter with a former classmate prompts her to seek retribution against those she holds directly accountable. Fennell’s writing and direction are excitingly assured, the sharp script delivering scenes of grim truth and welcome light relief, as well as shocking twists. While the male characters are largely tarred with the same

Vanessa Kirby as Martha: an extraordinary portrayal of maternal mourning. The aftermath, which initially comes as something of a relief as everyone is pushed to move on, devolves into a family drama replete with oneshot monologues of childhood heartbreak and unsympathetic betrayals. Apart from Martha, whose well-observed numbness prevents her from being obnoxious, the other characters – in a ﬁne ensemble that includes the excellent Ellen Burstyn and Succession’s Sarah Snook – are hard to like. Hungarian actor-director Kornél Mundruczó and his regular collaborator actresswriter Kata Wéber have

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

brush, their sexist attitudes are slightly more nuanced than, say, the truck driver in Thelma and Louise and Lisbeth Salander’s victims in the Dragon Tattoo series. The updated depiction of insidious bad male behaviour seen here is critically important in this post #metoo era if our young men are to be disabused of a “boys will be boys” mentality. Like Cassie’s methods and the outﬁts she wears to hunt her quarry, the ﬁlm is brash and bold, with the music at times more manipulative than strictly necessary given the inherently intense subject matter. That said, the discomforting string quartet rendition of Britney Spears’ Toxic foreshadows one knifeedge set piece brilliantly. Thankfully, this story of a lone avenger avoids veering into full exploitation territory like the I Spit on Your Grave series and so many in this decades-old genre. Promising Young Woman is a timely sucker-punch of a movie. IN CINEMAS NOW Sarah Watt

created a quietly personal and frequently moving portrait of a grief that society doesn’t know how to respond to.

A personal and moving portrait of a grief that society doesn’t know how to respond to. Even when their story slides implausibly into convenient grandstanding, this doesn’t detract from its impact. STREAMING ON NETFLIX Sarah Watt

Knockout ONE NIGHT IN MIAMI directed by Regina King

M

uch is said but not a lot happens in One Night in Miami. True, one character becomes the heavyweight champion of the world. Another delivers one of the greatest songs of the era. Mostly, though, it’s all talk. That’s because it’s an adaptation of a play by Kemp Powers, one that posits what happened on February 25, 1964, after mouthy young upstart Cassius Clay beat world champ Sonny Liston. Clay celebrated with ice cream and conversation in a modest motel room where Malcolm X was staying, joined by friends singer Sam Cooke and NFL star Jim Brown. That is what really happened. At the time, Clay was on the verge of announcing his conversion to Islam, Cooke had just released his civil rights anthem A Change Is Gonna Come and Brown was about to ﬁnd movie stardom. Within a year, both Malcolm X and Cooke would be dead and Clay would be Muhammad Ali. That speculated evening and how it plays out between four largely unknown actors playing famous men in understated performances is at the heart of this. Led by Malcolm X, most of the talk

is about how the three stars’ power might best be applied to the black struggle. Clay (Eli Goree) is having doubts about his conversion, but the main ﬁreworks are in the debate between Malcolm X (Kingsley Ben-Adir) and Cooke (Leslie Odom Jr). The minister suggests Cooke is a sellout to the white music industry and asks why his songs don’t say anything meaningful. Cooke replies he’s a one-man black music corporation earning money from the likes of the Rolling Stones recording the songs he owns. Regina King directs with a light touch and a feel for the period. She neatly bookends the ﬁlm with scenes of the four elsewhere, the preamble featuring Brown (Aldis Hodge) visiting a friend from his past delivering more dramatic punch than those of Clay swinging in the ring. There are times in the characters’ speeches that remind that hindsight isn’t always a wonderful thing when depicting famous ﬁgures at a speciﬁc time. But One Night in Miami is still compelling for its performances and how it makes its historical ﬁgures human. STREAMING ON AMAZON PRIME VIDEO Russell Baillie Films are rated out of 5: (abysmal) to

(amazing)

67

ENTERTAINMENT Wanda (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany), and below.

Bewitching The world of Marvel superheroes heads into strange new territory with the classic sitcom-inspired series WandaVision. Here’s a guide. by RUSSELL BAILLIE

So, why is it called WandaVision? Because it’s a show about Wanda and Vision, two characters from the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) last seen in the ﬁlm Avengers:: Endgame. But it’s also about television – it seems Wanda “Scarlet Witch” Maximoﬀ and synthetic humanoid Vision have become characters in an archetypal American sitcom. It starts out in black and white, looking a bit like Bewitched or I Love Lucy, and morphs through the decades. Because? It’s something to do with the strange new reality that Wanda and Vision ﬁnd themselves in. After all, Vision died twice in Endgame. Perhaps Wanda’s reality-altering superpowers have created an imagined life for her and her

68

burgundy beloved. Possibly it’s all a hallucination based on her memories of TV shows. Or they’ve been caught in a cathode-ray-tube time machine. The comic-book histories of both characters might be a

clue. In he l I The Th Vision, Vi i h ended d d up in suburbia. In The House of M, Wanda lost her grip on reality and caused all sorts of bother for the universe.

Hold on, it’s a love story between a super-witch and a super-robot? Yes. Both have had a long history together in the comics – they fell in love, married, had two sons, broke up, then got back together. Their g romance wasn’t a big part of r the t Avengers ﬁlms, though. Do D I need to have seen all those ﬁlms to be interested t in i this? Not N according to Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige. He told Entertainment Weekly, “If you haven’t seen any of them and just want to step into this weird thing because you love The Dick Van Dyke Show, it’s going i to work. But if you’ve been tracking the 23 movies we’ve made and following along the stories into Phase Four, there’ll be a wealth of

rewards waiting for you as it all unfolds.” Phase Four? That’s where the MCU is at now, after Endgame saw the retirement of many of the main heroes at the end of Phase Three. The movie Black Widow was originally meant to kick oﬀ Phase Four, but that was delayed. Marvel has 11 ﬁlms and 12 television shows in the works. Will they all resemble ancient sitcoms? You never know. But probably not. It’s not the ﬁrst time Marvel characters have become television shows, is it? No. In recent years, there have been the Avengers-related Agents of SHIELD and Agent Carter and Netﬂix shows such as Daredevil, Luke Cage,

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

Jessica Jones and Iron Fist. But WandaVision has a direct connection to the MCU. Wanda and Vision are played by the actors – Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany – who played them in the ﬁlms. That hasn’t happened before. The nine episodes will help set up the movie Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,

“If you’ve been tracking the 23 movies, there’ll be a wealth of rewards waiting for you as it all unfolds.” with Olsen starring alongside Benedict Cumberbatch’s sorcerer. Also, the show has been made for Disney+, the streaming service that is now home to all Marvel Studios movies as well as Star Wars ﬁlms. WandaVision is being talked up as the platform’s next The Mandalorian – a show that keeps those diehard franchise fans happy while oﬀering something tangential and original. Hold on. Wasn’t Elizabeth Olsen in a sitcom when she was a kid? No, that was her older sisters Mary-Kate and Ashley, who were in Full House. Before her time as an Avenger, Olsen mostly starred in independent movies. As she’s said, “I was getting typecast as emotionally struggling young women in small genre ﬁlms. They were like, ‘Let’s put her in a bigger genre ﬁlm and make her the mentally unhealthy struggling hero’.” l

It’s a Sin, Saturday.

TELEVISION The Best of the Week SATURDAY JANUARY 23

IT’S A SIN (TVNZ OnDemand). Best known as the man who revived Doctor Who in the noughties, screenwriter Russell T Davies returns to his other speciality – gay-themed drama with a human touch. It’s a Sin is set among a group of young men, mostly new arrivals in London, as the Aids crisis takes hold in the early 1980s. As Davies noted recently, although he created Queer as Folk, the ﬁrst British gay television drama, in 1999, it and subsequent works had no mention of HIV. “I think I had to wait until now to ﬁnd what I wanted to say.” The ﬁve episodes focus on a trio of 18-year-olds who react diﬀerently to the virus. The storylines are based on his experiences in his late teens, and one character is based on long-time friend Jill Nalder, who became a carer to many of her g gay y male friends as they y

The first two episodes of WandaVision are streaming now on Disney+.

MONDAY JANUARY 25

C.B. STRIKE: LETHAL WHITE (SoHo, 8.30pm). The willthey-won’t-they private eye partnership of Cormoran Strike (Tom Burke) and Robin Ellacot (Holliday Grainger) return for a fourth mini-series based on the crime mysteries of Robert Galbraith – JK Rowling’s nom du detective ﬁction. Although previous outings – The Cuckoo’s Calling, Silkworm, Career of Evil – have clocked in at two or three hour-long episodes, Lethal White gets four. There is a bit to cover, starting with Robin’s ill-advised marriage to her long-time boyfriend followed by her return to work at Strike’s detective agency. There, the latest case involves the blackmail of a Tory MP and a disturbed young man who claims he witnessed a little girl’s murder as a child. THURSDAY JANUARY 28

CLASSIC ALBUMS – TEARS FOR

Resident Alien, from Thursday. JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

fell ill. Its drama about life upended by a global virus may resonate and it depicts an era of grief, loss and anger. But It’s a Sin is not all heartache and protest. Previews suggest it’s a frank, funny and exuberant series that celebrates place and period.

FEARS: SONGS FROM THE BIG CHAIR (Prime, 8.30pm). Tears for Fears’ 1985 album spawned the hits Shout and Everybody Wants to Rule the World and gave UK duo Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith a secondalbum career peak from which they never recovered. Its production also helped deﬁne mid-80s pop and songs like Everybody have endured via countless cover versions and movie soundtracks. A reunited Orzabal and Smith and their producers talk about the record’s creation and the sometimes dark lyrical themes behind the high-sheen music. FRICKIN DANGEROUS BRO … ON THE ROAD (TVNZ OnDemand). The local comedy trio of Pax Assadi, Jamaine Ross and James Roque toured the regions late last year and as well as doing live shows, ﬁlmed as they explored smalltown New Zealand and met locals. The ﬁrst two of the resulting eight-episode series are available from today. RESIDENT ALIEN (TVNZ OnDemand). Alan Tudyk’s career as an oddball character and animation voice actor has made him a cult star. That appeal works nicely in his favour in his role as Harry, an alien who crash-lands on Earth and poses as a doctor in remote, snowy Patience, Colorado, solving mysteries while trying to avoid capture as he awaits rescue. l

69

ENTERTAINMENT

TV Films

by RUSSELL BAILLIE

The big movies on TV this week SATURDAY JANUARY 23

MEET THE PARENTS (TVNZ 2, 7.00pm) The funniest of what became an awkward comedy trilogy for Ben Stiller – playing nurse Greg Focker in his ﬁrst encounter with his girlfriend’s father, a retired CIA operative played by Robert De Niro. (2000) THE ADVENTURES OF TINTIN (Three, 7.00pm). Steven Spielberg’s Weta-powered motion-capture animated ﬁlm of Hergé’s classic comicstrip wonderboy delivered an Indiana Jones-style action rollercoaster ride. But it could have been funnier and its mystery story, which carved up bits of The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn and Red Rackham’s Treasure, was forgettable. (2011) SUNDAY JANUARY 24

COCO (TVNZ 2, 7.05pm). Before their most recent outing, Soul, Pixar animators dealt with questions about death in a family ﬁlm with Coco, which takes its inspiration from

Mexico’s Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebrations. It’s the brilliantly colourful tale of Miguel, a Mexican 12 -year-old whose burning desire to become a mariachi musician leads him on a quest into the underworld. (2017)

PASSENGERS (Three, 8.35pm). Sci-ﬁ romcom starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt as two folk on a 120-year voyage who wake from hypersleep decades early while the rest of the ship’s population snoozes on. Somehow manages to be both sappy and – due to the behaviour of Pratt’s character – creepy at the same time. (2016) MONDAY JANUARY 25

HORRIBLE BOSSES 2 (TVNZ2, 8.40pm). The disgruntled employees of the ﬁrst movie (Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudeikis) start a business of their own only to ﬁnd they’re at the mercy of investor Christoph Waltz. Another amateur crime caper ensues. (2014)

The Light Between Oceans, Tuesday. A QUIET PLACE (Three, 8.40pm). Tense and exciting post-apocalyptic horror-thriller set in a world where human survivors must contend with monsters who attack via their sensitive hearing. Emily Blunt is terriﬁc as a mother trying to protect her family. Her husband John Krasinski also stars and directs. (2018) TUESDAY JANUARY 26

THE LIGHT BETWEEN OCEANS (TVNZ 2, 8.45pm). Traumatised Australian soldier Tom (Michael Fassbender) returns from World War I to work as a lighthouse keeper on a remote island, where he marries Isabel (Alicia Vikander). They ﬁnd a baby washed ashore in a rowboat and decide to raise her. It’s a lush and handsome melodrama shot mainly in Marlborough and Otago. (2016)

THE LAKE HOUSE (Three, 8.35pm). Convoluted timewrinkle romantic drama starring Sandra Bullock and Keanu Reeves as people living in the same house in diﬀerent years who somehow become penpals. (2006) WEDNESDAY JANUARY 27

Passengers, Sunday.

70

WE’RE THE MILLERS (TVNZ 2, 9.00pm). Crime comedy in which Jennifer Aniston plays a stripper who agrees to pose

as part of Jason Sudeikis’ bogus family in a daft plan to use a campervan to smuggle marijuana across the Mexican border (2013) THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (Three, 8.40pm). Of the many Spider-Man movies of the past two decades, this overstuﬀed, messy-toned one (the last to star Andrew Garﬁeld and Emma Stone) vies with 2007’s Spider-Man 3 as the worst of them. (2014) FRIDAY JANUARY 29

FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (TVNZ 2, 7.30pm). The second Fantastic Four movie improved on the quartet’s lacklustre ﬁrst outing, helped by their battle with the Silver Surfer, possibly the coolest of all alien supervillains, who gets around the place on his intergalactic surfboard. (2007) MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE III (Three, 7.30pm). It’s not the best of the M:I movies but TV whiz kid JJ Abrams, in his feature directing debut, helped set the tempo for what followed. It featured memorable turns by Philip Seymour Hoﬀman and Michelle Monaghan. (2006)

Films are rated out of 5: (abysmal) to

(amazing)

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

SATURDAY JANUARY 23

TVNZ 1 FREEVIEW 1 SKY 001

TVNZ 2 FREEVIEW 2 SKY 002

THREE FREEVIEW 3 SKY 003

6.00 Te Karere (R, HD) 6.30 Country Calendar (G, R, HD, C) 7.00 Following Twain with Oscar Kightley (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 7.30 Infomercials 8.30 Religious Programming 9.00 Emergency Call (PGR, R, HD, C) 9.30 Tagata Pasifika 10.00 John & Lisa’s Weekend Kitchen (G, HD, C) 11.00 Cash Trapped (G, R, HD, C) Noon Cowboy Builders: Updates (G, HD, C) 1.00 The Living Room (G, HD, C) Australian lifestyle series. 2.00 Big Race Day (HD) Toni Street and Scotty Stevenson preview today’s Prada Cup race from Viaduct Harbour, Auckland. 3.00 America’s Cup: Prada Cup (C) Live coverage of the Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series from the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland. The series will determine which of the Challenger teams will take on Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th America’s Cup in March. 5.00 The Chase (G, R, HD, C) Bradley Walsh hosts a UK quiz show. 6.00 1 News (HD, C) 7.00 Tipping Point: Lucky Stars (G, HD, C) Three well-known Brits take on the Tipping Point machine for charity (includes Lotto at 8.00pm). 8.05 Bradley Walsh and Son: Breaking Dad (G, R, HD, C, AD) Bradley and Barney saddle up for a Wild West adventure in Arizona that involves riding Harleys through a ghost town before enrolling at a Cowboy College. s1ep2 8.35 The Hotel Inspector Returns (AO, HD, C) Alex Polizzi Polizzi returns to the Crown Inn in Aldbourne, Wiltshire, where back in 2018, she refused to stay the night because her bedroom was filthy. 9.35 Dinner Date (PGR, HD, C) UK dating show in which a single person chooses a blind date from five menus. 10.35 Prada America’s Cup Highlights (C) The latest action from the Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series in the Hauraki Gulf. 11.05 Life (AO, R, HD, C, AD) Gail’s loyalty to Henry is tested, and David is disturbed by a hint about Kelly’s past. s1ep2 12.15am The Salisbury Poisonings (AO, R, HD, C, AD) s1ep2 1.05 Coronation Street Omnibus (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 3.05 Infomercials 5.30 – 6.00 Religious Programming

6.00 Thomas & Friends (G, HD, C, AD) 6.10 The Wiggles’ World (G, R, HD, C, AD) 6.20 Tinpo (G, R, HD, C, AD) 6.30 PJ Masks (G, R, HD, C) 6.50 Love Monster (G, HD, C) 7.00 Zak Storm (G, R, HD, C) 7.20 The Amazing World of Gumball (G, HD, C) 7.45 Dragon Ball Super (G, R, HD, C) 8.10 Bakugan: Battle Planet (G, R, HD, C) 8.35 Pokémon Journeys: The Series (G, HD, C) 9.00 Ninjago (G, HD, C) 9.10 Pickle & Peanut (G, R, HD, C) 9.30 The Simpsons (PGR, R, HD, C) s13ep11 10.20 My Wife and Kids (G, R, HD, C) 11.20 Michael McIntyre’s Big Show (PGR, R, HD, C) 12.35 The Bachelorette (PGR, HD, C) s16ep9 4.05 God Friended Me (G, HD, C, AD) s2ep7 5.05 The Simpsons (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) s30ep16 6.00 The Cube (G, HD, C) Phillip Schofield presents a UK game show in which contestants undergo physical and mental challenges inside a giant clear cube. 7.00 ■ Meet the Parents (2000, PGR, R, HD, C, AD) Greg Focker meets his girlfriend’s parents before proposing, but her suspicious father, a retired CIA agent, is not impressed. Ben Stiller, Robert De Niro, Teri Polo, Owen Wilson. TV Films, page 70 9.10 ■ Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (1997, AO, R, HD, C, AD) A 1960s hipster secret agent is brought out of cryofreeze in the 1990s when his greatest enemy, Dr Evil, returns and steals nuclear weapons. Mike Myers, Elizabeth Hurley, Seth Green, Robert Wagner, Michael York. 11.05 ■ Addicted to Love (1997, AO, R, HD, C) Two people whose former partners are now in love work together to break up the happy couple. Meg Ryan, Matthew Broderick, Kelly Preston, Maureen Stapleton. 1.05am ■ Unknown (2011, AO, R, HD, C, AD) A man wakes up from a coma to find that someone has taken his identity and no-one believes him. Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones. 3.00 My Wife and Kids (PGR, R, HD, C) s4ep20 4.25 2 Overnight 4.40 Wife Swap NZ (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 5.30 – 6.00 Religious Programming

6.00 Charles Stanley (R) 6.30 Infomercials 9.30 Better Homes and Gardens (G, R, HD) s24ep22 10.55 Mexican Fiesta with Peter Kuruvita (G, R, HD) s1ep10 11.25 ■ Love at First Flight (G, R, HD, C) s1ep8 12.30 Stove Tots (PGR, HD, C) s1ep2 1.25 MasterChef UK (G, HD, C) s14ep12 2.00 Earth: The Nature of Our Planet (G, R, HD, C) s1ep1 3.05 Unplugged Nation (PGR, HD, C) s1ep7 4.00 Grand Designs UK (G, R, HD, C) s16ep5 5.00 Lego Masters USA (G, R, HD, C) s1ep7 6.00 Newshub Live (HD) 7.00 ■ The Adventures of Tintin (2011, PGR, HD, C) Tintin and Captain Haddock set off on a treasure hunt. Voices of Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis. TV Films, page 70 9.10 ■ The Wedding Ringer (2015, AO, HD, C) A socially awkward groom turns to a company that provides best men for guys in need. Josh Gad, Kevin Hart, Kaley Cuoco. 11.15 ■ Warcraft (2016, AO, R, HD, C) An orc horde invades the planet Azaroth using a magic portal. Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper. 1.35am Infomercials 5.00 Brian Houston @ Hillsong (G, R) 5.30 – 6.00 Charles Stanley (R)

■ NEW ■ RETURN ■ FINAL ■ FILM JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

TODAY'S PICKS

Buoyant: LAST AT 11 It seems as if every new online comedy show is now made by “the team behind Educators”, so successful is their formula. This cute eight-episode series is a nice bit of cross-promotion for the America’s Cup. A hapless team from the late-night show Last at 11 is sent into the Team New Zealand base; once again, Kim Crossman, as airhead reporter BJ Benson, shows oﬀ her terriﬁc comedy instincts. The cast includes Kura Forrester (currently also appearing on Shortland Street), William Waiirua, Arlo Gibson and several Team New Zealand crew members, who are jolly good sports. TVNZ ONDEMAND

PRIME FREEVIEW 10 SKY 004 Kids’ Programmes (G, R) SmackDown (PGR, R) RAW (PGR, R) Life Cycles (PGR, R, C) Judge Judy (PGR) WhichCar (G, R, C) Whose Line Is It Anyway? (PGR, C) 3.00 Storage Wars (PGR, R, C) 4.00 Fish of the Day (G, R, C) 4.30 Hot Bench (G, R) 5.00 The Loggers (PGR, R, C) 5.30 Prime News 6.00 Ice Road Truckers (PGR, C) 7.00 Mighty Machines (PGR, C) 7.30 ■ Elizabeth (G, R, C) Elizabeth II’s life post-2000 included her diamond jubilee in 2012. 8.30 Endeavour (AO, C) The murder of a chocolate factory owner leads Endeavour to the sleepy village of Chigton Green. 10.30 Bull (AO, R, C) Bull aims to prove temporary insanity at a murder trial for his client, a young man he believes was brainwashed. 11.25 – 12.25am NXT (PGR) 6.00 10.00 11.00 Noon 1.00 1.30 2.00

Role playing: WARCRAFT There are more buttons on a PlayStation controller than there are successful video-game movie adaptations, but the nerds apparently consider this to be one of the better ones. It is the highestgrossing video-game adaptation of all time, although still didn’t make its $239 million budget back at the box oﬃce. Nevertheless, director Duncan Jones and his co-writer Charles Leavitt (Blood Diamond) craft a decent, if simple, storyline out of humans versus orcs. Jones’ next project is reportedly Rogue Trooper, based on the 2000 AD comic-book character. THREE, 11.15pm

C Captions AD Audio Description HD High Definition

71

SATURDAY JANUARY 23

MĀORI TV FREEVIEW 5 SKY 019 Kids’ Programmes (G) Kōrero Mai (G, R) Sidewalk Karaoke (G, R) ■ The Pits TV Poitūkohu Nga Kura Tuarua (R) 3.00 2019 Bunnings Junior National Touch Championship (R) 4.00 Game of Bros (PGR, R) 4.30 Kai Safari (G) Sonia Gray and Pio Terei sample cuisine from around the country. 5.00 School of Training (G, R) Joe Naufahu presents a fitness competition show. 5.30 Haka at Home (G, R) The best kapa haka from around Aotearoa. 6.30 Ngā Pari Kārangaranga o te Motu (G, R) Te Waka o Tainui. 7.00 ■ Lassie (1994, G) When a family move from Baltimore to a farm in rural Virginia, they adopt an abandoned dog that becomes the son’s companion and protector. Helen Slater, Tom Guiry, Jon Tenney. 8.40 ■ Tanna (2015, PGR, R) On a remote Pacific island, a couple decide to marry for love rather than obey their parents’ wishes. Marie Wawa, Mungu Dain, Marceline Rofit, Charlie Kahla. 10.40 Funny Whare (PGR, R) With Stacey Morrison. 11.10 – 11.40 My Party Song (G, R) 6.30 9.30 Noon 1.00 2.00

Vice: ALL THE SINS Shouldn’t there be seven episodes? Nevertheless, buckle up for a marathon of the Finnish crime drama set in an ultra-religious community. Creators Mika Ronkainen and Merja Aakko grew up in Finland’s Bible Belt and say the series isn’t Scandi noir, but “Finnish weird”. RIALTO, 11.45am

BRAVO FREEVIEW 4 SKY 012

CHOICE TV FREEVIEW 12 SKY 024 TVNZ DUKE FREEVIEW 13 SKY 023

6.00 10.00 10.30 12.15

Infomercials I Found the Gown (G, R) Find My First Love (PGR, R) David Tutera’s Celebrations (G, R) 2.05 ■ American Dreamz (2006, PGR, R, C) Hugh Grant. 4.15 Hoarders (PGR, R) 5.10 Songland (PGR, R) 6.05 Million Dollar Listing Los Angeles (PGR, R) 7.30 Botched (AO, R) A cancer survivor wants her breasts to look natural. s1ep6 8.30 The Real Housewives of Dallas (PGR) 9.30 Southern Charm (PGR) With a new girlfriend and a new therapist, Shep is determined to keep his nose out of everyone’s business. 10.30 Buried in the Backyard (AO, R) A neighbour stumbles onto a horrifying scene in Spokane. 11.25 Snapped (AO, R) 12.15am Infomercials 5.00 – 6.00 The Profit (G, R)

6.00 Freddie Mercury: The King of Queen (PGR) 7.30 Expedition Mungo (PGR) 8.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 9.30 Escape to the Chateau (G) 10.30 James Martin’s Great British Adventure (G) 11.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 12.30 Salvage Hunters (G) 1.30 Location Location (G) 2.30 Aussie Lobster Men (PGR) 3.30 How Do Animals Do That? (G) 4.30 Gino’s Italian Escape (G) 5.00 Luke Nguyen’s Railway Vietnam (G) 5.30 Irish Pickers (G) 6.30 Antiques Roadshow (G) 7.30 Yukon Gold (PGR) 8.30 The Cold Case Files (AO) 9.30 Heritage Rescue (G) 10.30 Gino’s Italian Escape (G) 11.00 Luke Nguyen’s Railway Vietnam (G) 11.30 How Do Animals Do That? (G) 12.00am Programmes continue

7.00 DUKEbox Music 11.00 Big Race Day Replay (HD, C) Noon Prada Cup Round Robin Replay (C) 2.00 DUKEbox Music 2.20 Top Gear (G, HD, C) 5.10 Swamp People (PGR, HD) 6.00 Dog Squad NZ (G, HD, C, AD) 6.30 Motorway Patrol NZ (AO, C) 7.00 Family Guy (PGR, HD, C) Guests at James Woods’ dinner party keep dying. s10ep2 7.30 The Simpsons (PGR, HD, C, AD) Bart gets in hot water at the school’s Grandparents Day. s28ep19 9.00 ■ Murder at 1600 (1997, AO, HD, C) A detective investigates a murder within the White House. Wesley Snipes, Diane Lane. 11.00 Fighter Pilot: the Real Top Gun (AO, HD) 12.00am – 12.55 Drug Wars: Cocaine (AO, HD)

SKY PREMIERE SKY 030

MOVIES EXTRA SKY 031

MOVIES VINTAGE SKY 035

RIALTO SKY 039

6.40 Last Christmas (2019, M) Emilia Clarke, Henry Golding 8.25 The Lodge (2019, 16) Riley Keough, Richard Armitage 10.15 Just Getting Started (2017, M) Morgan Freeman 11.50 47 Metres Down: Uncaged (2019, M) Corinne Foxx 1.23 The Way Back (2020, M) Ben Affleck, Al Madrigal 3.13 10 Minutes Gone (2019, M) Michael Chiklis, Bruce Willis 4.52 I Still Believe (2020, PG) KJ Apa, Britt Robertson 6.51 Killers Anonymous (2019, 16) A support group for killers tries to unravel the mystery of a high-profile assassination attempt. Gary Oldman, Jessica Alba 8.30 Terminator: Dark Fate (2019, 16) Sarah Connor battles an advanced Terminator who is hunting a young woman. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton 10.40 Motherless Brooklyn (2019, 16) Edward Norton 1.00am Don’t Let Go (2019, 16) 2.42 Elvis Goes There: Ryan Coogler (2019, M) 3.36 The Way Back (2020, M) 5.21 10 Minutes Gone (2019, M)

7.33

A Million Little Pieces (2019, 18) Aaron Taylor-Johnson 9.28 Midsommar Director’s Cut (2019, 18) Jack Reynor 12.18 Fixed (2019, M) Andy Comeau 1.53 Book of Monsters (2018, 18) Lyndsey Craine 3.18 Teen Spirit (2019, PG) Elle Fanning, Zlatko Buric 4.55 State Like Sleep (2018, 16) Katherine Waterson 6.43 Capone (2020, 18) Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini 8.30 The Mad Whale (2017, 16) A doctor at a psychiatric institution has the patients stage a theatrical production of Moby Dick. Camilla Belle, James Franco 10.15 #Screamers (2016, 16) Two guys who own a startup online video platform investigate a “Screamer” video. Tom Malloy, Chris Bannow 11.35 Finding Steve McQueen (2018, M) Travis Fimmel 1.05am Book of Monsters (2018, 18) 2.25 Teen Spirit (2019, PG) 3.56 A Christmas Reunion (2015, PG) 5.24 Elvis Goes There: Sofia Coppola (2019, M)

8.30 The Tell-Tale Heart (1953, PG) Stanley Baker 8.55 The Enforcer (1951, PG) Humphrey Bogart 10.20 Funny Face (1957, G) Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire 12.05 The Alamo (1960, PG) John Wayne, Richard Widmark 2.45 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963, G) Spencer Tracey, Milton Berle 5.15 The Haunted Palace (1963, 16) Vincent Price 6.40 Kings Go Forth (1958, PG) In 1944, two GIs in France become romantically involved with a young American woman. Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis, Natalie Wood 8.30 The Pink Panther (1964, PG) Inspector Clouseau is hot on the trail of a burglar who is scheming to steal the rare Pink Panther gem. Peter Sellers, David Niven 10.25 The Defiant Ones (1958, PG) Sidney Poitier, Tony Curtis 12.00am The Haunted Palace (1963, 16) 1.30 Kings Go Forth (1958, PG) 3.20 The Tell-Tale Heart (1953, PG) 3.45 The Pink Panther (1964, PG) 5.40 The Haunted Palace (1963, 16)

6.50 Girls of the Sun (2018, 16) Golshifteh Farahani 8.40 The Young Offenders (2016, M) Alex Murphy 10.05 Stieg Larsson: The Man Who Played with Fire (2018, 16) Swedish documentary. 11.45 All the Sins Marathon (16) s1ep1-6 4.45 Slay the Dragon (2019, M) US documentary. 6.30 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, M) Adele Haenel 8.30 Rialto Selection: Mean Dreams (2016, 16) Two teenagers desperate to escape their abusive homes go on the run. Josh Wiggins, Sophie Nélisse, Bill Paxton 10.15 Murdered for Being Different (2017, 16) Based on the story of the murder of Sophie Lancaster, who was kicked to death in a park by a gang. Abigail Lawrie, Nico Mirallegro, Sally Lindsay 11.20 Lost & Found (2017, M) Liam O Mochain 12.55am Mean Dreams (2016, 16) 2.40 Murdered for Being Different (2017, 16) 3.45 Slay the Dragon (2019, M) 5.30 Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019, M)

72

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

SATURDAY JANUARY 23

SKY CHANNELS Vibe SKY 006 6.00 100 Day Renovation (G) 7.00 Cold Case (M) 8.00 Without a Trace Omnibus (M) 12.10 Breeders (16) s1ep1&2 1.10 No Offence (M) s2ep2 2.00 Judge Judy Omnibus (PG) 4.30 100 Day Renovation (G) 5.30 Don’t Tell the Bride (M) s12ep5 6.30 Elementary (M) 7.30 The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: An Inheritance to Die For (PG) A wedding goes awry when the bride’s aunt is poisoned. 9.10 Chesapeake Shores (PG) Abby takes on Wes’ fiancee as a client and is surprised by their resulting personal connection. s3ep8 10.10 Scandal Omnibus (M) 2.30am Programmes continue

UKTV SKY 007 6.35 Keeping Up Appearances (PG) s5ep10 7.05 QI Marathon (M) 8.40 Would I Lie to You? Marathon (PG) 10.15 The Bill Marathon (M) 2.25 Sanditon (PG) s1ep5 3.20 The Windsors: Inside the Royal Dynasty (PG) s1ep1 4.10 Holby City (PG) s19ep54 5.15 A Touch of Frost (M) s9ep1 6.40 Doc Martin (PG) s9ep3 7.35 Sanditon (M) Charlotte and Sidney are at loggerheads, but must work together to try and rescue Miss Lambe. s1ep6 8.30 Midsomer Murders (M) Barnaby and Troy investigate the death of a woman whose family has regained ownership of their ancestral home. s4ep1 10.25 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (M) With Rob Beckett, Alan Carr and Sarah Millican. 11.20 Who Do You Think You Are? (PG) Daniel Radcliffe. 12.20am Programmes continue

SoHo SKY 010 6.10 The Good Lord Bird (18) s1ep1 7.10 Line of Duty (16) s5ep6 8.35 Devils (16) s1ep1 9.30 Gentleman Jack (M) s1ep7 10.30 American Horror Story: 1984 (18) s9ep6 11.10 Knightfall (16) s2ep7 11.55 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (M) s7ep28 12.40 A Teacher Marathon (18) s1ep1-10 5.30 Black Narcissus (16) s1ep1&2 7.30 Black Narcissus (16) As Dilip Rai and Kanchi are discovered together, Clodagh and Ruth clash over Mr Dean. s1ep3 8.30 Ray Donovan (18) Ray decides to stay on Staten Island, Mickey is rushed to hospital from prison, and Anita Novak asks for Ray’s help. s6ep1 9.30 Yellowstone (16) The Duttons deal with potential repercussions of the shootout, John calls in a favour and collects on some old debts, and Jamie meets with the governor to do damage control. s1ep2 10.30 Shameless (18) In her rush to get out of the house, Debbie loses track of Franny. s11ep3 11.30 A Million Little Things (M) s1ep12 12.15am Programmes continue

Living SKY 017 6.00 Love It or List It Australia (PG) 6.50 Grand Designs Australia (PG) 7.40 Great Asian Railway Journeys (PG) 8.45 Gardening Australia (PG) 9.50 Escape to the Country (PG) 11.30 Salvage Hunters (PG) 1.15 Long Lost Family UK (G) 2.05 Escape to the Chateau (PG) 3.00 Great Continental Railway Journeys (PG) 5.20 Great Asian Railway Journeys (PG) 7.30 Great British Railway Journeys (PG) Sheffield to Nantwich: Michael Portillo discovers a beautifully preserved early 20th-century steam engine. 8.05 Great British Railway Journeys (PG) Liverpool to Dolgarrog: On the outskirts of Liverpool, Michael discovers a childhood favourite made by Frank Hornby. 8.40 David Jason: Planes, Trains and Automobiles (PG) David flies into the heart of a volcano, gets a surprise in a drag-racing car, and takes to the skies in a vintage World War II plane. 9.30 Gardening Australia (PG) Josh meets a composting entrepreneur, Jerry visits an aroid addict, and Jane celebrates Botanic Gardens Day. 10.35 Love Your Garden (PG) 11.30 Escape to the Chateau (PG) 12.25am Programmes continue

Food Network SKY 018 6.00 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 6.50 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 7.15 Wedding Cake

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

Championship (PG) 8.05 Restaurant: Impossible (PG) 9.00 The Pioneer Woman (PG) 9.50 Girl Meets Farm (PG) 10.40 Restaurant: Impossible (PG) 11.30 Chopped Junior (PG) 12.20 Kids Baking Championship (PG) 1.10 Mystery Diners (PG) 2.00 Girl Meets Farm Marathon (PG) 4.30 Sweet Genius (PG) 5.20 Ridiculous Cakes (PG) 6.10 Ace of Cakes (PG) 7.05 Nigella: At My Table (PG) 7.40 Beat Bobby Flay (PG) 8.30 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 8.55 Burgers, Brew & ’Que (PG) 9.20 The Great Food Truck Race (PG) 10.15 Masterchef UK (PG) 11.20 Iron Chef America (PG) 12.10am Programmes continue

Sky Arts SKY 020 6.30 ■ Miguelito (2019 G) 8.00 ■ Keepers of the Magic (2016, G) 9.30 Making Child Prodigies 10.00 Finding Your Roots 11.00 Grayson’s Art Club Noon The Directors 12.45 Rough Draft with Reza Aslan 1.30 Off Camera 2.30 ■ Miguelito (2019 G) 4.00 ■ The Grateful Dead Movie (1977, G) 6.10 The Art Mysteries 6.40 ■ Bob Dylan: The Other Side of the Mirror (2007, G) Documentary about Bob Dylan’s appearances at the Newport Folk Festival from 1963-65. 8.00 Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly (G) Documentary about Ai Weiwei’s art project on Alcatraz while he was under house arrest in Beijing. 9.20 Anne Clark: I’ll Walk Out into Tomorrow 10.40 ■ China Love (2018, G) 12.00am Programmes continue

Discovery SKY 070 6.35 How It’s Made (PG) 7.30 Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail (PG) 8.20 Outback Opal Hunters Marathon (PG) 12.30 Barnwood Builders (PG) 1.20 100 Days Wild (M) 2.10 Homestead Rescue (PG) 3.00 Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail (PG) 3.50 What on Earth? Marathon (PG) 6.35 Demolition Down Under (PG) 7.30 Pool Kings (PG) 8.30 Man Caves (PG) 9.25 Dodgeball Thunderdome (PG) 10.15 The Day I Ran China (PG) 11.05 Expedition Unknown (PG) 11.55 How It’s Made (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

National Geographic SKY 072 6.30 Explorer (M) 8.30 Science of Stupid Marathon (M) 10.30 Mega Food 12.30 OJ Simpson: Made in America Marathon (16) Five-part documentary series about football player OJ Simpson, his career, celebrity and trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. 10.30 Area 51: UFOs Declassified (PG) 11.30 Decades Remixed: The 90s Greatest (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

History SKY 073 6.30 Prince Philip: The Plot to Make a King (PG) 7.30 Coast Australia (PG) 8.30 Time Team 9.30 Plane Resurrection (PG) 10.30 Abandoned Engineering (PG) 11.30 The Men Who Built America (M) 12.30 The Apollo Experience: Apollo 17 (PG) 1.30 Prince Philip: The Plot to Make a King (PG) 2.30 Coast Australia (PG) 3.30 Greatest Escapes of History (PG) 4.00 The Conspiracy Show (PG) 4.30 The Civil War by Ken Burns 5.30 Sitting Bull and the Great Sioux Nation (PG) 6.30 Coast Australia (PG) 7.30 Coast New Zealand (PG) 8.30 America: Our Defining Hours (PG) 10.30 The Dark Ages: An Age of Light 11.30 The Trump Dynasty (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

BBC Earth SKY 074 6.00 Life Below Zero Marathon (M) 8.20 24 Hours in A&E (M) 10.05 8 Days: To the Moon & Back (PG) 11.45 Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities (PG) 12.10 Wild Arabia (PG) 2.15 Wild France (PG) 3.10 Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities (PG) 3.35 Simon Reeve’s Sacred Rivers (PG) 4.40 Life Story (PG) 6.30 Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild (PG) 7.30 Supercharged Otters (PG) 8.30 Madagascar (PG) 9.25 Madagascar: The Making of (PG) 9.35 Madagascar (PG) 10.30 Madagascar: The Making of (PG) 10.40 Africa (PG) 11.35 Africa: The Making of (PG) 11.45 Dynasties (PG) 12.35am Programmes continue

History: Sitting Bull and the Great Sioux Nation, 5.30pm

SKY SPORT Sky Sport 1 SKY 051 6.25 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Leinster v Montpellier, live 8.30 Rugby Pass Legends: Drew Mitchell 8.55 Heineken Champions Cup, Sale Sharks v Toulon, from AJ Bell Stadium, Barton-upon-Irwell, live 11.00 Heineken Champions Cup, Bath v La Rochelle, replay 1.00 The Conversation: Chiefs’ coach Clayton McMillan 1.30 Heineken Champions Cup, Sale Sharks v Toulon, replay 3.30 Currie Cup, semi-final 1, highlights 4.00 Currie Cup, semi-final 2, highlights 4.30 Rugby Pass Legends: Drew Mitchell 4.55 Heineken Champions Cup, highlights 5.55 Japan Top League, Wild Knights v Kobelco Steelers, from Yanmar Stadium Nagai, Osaka, live 8.00 30 for 30: Be Water: Documentary about martial arts trailblazer Bruce Lee 10.00 Japan Top League, Wild Knights v Kobelco Steelers, replay 12.00am Heineken Champions Cup, Sale Sharks v Toulon, replay 1.55 Heineken Champions Cup, Scarlets v Bath, from Parc y Scarlets, Llanelli, live 4.10 Heineken Champions Cup, Clermont v Bristol Bears, from Stade Marcel Michelin, Clermont-Ferrand, live

Sky Sport 2 SKY 052 6.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Hobart Hurricanes v Perth Scorchers 6.30 Big Bash League, Sydney Sixers v Sydney Thunder 10.00 Australia Women v India Women, ODI 5.00 Big Bash League, Hobart Hurricanes v Perth Scorchers 5.30 Big Bash League, Sydney Sixers v Sydney Thunder 6.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Brisbane Heat, from Marvel Stadium, Melbourne, live 9.10 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Perth Scorchers, from the MCG, Melbourne, live 1.00am Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Brisbane Heat, replay 4.30 Australia v India, 4th test wrap-up

Sky Sport 3 SKY 053 6.00 Tennis, 2018 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Caroline Wozniacki v Simona Halep 6.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 2, r16 7.30 BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 3, quarter-finals 8.30 2018 Australian Open, mixed doubles final 10.00 2018 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Caroline Wozniacki v Simona Halep 12.30 BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 3, quarterfinals 1.30 2018 Australian Open, women’s singles semi-final, Simona Halep v Angelique Kerber 2.00 2018 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Caroline Wozniacki v Simona Halep 2.30 2018 Australian Open, mixed doubles final 4.00 BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 3, quarter-finals 5.00 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 4, semi-finals, live 3.00am 2017 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Serena Williams v Venus Williams 5.30 2013 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Victoria Azarenka v Li Na

73

SUNDAY JANUARY 24

TODAY'S PICKS

All aboard: THE NOLANS GO CRUISING Clearly there are still some cruise ships on the water, despite the pandemic. This eight-part series was ﬁlmed in early 2020 and Ireland’s First Family of Music set out from Genoa in Northern Italy, visiting Palermo, Marseille, Civitavecchia and Barcelona. Naturally, it all ends with a performance of their biggest hit, I’m in the Mood for Dancing. The four Nolan sisters, Coleen, Anne, Maureen and Linda, are great talkers and they also discuss their sister Bernie, who died in 2013. LIVING, 7.35pm

Otterly amazing: SUPERCHARGED OTTERS Charlie Hamilton James is an otter fanatic, apparently, although why the otters in this special, ﬁlmed in Florida, are “supercharged” is unclear. Nevertheless, expect maximum cuteness – and some ferocious defence of their territory – as Hamilton James follows three orphans as they grow up in a sanctuary. The use of heat cameras and super slo-mo reveals their impressive physiology, from swimming “goggles” to incredible fur insulation. A “mood-improving doc”, according to the Guardian. BBC EARTH, 5.45pm

TVNZ 1 FREEVIEW 1 SKY 001

TVNZ 2 FREEVIEW 2 SKY 002

THREE FREEVIEW 3 SKY 003

6.00 Karena & Kasey’s Kitchen Diplomacy (G, R, HD, C, AD) Karena and Kasey find a foodie paradise in Taiwanese capital Taipei. 6.25 Building Giants (G, R, HD, C) 7.15 Tagata Pasifika 7.40 Praise Be (G, R, HD) 8.15 The Living Room (G, R, HD, C) Australian lifestyle show. 9.05 ■ Meat the Family (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) s1ep3 10.00 Indigenous 100 (PGR, C, AD) Julian Wilcox meets indigenous leaders from around the world. 10.30 Waka Huia (G, HD) 11.00 Super Smash Cricket (HD, C) Live coverage of Wellington Blaze v Otago Sparks, from the Basin Reserve, Wellington. 2.00 Big Race Day (HD, C) Toni Street and Scotty Stevenson preview today’s Prada Cup race from Viaduct Harbour, Auckland. 3.00 America’s Cup: Prada Cup (C) Live coverage of the Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series from the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland. The series will determine which of the Challenger teams will take on Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th America’s Cup in March. 5.00 The Chase (G, HD, C) Bradley Walsh hosts a UK quiz show. 6.00 1 News (HD, C) 7.00 A Perfect Planet (G, HD, C, AD) Sir David Attenborough narrates a series about the forces of nature that support, drive and enable life on Earth. Tonight, weather. 8.10 The Celebrity Chase (G, HD, C) Bradley Walsh presents a charity edition of the UK game show in which wellknown Brits take on the Chasers for cash. 9.15 Life (AO, HD, C, AD) UK drama series about the residents of a Manchester house split into four flats. Tonight, David investigates Kelly’s past, Hannah is drawn to Andy, and Gail confronts Henry. s1ep3 10.30 Surviving Jeffrey Epstein (AO, HD, C, AD) US documentary series. Over the course of three decades, Epstein’s sex trafficking operation became a welloiled machine. s1ep3 11.35 Prada America’s Cup Highlights (C) The latest action from the Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series in the Hauraki Gulf. 12.05am Manhunt: Catch Me If You Can (AO, R, HD, C, AD) UK crime series. 1.05 – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 Blaze and the Monster Machines (G, R, HD, C) 6.20 Takaro Tribe (G, R, C, AD) 6.30 Ducktales (G, R, HD, C, AD) 6.55 Powerpuff Girls (G, R, HD, C) 7.05 My Little Pony (G, R, HD, C) 7.25 Bunnicula (G, R, HD, C) 7.50 ■ The Bureau of Magical Things (G, R, HD, C) 9.55 Shortland Street Omnibus (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) Noon ■ Love on the Slopes (2018, G, R, HD, C, AD) A timid aspiring travel writer tries out extreme sports with the help of an extreme sports photographer. Katrina Bowden, Thomas Beaudoin. 1.40 ■ Superman Returns (2006, PGR, R, HD, C, AD) Superman arrives back on Earth to find that Lois Lane has moved on and Lex Luthor has stolen krypton from the Fortress of Solitude. Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, James Marsden, Frank Langella. 4.40 Bob Hearts Abishola (G, C) s1ep20 5.05 The Simpsons (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) s30ep18 6.05 The Cube (G, HD, C) Phillip Schofield presents a UK game show in which contestants undergo physical and mental challenges inside a giant clear cube. 7.05 ■ Coco (2017, PGR, R, HD, C, AD) A youngster whose family has banned music enters the Land of the Dead to find his great-greatgrandfather, a legendary singer. Voices of Anthony Gonzalez, Gael García Bernal, Benjamin Bratt, Alanna Ubach, Renée Victor, Edward James Olmos. TV Films, page 70 9.00 ■ Wrath of the Titans (2012, C, AD) Demigod Perseus must rescue his father, Zeus, who is being held captive by Ares and Hades, but he must defeat not only his brother and uncle, but also the Titans. Sam Worthington, Rosamund Pike, Bill Nighy, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Édgar Ramírez, Toby Kebbell. 11.00 ■ The Conjuring 2 (2016, AO, R, HD, C, AD) Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to the UK to help a single mother raising four children alone in a house plagued by a supernatural spirit. Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Frances O’Connor, Madison Wolfe. 1.35am Last Dad Standing (G, R, HD, C) 2.00 My Wife and Kids (G, R, HD, C) s4ep24 4.00 Infomercials 4.30 Religious Programming 5.00 – 6.00 Infomercials

Life TV (G) Brian Houston (G) Charles Stanley (G) Life TV repeat (R, G) Turning Point (G) R & R with Eru & K’Lee (R, HD) s1ep20 9.25 Better Homes and Gardens (G, R, HD) s24ep23 10.40 The Ultimate Rush (G, HD) s2ep5 11.05 ■ Nile: The Ultimate River (G, HD, C) s1ep1&2 1.00 CRC Motorsport 1.01 SsangYong Racing Utes (G, HD) Rounds 1 and 2. 2.00 FIM Speedway Grand Prix (HD) Round 4. 3.00 Suzuki Summer Series (HD) Round 3. 4.00 Western Springs Speedway (HD) 5.00 The ITM Fishing Show Classics (PGR, R, HD, C) 5.30 Fish of the Day (G, R, HD, C) s3ep6 6.00 Newshub Live (HD) 7.00 The Block Australia (PGR, HD, C, another episode screens tomorrow) The front gardens are judged. s16ep40 8.35 ■ Passengers (2016, AO, R, HD, C) On a 120-year journey to a new planet, two passengers are awoken early. Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Pratt, Michael Sheen. TV Films, page 70 10.50 The Rookie (AO, R, HD, C) Jessica has some surprising news for John. s2ep7 11.45 Hawaii Five-0 (AO, R, HD, C) s8ep25 12.45am – 6.00 Infomercials

■ NEW ■ RETURN ■ FINAL ■ FILM

74

6.00 6.30 7.00 8.00 8.30 9.00

PRIME FREEVIEW 10 SKY 004 Religious Programming (G) Believe It or Not (G) Religious Programming (G) 100 Day Renovation (G, R, C) NXT (PGR, R) Traffic Cops (PGR, R, C) World’s Wildest Flights (PGR, R, C) 2.00 UFC 257 Prelims Live 4.00 Call the Cleaners (PGR, R, C) 4.30 The New Sound of Country (G, R, C) 5.30 Prime News 6.00 The Great Escapers (G, R) 7.00 Pawn Stars (PGR) 7.30 ■ Outback Truckers (PGR, C) 8.30 ■ Massive Engineering Mistakes (PGR, R) A once thriving mining town in Oklahoma has been made uninhabitable by a string of engineering errors. 9.30 MacGyver (AO, C) As Mexico celebrates Dia de Muertos, Mac and Jack are there to capture the leader of a drug cartel. 10.30 SmackDown (PGR) 11.30 – 12.40am Ambulance (AO, R, C) 6.00 6.30 7.30 10.00 11.00 Noon 1.00

C Captions AD Audio Description HD High Definition LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

SUNDAY JANUARY 24

MĀORI TV FREEVIEW 5 SKY 019 Kids’ Programmes (G) Whānau Living (G, R) Hahana (G, R) My Party Song (G, R) Ride or Die (G) Taringa (G, R) Life of Kai (G, R) Funny Whare: Gamesnight (PGR, R) 1.00 2019 Bunnings Junior National Touch Championship (G, R) 1.50 ■ Lassie (1994, G) Helen Slater, Tom Guiry. 3.30 Pio Terei Tonight (PGR, R) 4.30 It’s in the Bag (G, R) 5.00 Te Ao Toa (R) 6.00 Waka Huia (G) 6.30 He Aha to Say? (G, R) Naatis share their aspirations for the future, and the ultimate Ngāti Porou song of all 7.30 Sunday Documentary: Power Meri (G, R) Documentary following the Papua New Guinea women’s rugby league team as they prepare for their first world cup. 8.30 ■ Ága (2018, PGR) After his wife passes away, a hunter sets out to find the daughter who ran away long ago. Mikhail Aprosimov, Feodosia Ivanova. 10.20 Ngā Pari Kārangaranga o te Motu (G, R) A Tatou Kōrero Hoki Ra. 10.50 – 11.20 Te Matatini ki te Ao 2019 (G, R)

Housing crisis: THE LAST BLACK MAN IN SAN FRANCISCO

6.30 9.00 9.30 10.00 10.30 11.00 Noon 12.30

A love letter to a bohemian San Francisco that is all but gone thanks to gentriﬁcation. The ﬁlm is partly based on lead Jimmie Fails’ own experience. Various doyens appear: watch out for Jello Biafra on a Segway. SKY MOVIES EXTRA, 8.30pm

BRAVO FREEVIEW 4 SKY 012

CHOICE TV FREEVIEW 12 SKY 024 TVNZ DUKE FREEVIEW 13 SKY 023

6.00 9.10 10.50 11.40

The Profit (G, R) Flipping Out (PGR, R) Botched (R) s1ep6 Say Yes to the Dress Atlanta (PGR, R) 12.25 Dress to Impress (G, R) 1.20 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 3.10 I Found the Gown (G, R) 5.05 The People’s Court (G, R) 6.00 Undercover Boss (G, R, C) 7.00 ■ Patch Adams (1998, PGR, R, C) Based on the story of the doctor who thought that laughter is the best medicine. Robin Williams. 9.25 ■ Failure to Launch (2006, AO, R, C) The parents of a 35-year-old hire an expert to induce him to leave home. Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker. 11.30 The Real Housewives of Cheshire (AO) Dawn is furious with Leilani, and Ester prepares for her dream photo shoot. 12.25am – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 6.30 7.00 7.30 8.00 8.30

My Floating Home (G) Through the Bible Leading the Way Key of David The Kindness Diaries (G) Help! My House Is Falling Down (G) 9.30 Road to Riches (G) 10.30 Antiques Roadshow (G) 11.30 Big Dreams, Small Spaces (G) 12.30 How Do Animals Do That? (G) 1.30 Irish Pickers (G) 2.30 Yukon Gold (PGR) 3.30 Project Grizzly (G) 4.30 Choccywoccydoodah (G) 5.00 Food Safari: Water (G) 5.30 Hidden Britain by Drone (G) 6.30 Antiques Roadshow (G) 7.30 Forged in Fire: Beat the Judges (PGR) 8.30 People Magazine Investigates (AO) 9.30 Killing Fields (AO) 10.30 Antiques Roadshow (G) 11.30 Forged in Fire (PGR) 12.30am Programmes continue

7.35

SKY PREMIERE SKY 030

MOVIES EXTRA SKY 031

MOVIESVINTAGE SKY 035

RIALTO SKY 039

I Still Believe (2020, PG) KJ Apa, Britt Robertson 8.50 Killers Anonymous (2019, 16) Gary Oldman, Jessica Alba 10.25 Terminator: Dark Fate (2019, 16) Linda Hamilton 12.35 Motherless Brooklyn (2019, 16) Edward Norton 2.55 Lucky Day (2019, 16) Luke Bracey, Nina Dobrev 4.35 Joker (2019, 16) Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro 6.35 Men in Black: International (2019, M) Chris Hemsworth 8.30 Survive the Night (2019, 16) A disgraced doctor and his family are held hostage in their home by a wounded gunman and his unhinged brother. Bruce Willis, Chad Michael Murray, Shea Buckner, Lydia Hull 10.05 Stockholm (2019, M) Based on the story of the 1973 bank heist that gave rise to the term Stockholm Syndrome. Ethan Hawke, Noomi Rapace 11.35 Papillon (2019, 16) Charlie Hunnam, Rami Malek 1.45am Domino (2019, 18) 3.15 Lucky Day (2019, 16) 4.55 Elvis Goes There: Guillermo Del Toro (2019, M) 5.49 Joker (2019, 16)

6.14

Teen Spirit (2019, PG) Elle Fanning, Zlatko Buric 7.48 State Like Sleep (2018, 16) Katherine Waterson 9.30 Capone (2020, 18) Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini 11.15 The Mad Whale (2017, 16) Camilla Belle, James Franco 1.00 Finding Steve McQueen (2018, M) Travis Fimmel 2.30 The Amaranth (2018, M) Melora Walters 4.00 Gangster No. 1: The Freddie Foreman Story (2018, 16) Documentary. 5.35 An Affair to Die For (2018, 16) Claire Forlani, Jake Abel 7.00 Fixed (2019, M) Andy Comeau 8.30 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019, M) A young man dreams of reclaiming the beautiful home his grandfather built in the heart of San Francisco. Jimmie Fails, Danny Glover 10.35 Black Christmas (2019, M) Imogen Poots, Cary Elwes 12.10am The Turning (2020, 16) 1.45 The Amaranth (2018, M) 3.11 Christmas on the Bayou (2013, PG) 4.36 Gangster No. 1: The Freddie Foreman Story (2018, 16)

7.05

Kings Go Forth (1958, PG) Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis 8.55 The Defiant Ones (1958, PG) Sidney Poitier, Tony Curtis 10.30 The Haunted Palace (1963, 16) Vincent Price 11.55 Kings Go Forth (1958, PG) Frank Sinatra, Tony Curtis 1.45 The Pink Panther (1964, PG) Peter Sellers, David Niven 3.40 The Defiant Ones (1958, PG) Sidney Poitier, Tony Curtis 5.15 A Hard Day’s Night (1964, PG) The Beatles 6.40 The Desperate Hours (1955, PG) Humphrey Bogart 8.30 Paths of Glory (1957, PG) During World War I, an officer defends a regiment of French soldiers who refused to continue a suicidal attack. Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker 10.00 We’re No Angels (1955, PG) Three escaped convicts hide out in the house of a merchant. Humphrey Bogart, Peter Ustinov 11.50 The Desperate Hours (1955, PG) Humphrey Bogart 1.45am A Hard Day’s Night (1964, PG) 3.15 We’re No Angels (1955, PG) 5.05 The Desperate Hours (1955, PG)

7.30

6.55

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

Black Clash Replay (C) From Hagley Oval, Christchurch. 11.10 Big Race Day Replay (HD, C) Noon Prada Cup Round Robin Replay (C) 2.00 DUKEbox Music 2.30 Live: Cricket Super Smash (HD) Wellington Firebirds v Otago Volts. 6.00 Dog Squad NZ (G, HD, C, AD) 6.30 Motorway Patrol NZ (G, C) 7.00 Family Guy (PGR, HD, C) s10ep3 7.30 The Simpsons (G, HD, C) s9ep1 8.30 Taskmaster UK (AO, HD, C) 9.30 ■ True Lies (1994, AO, HD, C, AD) At the same time that he is dealing with terrorists, an agent suspects his wife is having an affair. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jamie Lee Curtis. 12.10am Supercar Customiser (G, HD) 12.35 – 1.35 Late Night DUKEbox Music

Murdered for Being Different (2017, 16) Abigail Lawrie 8.35 Mean Dreams (2016, 16) Bill Paxton 10.20 Hunters Marathon (M) s1ep1-6 3.20 Toxic Beauty (2018, M) Canadian documentary. 4.55 Hot Air (2018, M) Steve Coogan 6.40 Driven (2018, M) An FBI informant lures troubled car magante John DeLorean into an undercover sting. Jason Sudeikis, Lee Pace 8.30 Rialto British: Killed by My Debt (2018, 16) Based on the story of a 20-year-old whose job paid so little he was unable to afford two traffic fines. Chance Perdomo 9.30 Harmonium (2016, M) After Toshio hires Yasaka in his workshop, Yasaka begins to meddle in Toshio’s family life. Tadanobu Asano 11.30 Judy & Punch (2019, 16) Mia Wasikowska 1.15am The Nightingale (2018, 18) 3.30 Women’s Adventure Film Tour (2019, G) 3.55 Toxic Beauty (2018, M) 5.30 Hot Air (2018, M)

75

SUNDAY JANUARY 24

SKY CHANNELS Vibe SKY 006 6.30 Don’t Tell the Bride (M) s12ep5 7.20 Elementary (M) 8.05 Judge Judy Omnibus (PG) 9.55 Scandal Omnibus (M) 2.05 Chesapeake Shores (PG) s3ep8 2.50 The Aurora Teagarden Mysteries: An Inheritance to Die For (PG) 4.15 The Story of the Royals (PG) s1ep1 5.40 Prince Charles: Inside the Duchy of Cornwall (PG) s1ep1 6.30 Born This Way (M) s3ep7 7.30 Honey Wars (PG) MPI announces a new definition for mānuka honey that could have a catastrophic effect on Rob and Lon’s business. s1ep3&4 8.30 Ambulance (16) Joe faces his first unsupervised shift answering 999 calls. s4ep4 9.30 Hinterland (M) The body of a curator discovered in a shallow woodland grave leads Mathias into the seedy history of a local artist. s3ep2 11.15 Prince Charles: Inside the Duchy of Cornwall (PG) s1ep1 12.15am Programmes continue

UKTV SKY 007 6.00 QI (M) 6.30 Hypothetical (M) s1ep8 7.15 Holby City (PG) s19ep54 8.15 EastEnders Marathon (PG) 10.15 Heartbeat (M) s18ep22 11.05 The Graham Norton Show (PG) s24ep2 11.55 The Windsors: Inside the Royal Dynasty (PG) s1ep2 12.40 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (M) 1.30 Midsomer Murders (M) s4ep1 3.20 Honour (M) s1ep1 4.15 Death in Paradise (M) s3ep2 5.15 Heartbeat (M) s18ep22 6.10 Would I Lie to You? (PG) 6.45 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (M) 7.40 The Windsors: Inside the Royal Dynasty (PG) s1ep2 8.30 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (PG) Regina King uncovers an ancestor who was a passionate civil rights activist in Alabama. 9.15 A Touch of Frost (16) A handyman is arrested for the murder of a couple, but Frost has his doubts. s9ep2 10.40 Honour (M) s1ep1 11.35 Sanditon (M) s1ep6 12.25am Programmes continue

SoHo SKY 010 6.00 A Teacher Marathon (18) s1ep8-10 7.30 Black Narcissus Marathon (16) s1ep1-3 10.30 Ray Donovan (18) s6ep1 11.30 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (M) s7ep1 Noon Yellowstone (16) s1ep2 1.00 Shameless (18) s11ep3 2.00 A Million Little Things (M) s1ep12 2.45 Ray Donovan (18) s6ep1 3.45 Yellowstone (16) s1ep2 4.45 Shameless (18) s11ep3 5.45 A Million Little Things (M) s1ep12 6.30 Your Honor (16) 7.30 Jett (16) Bennie keeps close company with an unhinged Rosalie, and Jett faces a major detour on her latest job. s1ep7 8.30 A Million Little Things (M) s3ep5 9.30 A Discovery of Witches (M) Domenico finds a brutalised body in Oxford and suspects a mysterious affliction has returned, and in 1590, Diana and Matthew get a clue to the whereabouts of the Book of Life. s2ep3 10.30 Real Time with Bill Maher s19ep2 11.30 Billions (18) s4ep11 12.30am Programmes continue

Living SKY 017 6.00 Salvage Hunters (PG) 6.50 Location Location Location (PG) 7.45 Love Your Garden (PG) 8.35 Gardening Australia (PG) 9.40 Martin Clunes Islands of America (PG) 10.30 Salvage Hunters (PG) 11.20 Great British Railway Journeys (PG) 11.55 Love Your Garden (PG) 12.50 Back in Time for Dinner (PG) 3.00 Great Continental Railway Journeys (PG) 5.20 Great Asian Railway Journeys (PG) 7.35 The Nolans Go Cruising (PG) 8.30 Salvage Hunters: The Restorers (PG) Fine art sculptor Nick uses a drill to restore a 19th-century urn. 9.25 Long Lost Family (G) A woman searches for her Caribbean father. 10.20 Back in Time for Dinner (PG) The 1960s. 11.30 Great Continental Railway Journeys (PG) 12.40am Programmes continue

Food Network SKY 018 6.00 Beat Bobby Flay (PG) 6.25 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 6.50 Burgers, Brew & ’Que (PG) 7.15 The Great Food Truck Race (PG)

76

8.10 Ridiculous Cakes (PG) 9.00 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 9.50 The Pioneer Woman (PG) 10.40 Sweet Genius (PG) 11.30 Ridiculous Cakes (PG) 12.20 Restaurant: Impossible Marathon (PG) 3.00 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 3.25 Burgers, Brew & ’Que (PG) 3.50 The Great Food Truck Race (PG) 4.45 Chopped Junior (PG) 5.35 Kids Baking Championship (PG) 6.25 The Great Food Truck Race (PG) 7.15 The Pioneer Woman (PG) 7.40 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 8.35 Bake You Rich (PG) 9.25 Kitchen Takeover (PG) 10.25 Restaurant: Impossible (PG) 11.20 Kids Baking Championship (PG) 12.10am Programmes continue

Sky Arts SKY 020 6.40 China Love 8.00 Falstaff (G) Opera recorded in the Teatro Real in 2019. 10.10 The Art Mysteries 10.40 ■ Bob Dylan: The Other Side of the Mirror (2007, G) Noon Ai Weiwei: Yours Truly 1.20 Anne Clark: I’ll Walk Out into Tomorrow 2.40 ■ China Love (2018, G) Documentary about China’s wedding industry. 4.00 Grafenegg: Midsummer Night’s Gala 2018 5.15 ■ Pet Shop Boys: Inner Sanctum (2019, G) Concert footage recorded at the Royal Opera House in London in 2018. 7.00 Other Voices 8.00 Speakeasy 10.00 Rock Legends Marathon 11.30 Art in Paradise 12.00am Programmes continue

Discovery SKY 070 6.35 How Do They Do It? (PG) 7.30 Aussie Gold Hunters (PG) 8.20 Dodgeball Thunderdome (PG) 9.10 Lost Secrets (PG) 10.00 Barnwood Builders (PG) 10.50 100 Days Wild (M) 11.40 Homestead Rescue (PG) 12.30 Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail (PG) 1.20 Demolition Down Under (PG) 2.10 Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail Marathon (PG) 8.30 Dodgeball Thunderdome (PG) 9.25 Kiwi Survival (PG) 10.15 Demolition Down Under (PG) 11.05 Lost Secrets (PG) 11.55 How It’s Made (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

National Geographic SKY 072 6.00 Decades Remixed: The 90s Greatest (PG) 6.30 Wicked Tuna: North vs South (PG) 8.30 Gordon Ramsay: Uncharted (PG) 10.30 Mine Kings (M) 12.30 Storm Squad (M) 1.30 Inside America’s Secret Missions (PG) 2.30 America’s Deadliest Volcano Disaster (PG) 3.30 Bin Laden’s Hard Drive (16) 4.30 Air Crash Investigation (M) 6.30 Air Crash Investigation: Special Report (M) 7.30 Area 51: UFOs Declassified (PG) 8.30 India from Above (PG) 10.30 Inside (M) 11.30 Superstructures: Engineering Marvels (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

History SKY 073 7.30 The Dark Ages: An Age of Light 8.30 Time Team 9.30 Coast New Zealand (PG) 10.30 America: Our Defining Hours (PG) 12.30 The Dark Ages: An Age of Light 1.30 The Trump Dynasty (PG) 2.30 Grant (16) 4.30 Coast Australia (PG) 5.30 Josip Broz Tito (PG) 6.30 Britain’s Bloodiest Dynasty (M) 7.30 The Story of Europe (M) 8.30 Coast Australia (PG) 9.30 The Vatican & the Third Reich (M) 10.30 Narrow Escapes of World War II (PG) 11.30 A Century of Film (16) 12.30am Programmes continue

BBC Earth SKY 074 6.00 Attenborough: 60 Years in the Wild (PG) 6.55 Frozen Planet (PG) 7.45 Madagascar (PG) 8.40 Embarrassing Bodies Down Under (M) 9.35 Spy in the Wild: Meet the Spies (PG) 10.35 Spy in the Snow (PG) 11.35 Russia with Simon Reeve (PG) 12.40 The Dog Rescuers with Alan Davies (M) 1.25 The Dog Rescuers with Alan Davies (PG) 2.15 24 Hours in A&E (PG) 3.55 Extreme Weather: The Survivors (M) 5.45 Supercharged Otters (PG) 6.45 Life Below Zero (16) 7.40 The Dog Rescuers with Alan Davies (PG) 8.30 Attenborough: Wonder of Eggs (PG) 9.35 Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities (PG) 10.25 Madagascar: The Making of (PG) 10.35 Embarrassing Bodies Down Under (M) 11.30 Spy in the Wild: Meet the Spies (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

SoHo: Jett, 7.30pm

SKY SPORT Sky Sport 1 SKY 051 6.25 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, La Rochelle v Edinburgh, live 8.30 Rugby Pass Legends: Dan Carter 8.55 Heineken Champions Cup, Wasps v Dragons, live 11.00 Heineken Champions Cup, Scarlets v Bath, replay 1.00 Currie Cup, final, replay 3.00 Heineken Champions Cup, highlights 3.30 Heineken Champions Cup, Bordeaux Bègles v Northampton Saints, replay 5.30 Currie Cup, final, highlights 5.55 Japan Top League, Suntory Sungoliath v Kubota Spears, from Komazawa Olympic Park, Tokyo, live 8.00 30 for 30: Chasing Tyson: Documentary about Evander Holyfield’s rivally with Mike Tyson 9.30 Currie Cup, final, replay 11.30 Japan Top League, Suntory Sungoliath v Kubota Spears, replay 1.30am Rugby Pass Legends: Alan Whetton 1.55 Heineken Champions Cup, Gloucester v Lyon, live 4.10 Heineken Champions Cup, Toulouse v Ulster, live

Sky Sport 2 SKY 052 7.00 Australia Women v India Women, ODI, highlights 8.00 Walkabout Wickets: Documentary about Australian Indigenous cricket teams’ 2018 tour of the UK 9.00 Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Brisbane Heat, replay 12.30 Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Perth Scorchers, replay 4.00 Australia Women v India Women, ODI 5.00 Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Brisbane Heat 5.30 Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Perth Scorchers 6.00 Big Bash League, Sydney Thunder v Adelaide Strikers, live 9.10 Big Bash League, Sydney Sixers v Hobart Hurricanes, from the SCG, Sydney, live 1.00am Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Perth Scorchers 1.30 South Africa Women v Pakistan Women, 1st ODI

Sky Sport 3 SKY 053 6.00 Tennis, 2015 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Serena Williams v Maria Sharapova 6.30 2016 Australian Open, men’s singles final, Novak Djokovic v Andy Murray 9.15 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 4, semi-finals 10.15 2017 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Serena Williams v Venus Williams 12.45 2017 Australian Open, men’s singles final, Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal 4.30 2016 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Serena Williams v Angelique Kerber 5.00 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 4, semi-finals 6.00 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 5, finals, live 11.00 2016 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Serena Williams v Angelique Kerber 1.30am 2017 Australian Open, men’s singles final, Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal 5.15 2016 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Serena Williams v Angelique Kerber 5.45 2017 Australian Open, men’s singles final, Roger Federer v Rafael Nadal

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

MONDAY JANUARY 25

WELLINGTON ANNIVERSARY

TVNZ 1 FREEVIEW 1 SKY 001

TVNZ 2 FREEVIEW 2 SKY 002

THREE FREEVIEW 3 SKY 003

6.00 Breakfast (HD, C) John Campbell and Jenny-May Clarkson present news, interviews, information and weather. 9.00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show (PGR, C) 10.00 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? UK (G, R, HD, C) 11.00 The Chase (G, R, HD, C) Noon 1 News (HD, C) 12.30 Emmerdale (PGR, HD, C) Aaron overhears Paddy’s plan, Manpreet is baffled, and Dawn is in danger. 1.30 The Extreme Cake Makers (G, R, HD, C) A couple hope to scale new heights with their 1.5m-long cake designed to look like a leaping fish. 2.00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show (PGR, R, C) 3.00 Tipping Point (G, R, HD, C) Ben Shephard hosts a UK quiz show. 4.00 Te Karere (HD) A Māori perspective on the day’s news and current affairs. 4.30 Embarrassing Pets (G, R, HD, C) Dog behaviourist Leon is tasked with taming unruly jug pups. 5.00 The Chase (G, HD, C) Bradley Walsh hosts a UK quiz show. 6.00 1 News (HD, C) 7.00 The Repair Shop (G, HD, C) UK series in which expert craftspeople restore treasured items. 7.30 The Check Up (PGR, HD, C, AD) Local series that investigates health claims, myths and misconceptions. Tonight, fasting, shoe safety, phobias, type 1 diabetes, and contagious yawning. s2ep3 8.00 Border Security (G, HD, C) Series following Australian Customs and border protection officers. 8.30 Top Gear (AO, HD, C) The team head to Cyprus on a budget rental car adventure, where they try out the exciting new sport of car waterskiing, and Chris and Paddy sample the latest family cars from Audi and Lamborghini. 9.45 The Apprentice UK (PGR, HD, C, AD) The contestants are challenged to cash in on the Christmas market with chocolate. s14ep10 11.00 1 News Tonight (HD, C) 11.25 Prodigal Son (AO, R, HD, C, AD) A homicide in an apartment is linked to an underground sex club, and Malcolm asks Eve out on a date. s1ep9 12.25am Australian Crime Stories (G, R, HD, C, AD) s3ep2 1.10 Te Karere (R, HD) 1.35 Infomercials 5.35 – 6.00 Te Karere (R, HD)

6.00 Les Mills Born to Move (G, HD, C) 6.30 Rescue Bots Academy (G, HD, C) 6.50 Bluey (G, R, HD, C) 7.00 Masha’s Tales (G, HD, C) 7.05 Littlest Pet Shop (G, R, HD, C) 7.25 The Deep (G, R, HD, C) 7.50 Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (G, R, HD, C) 8.15 MyaGo (G, R, HD, C) 8.25 The Wiggles’ World (G, R, HD, C, AD) 8.35 Sesame Street (G, HD, C) 9.00 Infomercials 10.00 Neighbours (G, R, HD, C) 10.30 Alone Together (PGR, R, HD, C) 11.00 The Amazing Race Australia (PGR, R, HD, C) s4ep6 12.05 Selling Houses Australia (G, R, HD, C) 1.05 Judge Rinder (G, R, HD) 2.05 The Middle (G, R, HD, C) 3.05 Shortland Street (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 3.35 Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel (G, HD, C) 4.00 ■ Brain Busters (G, HD, C) 4.30 Friends (G, R, HD, C) s1ep15 5.00 The Simpsons (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) s29ep13 5.30 The Big Bang Theory (PGR, R, HD, C) s2ep4 6.00 Neighbours (G, HD, C) Jay is conflicted about his future, and will Dipi be able to accept Shane’s new relationship? 6.30 Ten 7 Summer (HD, C) Some of the biggest cases and best moments on the past season. 7.00 Shortland Street (PGR, HD, C, AD) Louis craves his freedom, and Leanne topples from on high. 7.30 Junior MasterChef Australia (G, HD, C, another episode screens tomorrow) In the mystery box challenge, the contestants are vying for a place in the semi-final by creating a sweet or savoury dish out of potatoes. s3ep10 8.40 ■ Horrible Bosses 2 (2014, AO, R, HD, C, AD) When they are stiffed on a business deal, three guys kidnap the son of a millionaire investor.Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston TV Films, page 70 10.50 Two and a Half Men (PGR, R, HD, C) s9ep16 11.45 Hell’s Kitchen (AO, HD, C) 12.45am ■ Prison Girls: Life Inside (AO, R, HD, C) s1ep1 1.35 Shortland Street (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 2.05 Infomercials 3.05 2 Overnight 4.15 The Middle (G, R, HD, C) 4.35 Neighbours (G, R, HD, C) 5.00 – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 The AM Show (HD) With Duncan Garner, Amanda Gillies and Mark Richardson. 9.00 Infomercials 10.35 Celebrity MasterChef UK (G, HD, C) s14ep6 11.10 Peter Kuruvita’s Coastal Kitchen (G, R, HD, C) s1ep2 11.40 Find Me a Dream Home Australia (G, R, HD) s1ep5 12.10 Flip Wars: Buying Blind (G, R, HD) s1ep4 1.10 ■ Love at Look Lodge (2020, PGR, HD, C) A woman who dreams of being a hotel event coordinator helps a guest with his sister’s wedding. Clark Backo, Jonathan Keltz. 3.05 Bondi Vet (G, HD, C) s7ep10 4.00 Duck Dynasty (PGR, HD, C) s8ep11 4.30 Newshub Live (HD) 5.00 Millionaire Hot Seat (G, R, HD) 6.00 Newshub Live (HD) 7.00 The Project (HD) With Kanoa Lloyd, Jesse Mulligan and Jeremy Corbett. 7.30 The Block Australia (PGR, HD, C, another episode screens tomorrow) Teams start work on the studio and garage. s16ep41 8.40 ■ A Quiet Place (2018, AO, R, HD, C) A family try to stay alive after noise-senstive aliens invade Earth. John Krasinski, Emily Blunt. TV Films, page 70 10.15 Newshub Late 10.45 The Gulf (AO, R, HD, C) s1ep2 11.50 – 6.00am Infomercials

■ NEW ■ RETURN ■ FINAL ■ FILM JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

TODAY'S PICKS

Searching for: AGATHA CHRISTIE’S ENGLAND One to pop away for a future sojourn, perhaps. How does 2022 sound? A PBS special exploring the locations that Christie used for inspiration, an England that “still exists as much as it did when she wrote about it”, according to one expert. Chocolate-box villages, luxury hotels and, especially, her childhood in Devon and Burgh Island in south Devon, which was the inspiration for Soldier Island in And Then There Were None and the setting for the Hercule Poirot mystery Evil Under the Sun. SKY ARTS, 9.20pm

PRIME FREEVIEW 10 SKY 004 6.00 Jeopardy (G, R) 9.00 Portrait Artist of the Year (G, R, C) 10.00 The Doctors (PGR, R) 11.00 Hot Bench (PGR) 11.30 Truck Night in America (PGR, R, C) 12.30 The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice (G, R, C) 1.30 Married … with Children (PGR, R) 2.00 The Late Show (PGR, R) 3.00 Judge Judy (PGR) 3.30 Jeopardy (G, R) 4.00 American Pickers (PGR) 5.00 Tagata Pasifika (G) 5.30 Prime News 6.00 A-League Highlights (G) Wellington Phoenix v Newcastle Jets. 6.30 Shipping Wars (PGR, C) 7.00 The Crowd Goes Wild 7.30 American Pickers (PGR) 8.30 ■ Soldier (1998, AO, C) A soldier left for dead on a remote planet is taken in by a community. Kurt Russell. 10.35 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (PGR) 11.30 – 12.05am QI (PGR, R)

Life lessons: EUPHORIA: F*CK ANYONE WHO’S NOT A SEA BLOB The US series has been controversial, in a similar way that Kids was back in the 1990s: drugs, sex and teens. These days, you can add the toxicity of the online world as well. Creator Sam Levinson drew on his own experience of drug addiction when he created Rue, marvellously played by Zendaya, who won an Emmy last year. Covid restrictions led Levinson to create two “bridging” specials between seasons one and two – after Trouble Doesn’t Always Last, this one focuses on Jules, played by Hunter Schafer. SOHO, 9.30pm, and Neon

C Captions AD Audio Description HD High Definition

77

MONDAY JANUARY 25

MĀORI TV FREEVIEW 5 SKY 019

The long way: WALKING HADRIAN’S WALL WITH ROBSON GREEN

Kids’ Programmes (G) Kai with Anne Thorp (G, R) Ōpaki (G) Iwi Anthems (G, R) Whānau Living (G, R) With Stacey Morrison. 11.00 Taringa (G, R) Noon Pukuhohe (G, R) 12.30 It’s in the Bag (G, R) 1.00 Ngā Pari Kārangaranga o te Motu (G, R) 1.30 Ako (G, R) 2.00 Tōku Reo (G, R) Māori language learning series. 3.00 Kids’ Programmes (G) 6.30 Te Ao I Te Raumati (G, R) 7.30 Gourmet Goes Tribal (G, R) Pablo Naranjo Agular experiences the Lepcha way of life and meets a woman who turned a sad event in her life into a wine business. 8.00 Reo Āwhina (G, R) Mr Wai leaves to direct for the Reo Āwhina channel and the crew discover he is not the legend they thought. 8.30 ■ Monday Feature Documentary: Yellow is Forbidden (2018, G) Documentary about Chinese fashion designer Guo Pei as she prepares to make her Paris debut. 10.10 Takiura (G) Series exploring the impact of the changing times on tikanga. Tonight, arranged marriage. 10.40 – 11.40 Te Ao I Te Raumati (G, R)

BRAVO FREEVIEW 4 SKY 012

CHOICE TV FREEVIEW 12 SKY 024 TVNZ DUKE FREEVIEW 13 SKY 023

6.00 Infomercials 10.00 I Found the Gown (G, R) 10.35 How to Look Good Naked USA (PGR, R) 11.30 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 12.30 The People’s Court (G, R) 1.25 The Real Housewives of Orange County (R) s10ep2 2.20 Vanderpump Rules (R) 3.20 Hoarders (PGR, R) s3ep10 4.15 David Tutera’s Celebrations (G, R) 5.10 Face Off (PGR, R) s7ep6 6.05 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 7.30 Snapped (AO) 8.30 A Wedding and a Murder (AO) The wedding of a charming motocross champ and an ambitious model triggers a murder plot. 9.30 Buried in the Backyard (AO) An Oklahoma mum disappears at Christmas. 10.30 Snapped (AO, R) 11.25 In Ice Cold Blood (AO, R) 12.15am – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 Sarah Off the Grid (G) 7.00 Help! My House Is Falling Down (G) 8.00 Project Grizzly (G) 9.00 Collectors Candy (G) 10.00 Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Home Cooking (G) 10.30 Forged in Fire: Beat the Judges (PGR) 11.30 Antiques Roadshow (G) 12.30 Project Grizzly (G) 1.30 Hidden Britain by Drone (G) 2.30 Choccywoccydoodah (G) 3.00 Food Safari: Water (G) 3.30 Evan Goes Wild (G) 4.30 Veg Every Day (G) 5.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 6.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 7.30 Strip the City (G) 8.30 Walking Hadrian’s Wall with Robson Green (G) 9.30 Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby (G) 10.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 11.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 12.30am Programmes continue

8.30 Big Race Day Replay (HD, C) 9.30 Prada Cup Round Robin Replay (C) 11.30 Live: Cricket Super Smash (HD) Wellington Blaze v Canterbury Magicians. 2.30 ABC World News 3.00 Live: Cricket Super Smash Men’s (HD) Wellington Firebirds v Canterbury Kings. 6.30 The Big Bang Theory (C) s2ep16 7.00 Two and a Half Men (PGR, HD, C) s4ep14 7.30 The Simpsons (G, HD, C) Homer recounts the story of Bart’s first day at school. s9ep3 8.30 Family Guy (AO, C) 9.00 Family Guy (AO, HD, C) The Griffins are invited to join the prestigious Barrington Country Club. s12ep23 10.55 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (AO, HD, C) 11.55 – 12.20am Late Night DUKEbox Music

SKY PREMIERE SKY 030

MOVIES EXTRA SKY 031

MOVIES VINTAGE SKY 035

RIALTO SKY 039

7.49

6.11

An Affair to Die For (2018, 16) Claire Forlani, Jake Abel 7.34 Fixed (2019, M) Andy Comeau 9.04 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019, M) Jimmie Fails, Danny Glover 11.06 Black Christmas (2019, M) Imogen Poots, Cary Elwes 12.41 Christmas Harmony (2018, PG) Kelley Jakle 2.18 Countdown (2019, M) Elizabeth Lail 3.50 The Wedding Year (2019, M) Sarah Hyland 5.20 Lost Transmissions (2019, 16) Simon Pegg 7.00 Margaret Atwood (2019, M) Documentary. 8.30 The Current Occupant (2020, 16) A man on a psychiatric ward comes to believe that he’s the President of the United States. Barry Watson, Sonita Henry 10.05 Fisherman’s Friends (2019, M) Daniel Mays 11.55 Charlie Says (2018, 16) Hannah Murray, Sosie Bacon 1.45am Christmas Harmony (2018, PG) 3.20 Countdown (2019, M) 4.49 The Wedding Year (2019, M)

7.00

Paths of Glory (1957, PG) Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker 8.30 We’re No Angels (1955, PG) Humphrey Bogart 10.20 A Hard Day’s Night (1964, PG) The Beatles 11.45 The Desperate Hours (1955, PG) Humphrey Bogart 1.35 Paths of Glory (1957, PG) Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker 3.05 We’re No Angels (1955, PG) Humphrey Bogart 4.55 Between Friends (1983, M) Elizabeth Taylor 6.40 The Story of G.I. Joe (1945, PG) During WWII, American journalist Ernie Pyle recounts the experiences of members of the US Army. Robert Mitchum, Burgess Meredith 8.30 A Passage to India (1984, PG) A false accusation dooms the friendship of an Indian doctor and an Englishwoman. Judy Davis, Victor Banerjee, Peggy Ashcroft 11.10 The Magnificent Seven (1960, PG) Steve McQueen 1.15am Between Friends (1983, M) 3.00 The Story of G.I. Joe (1945, PG) 4.50 A Passage to India (1984, PG)

7.15

6.30 9.00 9.30 10.00 10.30

Men in Black: International (2019, M) Chris Hemsworth 9.44 Survive the Night (2019, 16) Bruce Willis 11.16 Stockholm (2019, M) Ethan Hawke, Noomi Rapace 12.51 Papillon (2019, 16) Charlie Hunnam, Rami Malek 3.05 The Corrupted (2019, 16) Sam Claflin, Timothy Spall 4.50 Dark Waters (2019, M) Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway 6.55 Then Came You (2019, M) Asa Butterfield 8.30 Rambo: Last Blood (2019, 18) John Rambo travels to Mexico to save his adopted daughter who has been kidnapped by a cartel. Sylvester Stallone, Paz Vega, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Yvette Monreal 10.15 Annabelle Comes Home (2019, 16) Demonologists Ed and Lorraine Warren try to keep Annabelle from wreaking more havoc. Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Mckenna Grace 12.00am The Bromley Boys (2018, PG) 1.43 The Corrupted (2019, 16) 3.24 Rambo: Last Blood (2019, 18) 5.04 Dark Waters (2019, M)

78

Northumberland-born and bred Green was the right man for the job: he lived near the wall growing up and this threepart journey begins at Segedunum, right next to the shipyard where he worked before he began his acting career. CHOICE TV, 8.30pm

Driven (2018, M) Jason Sudeikis, Lee Pace 9.05 Harmonium (2016, M) Tadanobu Asano 11.05 Judy & Punch (2019, 16) Mia Wasikowska 12.50 The Realm (2018, M) Antonio de la Torre 3.00 Walking on Water (2018, M) Italian documentary. 4.40 My Best Friend (2018, 16) Angelo Mutti Spinetta 6.15 Restless (2011, PG) A terminally ill girl falls for a boy who likes to attend funerals. Mia Wasikowska 7.45 DNA (M) A stolen car provides a DNA link with Rolf’s old colleagues in Copenhagen. s1ep2 8.30 Rialto World: Ash Is Purest White (2018, 16) A woman who took the fall for her mobster boyfriend finds that he doesn’t want to see her when she gets out of prison. Tao Zhao, Liao Fan, Feng Xiaogang 10.45 King of the Cruise (2019, M) Dutch documentary. 12.05am Striking Out Marathon (M) s1ep1-4 3.45 The Realm (2018, M) 5.55 OK Chloe (2020, M)

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

MONDAY JANUARY 25

SKY CHANNELS Vibe SKY 006 6.00 Blue Bloods (M) s5ep1 6.50 Judge Judy (PG) 7.15 Scandal (M) s5ep10 8.05 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep18 8.55 Murdoch Mysteries (M) 9.45 Cold Case (M) 10.30 Judge Judy (PG) 11.10 Hinterland (M) s3ep2 12.40 The Story of the Royals (PG) s1ep1 2.05 Scandal (M) s5ep10 2.50 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep18 3.40 Murdoch Mysteries (M) 4.30 Judge Judy (PG) 5.30 Blue Bloods (M) s5ep1 6.30 Cold Case (M) 7.30 Beecham House (M) s1ep2 8.30 Line of Duty (16) s1ep5 9.30 Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (M) Aunt Prudence insists Phryne help an old school chum whose holiday mansion has been burgled. 11.20 Judge Judy (PG) 11.50 Beecham House (M) s1ep2 12.50am Programmes continue

UKTV SKY 007 6.25 QI (M) 6.55 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (M) 7.35 The Jonathan Ross Show (M) s16ep10 8.25 The Bill (M) 9.15 A Touch of Frost (M) s8ep2 10.35 Father Brown (M) s2ep2 11.20 Call the Midwife (M) 12.15 Midsomer Murders (M) s14ep1 1.45 The Bill (M) 2.40 New Tricks (M) s4ep2 3.35 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (M) 4.30 The Graham Norton Show (M) s21ep1 5.25 Who Do You Think You Are? (PG) Paul Merton. 6.30 QI (PG) 7.00 EastEnders (PG) 7.30 QI (M) 8.00 Would I Lie to You? (PG) 8.35 Death in Paradise (M) s3ep3 9.35 Honour (M) Caroline’s vow that she would get justice for Banaz becomes all-consuming. s1ep2 10.30 Lewis (M) s3ep1 12.10am Programmes continue

SoHo SKY 010 6.15 Your Honor (16) 7.15 SoHo on Set (M) 7.30 Jett (16) s1ep7 8.30 A Million Little Things (M) s3ep5 9.30 A Discovery of Witches (M) s2ep3 10.30 Real Time with Bill Maher s19ep2 11.30 Billions (18) s4ep11 12.30 Your Honor (16) 1.30 Jett (16) s1ep7 2.30 A Million Little Things (M) s3ep5 3.30 A Discovery of Witches (M) s2ep3 4.30 Real Time with Bill Maher s19ep2 5.30 Billions (18) s4ep11 6.30 Temple (16) s1ep8 7.20 SoHo on Set (M) Deadly Class. 7.30 Hatton Garden (16) s1ep2 8.20 SoHo on Set (M) A Discovery of Witches. 8.30 C.B. Strike: Lethal White (16) A troubled young man wants Strike to look into a murder he thinks he witnessed as a child. s1ep1 9.30 Euphoria: F*ck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob (18) 10.30 The Good Lord Bird (18) s1ep1 11.30 White Dragon (16) s1ep7 12.15am Programmes continue

Living SKY 017 6.00 Selling Houses Australia (G) 6.55 Escape to the Country (PG) 7.45 Long Lost Family UK (G) 8.40 Grand Designs (PG) 10.35 Salvage Hunters: The Restorers (PG) 11.30 The Nolans Go Cruising (PG) 12.25 Location Location Location Australia (G) 1.20 Escape to the Country (PG) 2.10 Long Lost Family (G) 3.00 Long Lost Family UK (PG) 3.55 Garden Rescue (PG) 4.50 Salvage Hunters: The Restorers (PG) 5.45 Selling Houses Australia (G) 6.40 Location Location Location Australia (G) 7.35 Grand Designs Australia (PG) 8.30 Love It or List It Australia (PG) 9.30 Selling Houses Australia (G) 10.25 A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun (PG) 11.20 Grand Designs (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

Food Network SKY 018 6.00 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 6.55 Mystery Diners (PG) 7.50 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 8.15 Trisha’s Southern Kitchen (PG) 8.45 Bake You Rich (PG) 9.35 Kids Baking Championship (PG) 10.30 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 10.55 The Pioneer Woman: Home Sweet Home (PG) 11.20 Girl Meets Farm (PG) 11.45 Cake Boss 12.10 The Great Food Truck Race (PG) 1.05 Kitchen Takeover (PG) 2.05 Bake You Rich (PG) 2.55 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 3.45 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 4.10 Trisha’s Southern Kitchen (PG) 4.35 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 5.00

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

The Pioneer Woman: Home Sweet Home (PG) 5.25 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 5.50 Cake Boss 6.40 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 7.35 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 8.00 Burgers, Brew & ‘Que (PG) 8.30 Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (PG) 9.25 Ridiculous Cakes (PG) 10.20 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 10.45 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 11.35 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

Sky Arts SKY 020 6.00 Rock Legends Marathon 7.30 Art in Paradise 8.00 Grafenegg: Midsummer Night’s Gala 2018 9.15 ■ Pet Shop Boys: Inner Sanctum (2019, G) 11.00 Other Voices Noon Speakeasy 2.00 Rock Legends Marathon 3.30 Art in Paradise 4.00 Art Paul: The Man Behind the Bunny 4.55 The Art Mysteries 5.25 Wonder Walls 6.15 Master of Photography 7.00 Landscape Artist of the Year 7.45 Portrait Artist of the Year 8.30 The World’s Greatest Paintings 9.20 Agatha Christie’s England 10.10 Woolf Works (G) Ballet inspired by Virginia Woolf. 12.00am Programmes continue

Discovery SKY 070 6.35 Demolition Down Under (PG) 7.30 Secrets of the Underground (PG) 8.20 Kiwi Survival (PG) 9.10 Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail (PG) 10.00 How Do They Do It? (PG) 10.50 How It’s Made (PG) 11.40 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 12.30 Murder Comes to Town (M) 1.20 American Monster (M) 2.10 Top Gear (PG) 3.00 Alaska: The Last Frontier (PG) 3.50 Gold Rush (PG) 4.45 Fast N’ Loud (PG) 5.40 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 6.35 Aussie Mega Mechanics (PG) 7.30 Aussie Gold Hunters (PG) 8.30 Diesel Brothers (PG) 9.25 Fast N’ Loud (PG) 10.15 Towies (PG) 11.05 Naked and Afraid (M) 11.55 How It’s Made (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

National Geographic SKY 072 6.30 Mega Factories 7.30 Bin Laden’s Hard Drive (16) 8.30 Nature’s Fury (PG) 10.30 India from Above (PG) 12.30 Food Factory (PG) 1.30 Drain the Oceans: Deep Dive (PG) 2.30 Lost Treasures of Egypt (PG) 3.30 Area 51: The CIA’s Secret Files (M) 4.30 American Gypsies (M) 5.30 American Gypsies 6.30 Mega Factories 7.30 Air Crash Investigation: Special Report (M) 8.30 Lance (PG) 10.30 Men with Many Wives (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

History SKY 073 6.30 The Vatican & the Third Reich (M) 7.30 Narrow Escapes of World War II (PG) 8.30 Time Team 9.30 The Story of Europe (M) 10.30 Coast Australia (PG) 11.30 The Vatican & the Third Reich (M) 12.30 Narrow Escapes of World War II (PG) 1.30 WWII: Total War (16) 2.30 Nazi Collaborators (M) 3.30 The Machinery of War (PG) 4.30 Impossible Peace (M) 5.30 Australia in Colour (PG) 6.30 The Nile: 5000 Years of History (PG) 7.30 Coast Australia (PG) 8.30 Ku Klux Klan: An American Story (PG) 9.30 American Dynasties: The Kennedys (PG) 10.30 Coast Australia (PG) 11.30 Clive James: Postcard from Sydney (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

BBC Earth SKY 074 6.00 Tribes, Animals & Me (PG) 6.55 Life Below Zero (M) 7.45 Where the Wild Men Are: Revisited (PG) 8.35 Animal Impossible (PG) 9.30 Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities (PG) 9.55 Embarrassing Illnesses (M) 10.45 The Dog Rescuers (PG) 11.30 24 Hours in A&E (M) 12.20 Attenborough: Private Life of Plants (PG) 1.10 Life: The Making of (PG) 1.20 Embarrassing Illnesses (M) 2.10 Animal Impossible (PG) 3.05 Tribes, Animals & Me (PG) 4.00 Russia with Simon Reeve (PG) 5.05 Life Below Zero (M) 6.00 Where the Wild Men Are (M) 6.50 The Dog Rescuers (PG) 7.40 24 Hours in A&E (M) 8.30 Animal Attraction (PG) 9.30 Attenborough: Wonder of Eggs (PG) 10.35 Attenborough: Private Life of Plants (PG) 11.30 Life: The Making of (PG) 11.40 Wild Japan (PG) 12.40am Programmes continue

Vibe: Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, 9.30pm

SKY SPORT Sky Sport 1 SKY 051 6.25 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Glasgow Warriors v Exeter Chiefs, from Scotstoun, Glasgow, live 10.30 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Scarlets v Bath, replay 12.30 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Wasps v Dragons, replay 2.30 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, highlights 3.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, highlights 3.30 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, highlights 4.00 Rugby, Currie Cup, final, replay 4.30 Japan Top League, Wild Knights v Kobelco Steelers, highlights 5.00 Japan Top League, Suntory Sungoliath v Kubota Spears, highlights 5.30 The Conversation 6.00 Highlanders’ Greatest Games 8.00 30 for 30: Bad Boys: Documentary about the Detroit Pistons basketball team of the late 1980s and early 1990s 10.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Gloucester v Lyon, replay 12.00am Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Toulouse v Ulster, replay 2.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Glasgow Warriors v Exeter Chiefs, replay 4.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Harlequins v Munster, replay

Sky Sport 2 SKY 052 8.30 Cricket, Big Bash League, Sydney Sixers v Hobart Hurricanes, replay Noon Australia Women v India Women, ODI, highlights 1.00 Australia Women v India Women, ODI, live 9.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Adelaide Strikers v Sydney Thunder, from Sydney Showground Stadium, live 1.00am Australia Women v India Women, ODI, highlights 2.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Sydney Sixers v Hobart Hurricanes, replay 5.30 Australia v India, 4th test wrap-up

Sky Sport 3 SKY 053 6.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 5, finals, highlights 7.30 Tennis, 2018 Australian Open, men’s singles 4th round, Novak Djokovic v Hyeon Chung 8.00 2018 Australian Open, men’s doubles final 9.30 2018 Australian Open, men’s singles final, Roger Federer v Marin Cilic 1.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 5, finals 2.30 2018 Australian Open, men’s doubles final 4.00 2018 Australian Open, men’s singles 4th round, Novak Djokovic v Hyeon Chung 4.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 1, r32 5.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 2, r32 6.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 2, r16 7.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 3, quarter-finals 8.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 4, semi-finals 9.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 5, finals 10.30 2018 Australian Open, men’s singles final, Roger Federer v Marin Cilic 2.30am 2018 Australian Open, men’s doubles final 4.00 2018 Australian Open, men’s singles final, Roger Federer v Marin Cilic

79

TUESDAY JANUARY 26

TODAY'S PICKS

Another world: PLAYING FRISBEE IN NORTH KOREA North Korea seems an unusual topic for an African-American ﬁlm-maker, but Savanna Washington ﬁrst learned about the hardships in that country when she was a graduate fellow at the Colin Powell Program in Leadership and Service. She and a group ﬁlmed undercover in North Korea in 2013, managing to capture some of the daily life, despite their minders. Washington also obtained archival footage from an aid worker, who remains anonymous. Even though it was diﬃcult to interact with people, “everybody wants the same thing for their family”, says Washington. SKY ARTS, 8.30pm

Tribute: ANNE FRANK: PARALLEL STORIES The documentary, made for the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, is perhaps aimed at young people, but that in no way lessens its impact. In the modern day, a young woman is seen in Amsterdam and other European memorial sites, but she is a motif that serves to bring home the youth and lost potential of so many Jews taken in the Holocaust. In a reconstruction of the secret Frank room, Helen Mirren reads from Anne Frank’s diary and there is testimony from ﬁve women who did survive, as well as archivists and historians. TVNZ ONDEMAND

TVNZ 1 FREEVIEW 1 SKY 001

TVNZ 2 FREEVIEW 2 SKY 002

THREE FREEVIEW 3 SKY 003

6.00 Breakfast (HD, C) John Campbell and Jenny-May Clarkson present news, interviews, information and weather. 9.00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show (PGR, C) 10.00 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? UK (G, R, HD, C) 11.00 The Chase (G, R, HD, C) With Bradley Walsh. Noon 1 News (HD, C) 12.30 Emmerdale (PGR, HD, C) Laurel and Jai have some devastating news, Tracy meddles, and Will is panicked. 1.30 Border Security (G, R, HD, C) 2.00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show (PGR, R, C) 3.00 Tipping Point (G, R, HD, C) Ben Shephard hosts a UK quiz show. 4.00 Te Karere (HD) A Māori perspective on the day’s news and current affairs. 4.30 Embarrassing Pets (G, R, HD, C) Three-year-old yorkshire terrier Molly follows her owner wherever they go, and one-year-old Shaun the sheep is an angry boy and constantly tries to ram his owners in the field. 5.00 The Chase (G, HD, C) Bradley Walsh hosts a UK quiz show. 6.00 1 News (HD, C) 7.00 The Repair Shop (G, R, HD, C) UK series in which expert craftspeople restore treasured items. 7.30 Paramedics (AO, HD, C) Carina and Doddsy rush to a car crash, Amanda and Leonard help a scared mother who has found her 11-year-old daughter unconscious on the floor, and a baby may be about to make an early entrance. 8.30 Rich House, Poor House (G, HD, C, AD) UK reality series in which two families from opposite ends of the financial spectrum find out how the other half lives by swapping homes, lives and budgets. 9.25 Coronation Street (PGR, C, AD) 10.25 1 News Tonight (HD, C) 11.00 ■ Secret Teacher (PGR, C, AD) UK series in which four entrepreneurs go undercover as support staff to give others a helping hand. 12.00am Impossible Builds (G, R, HD, C, AD) A family want to build their home on a wood-flanked plot in Buckinghamshire and a futuristic kit home may make their dream affordable. 12.50 Te Karere (R, HD) 1.15 Infomercials 5.35 – 6.00 Te Karere (R, HD)

6.00 Les Mills Born to Move (G, HD, C) 6.30 Rescue Bots Academy (G, HD, C) 6.50 Bluey (G, R, HD, C) 6.55 Masha’s Tales (G, HD, C) 7.00 Littlest Pet Shop (G, R, HD, C) 7.25 The Deep (G, R, HD, C) 7.50 Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (G, R, HD, C) 8.10 MyaGo (G, R, HD, C) 8.20 The Wiggles’ World (G, R, HD, C, AD) 8.35 Sesame Street (G, HD, C) 9.00 Infomercials 10.00 Neighbours (G, R, HD, C) 10.30 ■ Alone Together (PGR, R, HD, C) 10.55 The Amazing Race Australia (PGR, R, HD, C) s4ep7 12.05 Selling Houses Australia (G, R, HD, C) 1.05 Judge Rinder (G, R, HD) 2.05 The Middle (G, R, HD, C) 3.05 Shortland Street (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 3.35 Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel (PGR, HD, C) 4.00 The Worst Witch (C) 4.30 Friends (G, R, HD, C) s1ep16 5.00 The Simpsons (G, R, HD, C, AD) s29ep14 5.30 The Big Bang Theory (G, R, HD, C) s2ep5 6.00 Neighbours (PGR, HD, C) Bea faces dire consequences, and Nicolette tries to repair her relationship with Chloe. 6.30 Ten 7 Summer (PGR, HD, C) Some of the biggest cases and best moments on the past season. 7.00 Shortland Street (PGR, HD, C, AD) Leanne follows her heart, Frank has second thoughts, and Theo’s bid to prove herself backfires. 7.30 Junior MasterChef Australia (G, HD, C, another episode screens tomorrow) Contestants must produce a savoury fruit dish or a sweet vegetable dish. s3ep11 8.45 ■ The Light Between Oceans (2016, AO, HD, C, AD) A war veteran and his wife find a baby lost at sea, but when the child’s biological mother enters their lives, their happy family falls apart. Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz. TV Films, page 70 11.25 2 Broke Girls (AO, R, HD, C) s4ep4 12.25am The Resident (AO, HD, C) s3ep18 1.20 Claws (AO, R, HD, C) s3ep4 2.10 Shortland Street (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 2.35 Infomercials 3.40 2 Overnight 4.15 The Middle (G, R, HD, C) 4.35 Neighbours (PGR, R, HD, C) 5.00 – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 The AM Show (HD) With Duncan Garner, Amanda Gillies and Mark Richardson. 9.00 Infomercials 10.25 Celebrity MasterChef UK (G, HD, C) s14ep7 11.35 Find Me a Dream Home Australia (G, HD) s1ep6 12.05 Flip Wars: Buying Blind (G, HD) s1ep5 1.05 ■ 2 Years of Love (2017, PGR, HD, C) An advice radio host struggles to communicate with her husband. Kayla Ewell. 3.00 Bondi Vet (G, HD, C) s7ep11 4.00 Duck Dynasty (PGR, HD, C) s8ep12 4.30 Newshub Live (HD) 5.00 Millionaire Hot Seat (G, R, HD) 6.00 Newshub Live at 6pm (HD) 7.00 The Project (HD) With Kanoa Lloyd, Jesse Mulligan and Jeremy Corbett. 7.30 The Block Australia (PGR, HD, C, another episode screens tomorrow) Some teams never learns from their past mistakes. s16ep42 8.35 ■ The Lake House (2006, PGR, HD, C) At a lake house, a woman exchanges letters with an architect. Sandra Bullock, Keanu Reeves, Christopher Plummer. TV Films, page 70 10.40 Newshub Late 11.10 ■ Deadly Dates (AO, R, HD, C) Documentary series about murder cases where the victim met their killer online. s1ep1 12.15am – 6.00 Infomercials

■ NEW ■ RETURN ■ FINAL ■ FILM

80

PRIME FREEVIEW 10 SKY 004 6.00 Kids’ Programmes (G, R) 9.00 Portrait Artist of the Year (G, R, C) 10.00 The Doctors (PGR, R) 11.00 Hot Bench (PGR) 11.30 Truck Night in America (PGR, R, C) 12.30 The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice (G, R, C) 1.30 Married … with Children (PGR, R) 2.00 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (PGR, R) 3.00 Judge Judy (PGR) 3.30 Jeopardy (G, R) 4.00 American Pickers (PGR) 5.00 Everybody Loves Raymond (PGR, R, C) 5.30 Prime News 6.00 Pawn Stars (PGR) 6.30 Shipping Wars (PGR, C) 7.00 The Crowd Goes Wild 7.30 Modern Dinosaurs (G, R, C) The kākāpō. 8.30 Salvation (AO, C) 9.30 Fear the Walking Dead (AO, C) 10.25 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (PGR) 11.25 – 12.00am QI (PGR, R)

C Captions AD Audio Description HD High Definition LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

TUESDAY JANUARY 26

MĀORI TV FREEVIEW 5 SKY 019

Future shock: PLANET OF THE APES Helena Bonham Carter as a talking chimpanzee is surely one of her more unusual roles, and she’s had plenty of those. Watch out for cameos by Charlton Heston and Linda Harrison, who were in the 1968 original; the prosthetics were done by the brilliant Rick Baker. TVNZ DUKE, 8.30pm

Kids’ Programmes (G) Kai with Anne Thorp (G, R) Ōpaki (G) Iwi Anthems (G, R) Whānau Living (G, R) Taringa (G, R) Hamu & Tofiga (PGR, R) It’s in the Bag (G, R) Ngā Pari Kārangaranga o te Motu (G, R) 1.30 Ako (G, R) 2.00 Tōku Reo (G, R) 3.00 Kids’ Programmes (G) 6.30 Te Ao I Te Raumati (R) 7.30 Merchants of the WIld (G, R) As Gabriella feels the effects of a lack of food, Elder Mary arrives with a gift. 8.00 Billy T James (PGR, R) Featuring iconic Kiwi entertainer Billy T James. 8.30 Matau Bros Gone Fishing (G, R) In Rarotonga, the brothers set out to catch giant trevally. 9.00 Toa Hunter Gatherer (PGR, R) Owen meets Karl and Nadine Toe Toe, owners of the Kohutapu Lodge on the shores of Lake Aniwhenua. 9.30 Hunting with Tūī (PGR, R) Tūī and her daughter Stevie go hunting on horseback in Te Urewera country. 10.00 Hunting Aotearoa (AO, R) Pete catches up with legendary hunter and pig dog breeder John Lockley. 10.30 – 11.30 Te Ao I Te Raumati (R)

BRAVO FREEVIEW 4 SKY 012

CHOICE TV FREEVIEW 12 SKY 024 TVNZ DUKE FREEVIEW 13 SKY 023

6.00 Infomercials 10.00 I Found the Gown (G, R) 10.30 How to Look Good Naked USA (PGR, R) 11.20 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 12.45 The People’s Court (G, R) 1.40 The Real Housewives of Orange County (R) 2.35 Vanderpump Rules (R) 3.35 Hoarders (PGR, R) s3ep11 4.30 David Tutera’s Celebrations (G, R) 5.30 Face Off (PGR, R) s7ep7 6.30 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 7.30 ■ Songland (PGR) OneRepublic assess the songwriters’ original material. 8.30 Marrying Millions (AO) Bill and Bri have a disastrous dinner with her parents. 9.30 Killer Couples (AO) A soldier is murdered on New Year’s Eve. 10.30 Snapped (AO, R) 11.25 In Ice Cold Blood (AO, R) 12.15am – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 7.00 8.00 9.00 10.00

Sarah Off the Grid (G) Veg Every Day (G) Evan Goes Wild (G) Collectors Candy (G) Gordon Ramsay Ultimate Home Cooking (G) 10.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 11.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 12.30 Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby (G) 1.30 Walking Hadrian’s Wall with Robson Green (G) 2.30 Strip the City (G) 3.30 Inside the Vets (G) 4.30 Choccywoccydoodah Starstruck (G) 5.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 6.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 7.30 Old House New Home (G) 8.30 Property Brothers: Forever Home (G) 9.30 Restoration Home (G) 10.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 11.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 12.30am Programmes continue

1.40pm Top Gear (PGR, HD, C) 2.40 Two and a Half Men (PGR, HD, C) s4ep14 3.05 American Pickers (G, HD) 3.50 The Chase Australia (G, HD, C) 4.40 Funny You Should Ask (PGR, HD) 5.05 ABC World News (PGR) 5.30 Top Gear (PGR, HD, C) 6.30 The Big Bang Theory (G, HD, C) s2ep17 7.00 Two and a Half Men (PGR, HD, C) s4ep15 7.30 The Simpsons (PGR, HD, C) Homer battles mutants after a neutron bomb, Bart’s DNA is mixed with a fly, and Marge is a witch. 8.30 ■ Planet of the Apes (2001, AO, HD, C, AD) An astronaut crash-lands on a planet where evolved apes dominate primitive humans. Mark Wahlberg, Tim Roth, Helena Bonham Carter. 10.50 – 12.15am Live PD: Police Patrol (PGR, HD)

SKY PREMIERE SKY 030

MOVIES EXTRA SKY 031

MOVIESVINTAGE SKY 035

RIALTO SKY 039

Then Came You (2019, M) Asa Butterfield 8.41 Annabelle Comes Home (2019, 16) Vera Farmiga 10.24 The Bromley Boys (2018, PG) Alan Davies 12.10 The Christmas Temp (2020, PG) Sara Canning 1.38 Then Came You (2019, M) Asa Butterfield 3.14 Brightburn (2019, 16) Elizabeth Banks 4.44 The Public (2019, M) Alec Baldwin, Taylor Schilling 6.44 The Legend of Baron To’a (2019, 16) Uli Latukefu, Nathaniel Lees 8.30 The Butterfly Tree (2017, M) A grieving father and son both fall for a kooky florist and former exotic dancer. Melissa George, Ewen Leslie 10.14 Blinded by the Light (2019, M) The life of a British Pakistani teen is changed when he discovers the music of Bruce Springsteen. Viveik Kalra, Dean-Charles Chapman 12.09am Angel Has Fallen (2019, 16) 2.09 Brightburn (2019, 16) 3.39 The Public (2019, M) 5.39 The Legend of Baron To’a (2019, 16)

6.18

7.35

6.05 Walking on Water (2018, M) Italian documentary. 7.45 My Best Friend (2018, 16) Angelo Mutti Spinetta 9.20 The Realm (2018, M) Antonio de la Torre 11.30 Ash Is Purest White (2018, 16) Tao Zhao 1.45 Bad Banks (M) s2ep1&2 3.35 The Last Tree (2019, M) Nicholas Pinnock 5.15 Made in Boise (2019, M) US documentary. 6.35 Blazing Sun (1960, M) Alain Delon 8.30 DNA (M) Rolf and Neel find serious errors in the Danish DNA register. s1ep3 9.15 The Lion in Winter (1968, M) King Henry II wants his youngest son to succeed him, but his estranged wife prefers their eldest son. Peter O’Toole 11.30 The Clovehitch Killer (2018, 16) A son begins to suspect his father is a serial killer. Dylan McDermott, Charlie Plummer, Madisen Beaty 1.20am Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache (2018, PG) 3.05 The Last Tree (2019, M) 4.50 Made in Boise (2019, M)

6.30 9.00 9.30 10.00 10.30 11.00 Noon 12.30 1.00

7.07

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

Elvis Goes There: Guillermo Del Toro (2019, M) Documentary. 7.13 Lost Transmissions (2019, 16) Simon Pegg 8.53 Margaret Atwood (2019, M) Documentary. 10.23 The Current Occupant (2020, 16) Barry Watson 11.55 Fisherman’s Friends (2019, M) Daniel Mays 1.45 Christmas on the River (2019, PG) Jana Kramer 3.15 After the Wedding (2019, M) Michelle Williams 5.05 Deadly Flight (2019, M) Allison McAtee 6.35 A Million Little Pieces (2019, 18) Aaron Taylor-Johnson 8.30 Culture Shock (2018, 16) On Independence Day, a young Mexican woman crosses illegally into the US. Martha Higareda, Shawn Ashmore, Richard Cabral 10.05 Camp Cold Brook (2018, M) Chad Michael Murray 11.35 Apparition (2019) (2019, M) Mena Suvari, Kevin Pollak 12.59am Supercon (2018, 16) 2.40 Christmas on the River (2019, PG) 4.07 After the Wedding (2019, M) 5.56 Deadly Flight (2019, M)

Hollywood Singing and Dancing (2009, PG) The 1960s. 8.30 Between Friends (1983, M) Elizabeth Taylor 10.15 The Story of G.I. Joe (1945, PG) Robert Mitchum 12.05 A Passage to India (1984, PG) Judy Davis 2.45 The Magnificent Seven (1960, PG) Steve McQueen 4.50 Loving Couples (1980, PG) Shirley MacLaine 6.30 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957, PG) Burt Lancaster 8.30 Ragtime (1981, PG) An African-American piano player affects the lives of a wealthy New York family at the turn of the 20th century. James Cagney, Elizabeth McGovern, Howard E Rollins Jr, James Olsen 11.05 The War of the Worlds (1953, PG) When Martians invade Earth in 1953, a scientist searches for any weakness that might stop them. Gene Barry, Ann Robinson 12.35am Loving Couples (1980, PG) 2.20 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957, PG) 4.25 Ragtime (1981, PG)

81

TUESDAY JANUARY 26

SKY CHANNELS Vibe SKY 006 6.00 Blue Bloods (M) s5ep2 6.50 Judge Judy (PG) 7.15 Scandal (M) s5ep11 8.05 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep19 8.50 Murdoch Mysteries (M) 9.40 Cold Case (M) 10.25 Judge Judy (PG) 11.05 Line of Duty (16) s1ep final 12.05 Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (M) s2ep3 1.05 Beecham House (M) s1ep2 2.00 Scandal (M) s5ep11 2.50 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep19 3.40 Murdoch Mysteries (M) 4.30 Judge Judy (PG) 5.30 Blue Bloods (M) s5ep2 6.30 Cold Case (M) 7.30 The Pale Horse (M) s1ep1 8.40 The Brokenwood Mysteries (M) s3ep2 10.20 Cold Case (M) 11.15 Judge Judy (PG) 11.40 The Pale Horse (M) s1ep1 12.45am Programmes continue

UKTV SKY 007 6.05 QI (PG) 6.35 Mrs Brown’s Boys (M) s1ep3 7.05 EastEnders (PG) 7.35 The Graham Norton Show (M) s21ep1 8.25 The Bill (M) 9.15 A Touch of Frost (M) s9ep1 10.35 Father Brown (M) s2ep3 11.20 Call the Midwife (M) 12.15 Midsomer Murders (M) s14ep2 1.45 The Bill (M) 2.40 New Tricks (M) s4ep3 3.35 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (PG) 4.30 The Graham Norton Show (M) s21ep2 5.25 Who Do You Think You Are? (PG) Sharon Osbourne. 6.30 QI (M) 7.00 EastEnders (PG) 7.30 QI (M) 8.00 Would I Lie to You? (PG) 8.35 Heartbeat (M) Mason thwarts a gang of safe robbers. s18ep23 9.30 Doc Martin (PG) s9ep4 10.25 Father Brown (PG) s8ep4 11.15 Midsomer Murders (M) s14ep2 12.50am Programmes continue

SoHo SKY 010 6.00 Real Time with Bill Maher (M) s18ep13 6.50 Temple (16) s1ep8 7.35 Room 104 (16) s4ep12 8.00 Hatton Garden (16) s1ep2 8.45 C.B. Strike: Lethal White (16) s1ep1 9.45 Euphoria: F*ck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob (18) 10.45 The Good Lord Bird (18) s1ep1 11.45 White Dragon (16) s1ep7 12.30 Temple (16) s1ep8 1.15 Room 104 (16) s4ep12 1.40 Hatton Garden (16) s1ep2 2.30 C.B. Strike: Lethal White (16) s1ep1 3.30 Euphoria: F*ck Anyone Who’s Not a Sea Blob (18) 4.30 The Good Lord Bird (18) s1ep1 5.30 White Dragon (16) s1ep7 6.20 SoHo on Set (M) 6.30 Animal Kingdom (16) s3ep10 7.20 SoHo on Set (M) Warrior. 7.30 A Discovery of Witches (M) s2ep3 8.30 Your Honor (16) s1ep7 9.30 Shameless (18) When the Milkovich family move in next door, Frank, Kev and Liam plot to get rid of them. s11ep4 10.30 Succession (16) s1ep9 11.30 Dublin Murders (16) s1ep1 12.30am Programmes continue

Living SKY 017 6.00 Selling Houses Australia (G) 6.55 Escape to the Country (PG) 7.45 Long Lost Family UK (PG) 8.40 Grand Designs (PG) 9.35 Grand Designs New Zealand (PG) 10.30 Love It or List It Australia (PG) 11.25 Grand Designs Australia (PG) 12.20 Location Location Location Australia (G) 1.15 Escape to the Country (PG) 2.05 Selling Houses Australia (G) 3.00 Long Lost Family UK (PG) 3.55 Garden Rescue (PG) 4.45 Love It or List It Australia (PG) 5.40 Selling Houses Australia (G) 6.35 Location Location Location Australia (G) 7.25 Great Asian Railway Journeys (PG) Penang to Cameron Highlands. 8.30 Salvage Hunters (PG) 10.20 Grand Designs Australia (PG) 11.15 Grand Designs New Zealand (PG) 12.15am Programmes continue

Food Network SKY 018 6.00 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction Marathon (PG) 7.20 Burgers, Brew & ’Que (PG) 7.50 Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (PG) 8.50 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 9.15 Trisha’s Southern Kitchen (PG) 9.40 Kids Baking Championship (PG) 10.30 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 10.55 The Pioneer Woman: Home Sweet Home (PG) 11.20 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 11.45 Cake Boss 12.10 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 1.05 Ridiculous Cakes (PG) 1.55 Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (PG) 2.50 Bobby

82

Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 3.45 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 4.10 Trisha’s Southern Kitchen (PG) 4.35 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 5.00 Symon’s Dinners: Cooking Out (PG) 5.25 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 5.50 Cake Boss 6.40 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 7.35 Restaurant: Impossible (PG) 8.30 Mystery Diners (PG) 9.20 Tournament of Champions (PG) 10.15 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 10.40 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 11.30 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 12.25am Programmes continue

Sky Arts SKY 020 6.10 Woolf Works 8.00 Art Paul: The Man Behind the Bunny 8.55 The Art Mysteries 9.25 Wonder Walls 10.15 Master of Photography 11.00 Landscape Artist of the Year 11.45 Portrait Artist of the Year 12.30 The World’s Greatest Paintings 1.20 Agatha Christie’s England 2.10 Woolf Works 4.00 Let Me Capture Your World 5.00 The Man Who Shot Tutankhamun (PG) 6.00 Handmade in the Pacific 6.50 Up to the Sky 7.20 Imitating Life 8.30 Playing Frisbee in North Korea (G) Documentary featuring ordinary North Koreans. 9.30 Danceworks 10.00 Robert Doisneau: Through the Lens 11.00 The Flatey Enigma 12.00am Programmes continue

Discovery SKY 070 6.35 Fast N’ Loud (PG) 7.30 Secrets of the Underground (PG) 8.20 Diesel Brothers (PG) 9.10 Demolition Down Under (PG) 10.00 How Do They Do It? (PG) 10.50 How It’s Made (PG) 11.40 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 12.30 Murder Comes to Town (M) 1.20 American Monster (M) 2.10 Top Gear (PG) 3.00 Alaska: The Last Frontier (PG) 3.50 Gold Rush (PG) 4.45 Fast N’ Loud (PG) 5.40 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 6.35 Aussie Gold Hunters (PG) 7.30 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 8.30 Expedition Unknown (PG) 9.25 Lost Secrets (PG) 10.15 Kiwi Survival (PG) 11.05 Naked and Afraid (M) 11.55 How It’s Made (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

National Geographic SKY 072 6.30 Mega Factories 7.30 Air Crash Investigation: Special Report (M) 8.30 Nature’s Fury (PG) 10.30 Men with Many Wives (PG) 12.30 Only in Oz Marathon (PG) 8.30 Lance (PG) 10.30 Witness to Disaster (M) 12.30am Programmes continue

History SKY 073 6.30 American Dynasties: The Kennedys (PG) 7.30 The Pacific: In the Wake of Captain Cook (PG) 8.30 Mateship: Australia & the U.S.A. (M) 9.30 Anzac Stories (PG) 10.00 Lawless: The Real Bushrangers (M) 11.00 What Will Become of Us (PG) 12.30 Lawless: The Real Bushrangers (M) 1.30 Coast Australia (PG) 2.30 Lawless: The Real Bushrangers (M) 3.30 Coast Australia (PG) 4.30 Men of Wood & Foam (PG) 5.30 Aussie Inventions That Changed the World (PG) 7.30 Outlawed: The Real Ned Kelly (PG) 8.30 Coast Australia (PG) 9.30 Aussie Inventions That Changed the World (PG) 10.30 Greatest Cities of the World 11.30 Extraordinary Tale of William Buckley (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

BBC Earth SKY 074 6.00 Reindeer Family and Me (PG) 6.55 Life Below Zero (M) 7.45 Where the Wild Men Are (M) 8.35 Animal Impossible (PG) 9.30 Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities (PG) 9.55 Embarrassing Illnesses (M) 10.45 The Dog Rescuers (PG) 11.30 24 Hours in A&E (M) 12.20 Private Life of Plants (PG) 1.10 Life: The Making of (PG) 1.20 Embarrassing Illnesses (M) 2.10 Animal Impossible (PG) 3.05 Reindeer Family and Me (PG) 4.00 My Year with the Tribe (M) 5.05 Life Below Zero (M) 6.00 Where the Wild Men Are (PG) 6.50 The Dog Rescuers (PG) 7.40 24 Hours in A&E (M) 8.30 Attenborough at 90 (PG) 9.30 Attenborough: The Giant Dinosaur (PG) 10.35 Private Life of Plants (PG) 11.30 Life: The Making of (PG) 11.40 Wild Japan (PG) 12.40am Programmes continue

Discovery: Kiwi Survival, 10.15pm

SKY SPORT Sky Sport 1 SKY 051 6.00 Japan Top League, Suntory Sungoliath v Kubota Spears, highlights from Komazawa Olympic Park, Tokyo 6.30 The Pod: Portia Woodman 7.30 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Leinster v Montpellier, replay from RDS Arena, Dublin 9.30 Ignite 7s Draft 10.30 Rugby, Ignite Sevens 2020, final day, highlights Noon Rugby, Toa 10s, highlights from Hautapu Rugby Club, Cambridge 1.30 Highlanders’ Greatest Games 3.30 The Conversation: Highlanders’ coach Tony Brown 4.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Sale Sharks v Toulon, replay 6.00 Highlanders’ Greatest Games 8.00 30 for 30: Without Bias: Documentary about NBA player Len Bias 9.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Glasgow Warriors v Exeter Chiefs, replay from Scotstoun, Glasgow 11.00 Highlanders’ Greatest Games 1.00am Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Clermont v Bristol Bears, replay 3.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, highlights

Sky Sport 2 SKY 052 8.00 Australia Women v India Women, ODI, replay 3.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Brisbane Heat v Perth Scorchers, from the SCG, Sydney, live 6.10 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Hobart Hurricanes, from the MCG, Melbourne, live 9.45 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers, from the MCG, Melbourne, live 1.30am Cricket, Big Bash League, Brisbane Heat v Perth Scorchers, highlights from the SCG, Sydney 2.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Hobart Hurricanes, highlights from the MCG, Melbourne 2.30 Australia Women v India Women, ODI, highlights 3.30 Australia v India, 4th test wrap-up

Sky Sport 3 SKY 053 8.00 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 5, finals, replay from from Impact Arena, Bangkok 1.00 Tennis, 2019 Australian Open, mixed doubles final, Barbora Krejčíková/Ranjeev Ram v Astra Sharma/John-Patrick Smith, replay 2.30 Tennis, 2019 Australian Open, women’s final, Naomi Osaka v Petra Kvitová, replay 5.00 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 5, finals, replay 10.00 Tennis, 2017 Australian Open, women’s singles semi-final, Serena Williams v CoCo Vandeweghe, highlights 10.30 Tennis, 2019 Australian Open, mixed doubles final, Barbora Krejčíková/Ranjeev Ram v Astra Sharma/John-Patrick Smith, replay 12.00am Tennis, 2019 Australian Open, women’s final, Naomi Osaka v Petra Kvitová, replay 2.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 1, r32, highlights 3.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 2, r32, highlights 4.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 2, r16, highlights 5.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 3, quarter-finals, highlights

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 27

TVNZ 1 FREEVIEW 1 SKY 001

TVNZ 2 FREEVIEW 2 SKY 002

THREE FREEVIEW 3 SKY 003

6.00 Breakfast (HD, C) With John Campbell and Jenny-May Clarkson. 9.00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show (PGR, C) 10.00 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? UK (G, R, HD, C) 11.00 The Chase (G, R, HD, C) Noon 1 News (HD, C) 12.30 Emmerdale (PGR, HD, C) Laurel and Jai make a heart-breaking decision, and Marlon and Rhona talk. 1.00 Coronation Street (PGR, R, C, AD) 2.00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show (PGR, R, C) 3.00 Tipping Point (G, R, HD, C) Ben Shephard hosts a UK quiz show. 4.00 Te Karere (HD) A Māori perspective on the day’s news and current affairs. 4.30 Embarrassing Pets (G, R, HD, C) Snappy schnauzer Dennis has got a thing for barking at bikes and joggers, and Poppy the jack russell has piled on the pounds and owner Sarah wants to find out why. 5.00 The Chase (G, HD, C) Bradley Walsh hosts a UK quiz show. 6.00 1 News (HD, C) 7.00 The Repair Shop (PGR, HD, C) UK series in which expert craftspeople restore treasured items. 7.30 5 Gold Rings (G, HD, C) Phillip Schofield presents a UK quiz show in which two teams answer a series of pictorial questions by placing gold rings on an interactive LED floor (includes Lotto at 8.20pm). 8.30 Location Location Location: 20 Years and Counting (G, HD, C) Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer celebrate the 20th anniversary season of their UK realty series with a look-back on their years of house-hunting. Tonight, they reminisce about the stress of searching for homes with “character”. 9.35 Coronation Street (PGR, C, AD) 10.35 1 News Tonight (HD, C) 11.05 Straight Forward (AO, R, HD, C, AD) Danish/New Zealand co-production about a con artist who flees to New Zealand when her father is murdered by a crime boss. Tonight, Silvia finds refuge as things turn sour for Lisbeth and Ida. s1ep2 12.05am Queen Sugar (PGR, R, HD, C) Nova’s memoir sparks controversy within the family, and Charley awaits Micah’s return from Europe. s4ep2 12.50 Te Karere (R, HD) 1.15 Infomercials 5.35 – 6.00 Te Karere (R, HD)

6.00 Les Mills Born to Move (G, HD, C) 6.30 Rescue Bots Academy (G, HD, C) 6.50 Bluey (G, R, HD, C) 6.55 Masha’s Tales (G, HD, C) 7.00 Littlest Pet Shop (G, R, HD, C) 7.25 The Deep (G, R, HD, C) 7.50 Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (G, R, HD, C) 8.15 MyaGo (G, R, HD, C) 8.20 The Wiggles’ World (G, R, HD, C, AD) 8.30 Sesame Street (G, HD, C) 9.00 Infomercials 9.30 Religious Programming 10.00 Neighbours (PGR, R, HD, C) 10.25 American Housewife (G, R, HD, C) 10.55 The Amazing Race Australia (PGR, R, HD, C) s4ep8 12.05 Selling Houses Australia (G, R, HD, C) 1.05 Judge Rinder (PGR, R, HD) 2.05 The Middle (G, R, HD, C) 3.00 Shortland Street (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 3.35 Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel (PGR, HD, C) 4.00 The Worst Witch (C) 4.30 Friends (G, R, HD, C) s1ep17 5.00 The Simpsons (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) s29ep15 5.30 The Big Bang Theory (PGR, R, HD, C) s2ep6 6.00 Neighbours (G, HD, C) Bea fights for her life, Nicolette gets a win, and can Kyle take the guilt? 6.30 Ten 7 Summer (HD, C) Some of the biggest cases and best moments on the past season. 7.00 Shortland Street (PGR, HD, C, AD) Theo finds her voice, Marty mentors Monique, and Zara struggles to fight fate. 7.30 Junior MasterChef Australia (G, HD, C, another episode screens tomorrow) In tonight’s pressure test, contestants must recreate a lemon meringue tart and the top three will go to the grand finale. s3ep12 9.00 ■ We’re the Millers (2013, AO, R, HD, C, AD) A smalltime pot dealer creates a fake family as part of a plan to move a drug shipment from Mexico to clear his debts. Jennifer Aniston, Emily Roberts, Will Poulter, Jason Sudeikis, Kathryn Hahn, Nick Offerman. TV Films, page 70 11.10 Mom (PGR, R, HD, C) s1ep11 12.40am Wentworth (AO, R, HD, C) s6ep4 1.25 Shortland Street (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 1.55 Infomercials 3.00 2 Overnight 4.15 The Middle (G, R, HD, C) 4.35 Neighbours (G, R, HD, C) 5.00 – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 The AM Show (HD) With Duncan Garner, Amanda Gillies and Mark Richardson. 9.00 Infomercials 10.25 Celebrity MasterChef UK (G, HD, C) s14ep8 11.35 Find Me a Dream Home Australia (G, HD) s1ep7 12.05 Flip Wars: Buying Blind (G, HD) s1ep6 1.00 ■ A Winter Princess (2019, PGR, HD, C) A princess working incognito at a ski resort teams up with the owner’s brother to plan the resort’s 50th anniversary celebration. Natalie Hall, Chris McNally. 3.00 Bondi Vet (G, HD, C) s7ep12 4.00 Duck Dynasty (PGR, HD, C) s8ep13 4.30 Newshub Live (HD) 5.00 Millionaire Hot Seat (G, R, HD) 6.00 Newshub Live (HD) 7.00 The Project (HD) With Kanoa Lloyd, Jesse Mulligan and Jeremy Corbett. 7.30 The Block Australia (PGR, HD, C) The massive studio week is beginning to seem insurmountable for most of the teams. s16ep43 8.40 ■ The Amazing SpiderMan 2 (2014, AO, HD, C) Peter Parker investigates his parents’ murder and faces a new villain, Electro. Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx. TV Films, page 70 11.15 Newshub Late 11.35 NCIS: Los Angeles (AO, R, HD, C) s9ep20 12.35am – 6.00 Infomercials

■ NEW ■ RETURN ■ FINAL ■ FILM JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

TODAY'S PICKS

Ripples: 30 FOR 30: BE WATER It may be 48 years since Bruce Lee died, but he is still with us in so many ways – reportedly, Lee’s philosophy of “be water” became a rallying cry for non-violent prodemocracy protesters in Hong Kong last year. This biopic does a pretty good job of covering Lee’s life, which was spent between the US and Hong Kong, and his struggle trying to gain acceptance in Hollywood. Why, for example, was David Carradine cast in the lead role of Kung Fu, the TV series devised by Lee? As well as interviews, there are home movies and photos, and Lee’s daughter Shannon reads his letters. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, 8.30pm, and TVNZ ONDEMAND

PRIME FREEVIEW 10 SKY 004 6.00 Kids’ Programmes (G, R) 9.00 Portrait Artist of the Year (G, R, C) 10.00 The Doctors (PGR, R) 11.00 Hot Bench (PGR) 11.30 Truck Night in America (PGR, R, C) 12.30 The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice (G, R, C) 1.30 Married … with Children (PGR, R) 2.00 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (PGR, R) 3.00 Judge Judy (PGR) 3.30 Jeopardy (G, R) 4.00 American Pickers (PGR) 5.00 Everybody Loves Raymond (PGR, R, C) 5.30 Prime News 6.00 Pawn Stars (PGR) 6.30 Shipping Wars (PGR, C) 7.00 The Crowd Goes Wild 7.30 ■ Beecham House (AO, C) 8.30 ■ Anthems: New Zealand’s Iconic Hits (AO, R, C) 9.30 ■ Rolling Stone: Stories from the Edge (AO, R, C) 10.30 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (PGR) 11.30 – 12.05am QI (PGR, R)

Arrested development: HOLD THE SUNSET Alison Steadman does a pretty good line in comedy mums: her Mrs Bennet in Pride and Prejudice might be the best there ever was, although Pam Shipman in Gavin & Stacey may have topped her. Hold the Sunset’s Edith has one fault – her devotion to her annoying son Roger (Jason Watkins). “If she could just sort out Roger, it would all be ﬁne,” she says. “But it’s never that simple, and in a sitcom, it would be boring if it were.” There is a second season of the show that was John Cleese’s ﬁrst sitcom since Fawlty Towers, but the BBC has not conﬁrmed if there will be a third. UKTV, 10.35pm

C Captions AD Audio Description HD High Definition

83

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 27

MĀORI TV FREEVIEW 5 SKY 019

Taking a bite: COYOTE PETERSON: BRAVE THE WILD

Kids’ Programmes (G) Kai with Anne Thorp (G, R) Ōpaki (G) Iwi Anthems (G, R) Whānau Living (G, R) Taringa (G, R) Billy T James (PGR, R) It’s in the Bag (G, R) Ngā Pari Kārangaranga o te Motu (G) 1.30 Ako (G, R) 2.00 Tōku Reo (G, R) 3.00 Kids’ Programmes (G) 6.30 Te Ao I Te Raumati (R) 7.30 Kai Safari (G, R) 8.00 The Casketeers (G, R) Kaiora is confronted by a special case, a returned serviceman receives a gun salute at his funeral, and Francis is obsessed with the chapel reaching new heights of perfection. 8.30 Marae DIY (G, R) In the art deco-mad Hawke’s Bay, Moteo Marae hasn’t been touched since the 1980s. 9.30 Takiura (G) Series exploring the impact of the changing times on tikanga. Tonight, pregnancy and birth. 10.00 Ka Pai Living (PGR, R) It’s International Holiday Day, a time to celebrate every holiday under the sun, and Kyle is beginning to step on Karen’s toes, lines and everything else. 10.30 – 11.30 Te Ao I Te Raumati (R)

BRAVO FREEVIEW 4 SKY 012

CHOICE TV FREEVIEW 12 SKY 024 TVNZ DUKE FREEVIEW 13 SKY 023

6.00 Infomercials 10.00 I Found the Gown (G, R) 10.35 How to Look Good Naked USA (PGR, R) 11.30 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 12.30 The People’s Court (G, R) 1.30 The Real Housewives of Orange County (R) s10ep4 2.30 Vanderpump Rules (R) 3.30 Hoarders (PGR, R) s3ep12 4.30 David Tutera’s Celebrations (G, R) 5.30 Face Off (PGR, R) s7ep8 6.30 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 7.30 Hoarders (PGR) 8.30 Life and Birth (AO) A 19-year-old has surgery to save her unborn baby. 9.45 One Born Every Minute UK (AO) Jenny and Gareth, who has multiple sclerosis, focus on parenthood. 10.45 Snapped (AO, R) 11.40 The Case of Caylee Anthony (AO, R) 12.30am – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 Sarah Off the Grid (G) 7.00 Choccywoccydoodah Starstruck (G) 8.00 Inside the Vets (G) 9.00 Collectors Candy (G) 10.00 Gordon Ramsay Ultimate Home Cooking (G) 10.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 11.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 12.30 Old House New Home (G) 1.30 Restoration Home (G) 2.30 Property Brothers (G) 3.30 Coyote Peterson: Brave the Wild (G) 4.30 Nigella Bites (G) 5.00 Jamie’s Quick and Easy Food (G) 5.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 6.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 7.30 Aussie Lobster Men (PGR) 8.30 Ice Cold Gold (PGR) 9.30 Chasing Monsters (G) 10.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 11.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 12.30am Programmes continue

9.55 Black Clash Replay (C) 1.40 Top Gear (PGR, HD, C) 2.40 Two and a Half Men (PGR, HD, C) s4ep15 3.05 American Pickers (G, HD) 3.55 The Chase Australia (G, HD, C) 4.45 Funny You Should Ask (G, HD) 5.05 ABC World News (PGR) 5.30 Top Gear (PGR, HD, C) 6.30 The Big Bang Theory (PGR, HD, C) s2ep18 7.00 Two and a Half Men (PGR, HD, C) s4ep16 7.30 The Simpsons (G, HD, C) Homer coaches the pee-wee football team. s9ep7 8.30 Inside the Bomb Squad (AO, HD) Following the training of Britain’s bomb disposal units. 9.35 Ambulance Australia (AO, HD, C) There is a suspected terror incident, and a bushfire in north-western Sydney. 10.35 – 12.25am American Pickers (G, HD)

SKY PREMIERE SKY 030

MOVIES EXTRA SKY 031

MOVIES VINTAGE SKY 035

RIALTO SKY 039

The Butterfly Tree (2017, M) Melissa George, Ewen Leslie 9.05 Blinded by the Light (2019, M) Viveik Kalra 11.05 The Public (2019, M) Alec Baldwin, Taylor Schilling 1.05 Angel Has Fallen (2019, 16) Gerard Butler 3.08 The Art of Self Defense (2018, 16) Jesse Eisenberg 4.56 Crypto (2019, 16) Beau Knapp, Kurt Russell 6.41 The Lodge (2019, 16) Riley Keough, Richard Armitage 8.30 Brahms: The Boy II (2020, M) A young family moves into a mansion where their young son finds a lifelike doll he calls Brahms. Katie Holmes, Owain Yeoman 10.00 Killers Anonymous (2019, 16) A support group for killers tries to unravel the mystery of a high-profile assassination attempt. Gary Oldman, Jessica Alba 11.35 Poms (2019, PG) Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver 1.05am Finding Steve McQueen (2018, M) 2.35 The Art of Self Defense (2018, 16) 4.16 Crypto (2019, 16) 5.58 Elvis Goes There: Ryan Coogler (2019, M)

7.22

A Million Little Pieces (2019, 18) Aaron Taylor-Johnson 9.11 Culture Shock (2018, 16) Martha Higareda 10.40 Camp Cold Brook (2018, M) Chad Michael Murray 12.09 Apparition (2019) (2019, M) Mena Suvari, Kevin Pollak 1.33 Supercon (2018, 16) Maggie Grace, Clancy Brown 3.15 Redcon-1 (2018, 18) Oris Erhuero, Carlos Gallardo 5.10 Capone (2020, 18) Tom Hardy, Linda Cardellini 6.55 Safe Spaces (2019, M) Justin Long, Fran Drescher 8.30 An Affair to Die For (2018, 16) An adulterous couple are forced to play a twisted game of survival with their captor. Claire Forlani, Jake Abel, Titus Welliver 9.55 For Love or Money (2019, 16) A man discovers his fiancée is plotting against him. Robert Kazinsky 11.30 I’m Just F*cking with You (2018, 16) Keir O’Donnell, Hayes MacArthur 12.55am Domino (2019, 18) 2.25 Redcon-1 (2018, 18) 4.23 A Princess for Christmas (2011, PG) 5.56 Capone (2020, 18)

7.00

6.10

6.30 9.00 9.30 10.00 10.30 11.00 Noon 12.30 1.00

7.25

84

Coyote Peterson may have become known for forcing animals to sting and bite him on YouTube, but one billion views later, perhaps the pain was worth it. His show begins in Australia, where there are eels, turtles and snakes. CHOICE TV, 3.30pm

The War of the Worlds (1953, PG) Gene Barry 8.25 Loving Couples (1980, PG) Shirley MacLaine 10.05 Gunfight at the O.K. Corral (1957, PG) Burt Lancaster 12.05 Ragtime (1981, PG) James Cagney, Howard E Rollins Jr 2.40 The War of the Worlds (1953, PG) Gene Barry 4.05 Funny Face (1957, G) Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire 5.50 The Alamo (1960, PG) John Wayne, Richard Widmark 8.30 A Bridge Too Far (1977, PG) Based on the story of Operation Market Garden in World War II, a plan to drop troops behind enemy lines in the Netherlands. James Caan, Michael Caine, Dirk Bogarde, Sean Connery, Edward Fox 11.20 The Greatest Show on Earth (1952, G) A circus ringmaster and an egotistical trapeze artist compete for the love of a pretty acrobat. Betty Hutton, Charlton Heston, James Stewart, Dorothy Lamour 1.50am Funny Face (1957, G) 3.35 The Alamo (1960, PG)

Blazing Sun (1960, M) Alain Delon 8.05 The Lion in Winter (1968, M) Peter O’Toole 10.20 The Clovehitch Killer (2018, 16) Dylan McDermott 12.10 Be Natural: The Untold Story of Alice Guy-Blache (2018, PG) Documentary. 1.55 Bad Banks (16) s2ep3&4 3.50 Unstoppable: Sean Scully and the Art of Everything (2018, M) UK documentary. 5.15 Hannah (2017, M) Charlotte Rampling 6.50 Call Her Ganda (2019, 16) Philippine documentary. 8.30 Don’t Look Now (1973, 16) A couple grieving the death of their daughter are given a warning by a psychic. Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland 10.20 Stieg Larsson: The Man Who Played with Fire (2018, 16) Swedish documentary about Millennium trilogy author Stieg Larsson. 12.00am The Reports on Sarah & Saleem (2018, 16) 2.10 Don’t Look Now (1973, M) 4.00 Call Her Ganda (2019, 16) 5.40 Unstoppable: Sean Scully and the Art of Everything (2018, M)

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

WEDNESDAY JANUARY 27

SKY CHANNELS Vibe SKY 006 6.00 Blue Bloods (M) s5ep3 6.50 Judge Judy (PG) 7.15 Scandal (M) s5ep12 8.05 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep20 8.50 Murdoch Mysteries (M) 9.40 Cold Case (M) 10.35 Judge Judy (PG) 11.25 The Brokenwood Mysteries (M) s3ep2 1.00 The Pale Horse (M) s1ep1 2.00 Scandal (M) s5ep12 2.50 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep20 3.40 Murdoch Mysteries (M) 4.30 Judge Judy (PG) 5.30 Blue Bloods (M) s5ep3 6.30 Cold Case (M) 7.30 The Sounds (M) s1ep2 8.30 Fosse/Verdon (M) Gwen struggles to overcome personal and professional setbacks. s1ep4 9.30 White House Farm (18) A highly polarising trial begins. s1ep6 10.30 Cold Case (M) 11.30 Judge Judy (PG) 12.00am Programmes continue

UKTV SKY 007 6.35 QI (PG) 7.05 EastEnders (PG) 7.35 The Graham Norton Show (M) s21ep2 8.25 The Bill (M) 9.15 A Touch of Frost (M) s9ep2 10.35 Father Brown (M) s2ep4 11.20 Call the Midwife (M) 12.15 Midsomer Murders (M) s14ep3 1.45 The Bill (M) 2.40 New Tricks (M) s4ep4 3.35 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (M) 4.30 The Graham Norton Show (M) s21ep3 5.25 Who Do You Think You Are? (PG) 6.30 QI (PG) 7.00 EastEnders (PG) 7.30 QI (M) 8.00 Would I Lie to You? (PG) 8.35 The Good Karma Hospital (PG) The clinic struggles when a building collapses. s2ep5 9.30 Holby City (M) s19ep55 10.35 Hold the Sunset (PG) s1ep1 11.10 Midsomer Murders (M) s14ep3 12.45am Programmes continue

SoHo SKY 010 6.15 Animal Kingdom (16) s3ep10 7.00 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (M) s7ep20 7.35 A Discovery of Witches (M) s2ep3 8.35 Your Honor (16) s1ep7 9.35 Shameless (18) s11ep4 10.35 Succession (16) s1ep9 11.35 Dublin Murders (16) s1ep1 12.35 Animal Kingdom (16) s3ep10 1.20 SoHo on Set (M) 1.30 A Discovery of Witches (M) s2ep3 2.30 Your Honor (16) s1ep7 3.30 Shameless (18) s11ep4 4.30 Succession (16) s1ep9 5.30 Dublin Murders (16) s1ep1 6.30 A Million Little Things (M) s3ep5 7.30 The Affair (16) s4ep6 8.30 Yellowstone (16) The Duttons deal with a painful family anniversary, and Rainwater makes an ominous threat. s1ep3 9.30 The Good Lord Bird (18) Onion and Bob cross paths with pro-slavery “red shirts”. s1ep2 10.30 Get Shorty (16) s2ep9 11.30 Strike Back (18) s6ep9 12.20am Programmes continue

Living SKY 017 6.00 Selling Houses Australia (G) 6.50 Escape to the Country (PG) 7.40 Long Lost Family UK (PG) 8.35 Grand Designs New Zealand (PG) 10.25 Salvage Hunters (PG) 11.20 Great Asian Railway Journeys (PG) 12.25 Location Location Location Australia (G) 1.20 Escape to the Country (PG) 2.10 Salvage Hunters (PG) 3.00 Long Lost Family UK (PG) 3.55 Garden Rescue (PG) 4.50 Salvage Hunters (PG) 5.45 Selling Houses Australia (G) 6.40 Location Location Location Australia (G) 7.30 Gardening Australia (PG) 8.40 Love Your Garden (PG) In Guildford, Alan and the team create a family garden that isn’t a primary-coloured plastic eyesore for the grown-ups. 9.35 Location Location Location (PG) 10.25 Love It or List It Australia (PG) 11.20 Grand Designs New Zealand (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

Food Network SKY 018 6.00 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 6.55 Restaurant: Impossible (PG) 7.50 Mystery Diners (PG) 8.45 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 9.10 Trisha’s Southern Kitchen (PG) 9.35 Kids Baking Championship (PG) 10.25 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 10.50 Symon’s Dinners: Cooking Out (PG) 11.15 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 11.40 Cake Boss 12.05 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 1.00 Tournament of Champions (PG) 1.55 Mystery Diners (PG)

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

2.50 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 3.45 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 4.10 Trisha’s Southern Kitchen (PG) 4.35 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 5.00 The Pioneer Woman: Home Sweet Home (PG) 5.25 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 5.50 Cake Boss 6.40 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 7.35 United States of Burgers 8.30 Chopped Junior (PG) 9.25 Supermarket Stakeout (PG) 10.20 Cake Boss 10.50 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 11.45 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 12.40am Programmes continue

Sky Arts SKY 020 6.00 Robert Doisneau: Through the Lens 7.00 The Flatey Enigma 8.00 Let Me Capture Your World 9.00 The Man Who Shot Tutankhamun (PG) 10.00 Handmade in the Pacific 10.50 Up to the Sky 11.20 Imitating Life 12.30 Playing Frisbee in North Korea 1.30 Danceworks 2.00 Robert Doisneau: Through the Lens 3.00 The Flatey Enigma 4.00 Verbier 2018: Seong-Jin Cho Recital 5.30 Valery Gergiev Conducts Bruckner No 9 6.35 Beyond Perfection: The Pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli 7.55 Yuja Wang: The Berlin Recital 8.55 Gustavo Dudamel Conducts Mahler No 2 10.30 Baden Baden 2019: Verdi Requiem 12.00am Programmes continue

Discovery SKY 070 6.35 Fast N’ Loud (PG) 7.30 Secrets of the Underground (PG) 8.20 Expedition Unknown (PG) 9.10 Lost Secrets (PG) 10.00 How Do They Do It? (PG) 10.50 How It’s Made (PG) 11.40 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 12.30 Murder Comes to Town (M) 1.20 American Monster (M) 2.10 Top Gear (PG) 3.00 Alaska: The Last Frontier (PG) 3.50 Gold Rush (PG) 4.45 Fast N’ Loud (PG) 5.40 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 6.35 Homestead Rescue (PG) 8.30 100 Days Wild (M) 9.25 Barnwood Builders (PG) 10.15 Moonshiners (M) 11.05 Naked and Afraid (M) 11.55 How It’s Made (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

National Geographic SKY 072 6.30 Only in Oz (PG) 8.30 Gathering Storm (PG) 10.30 Witness to Disaster (M) 12.30 Food Factory (PG) 1.30 Drain the Oceans: Deep Dive (PG) 2.30 Nazi Megastructures: America’s War (PG) 4.30 Seconds from Disaster (PG) 6.30 Mega Factories 7.30 Lost Treasures of Egypt (PG) 8.30 30 for 30: Be Water (PG) Documentary about Bruce Lee. 10.30 X-Ray Earth (PG) 11.30 Celebration Nation (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

History SKY 073 6.30 Aussie Inventions That Changed the World (PG) 7.30 Greatest Cities of the World 8.30 Time Team 9.30 Australia in Colour (PG) 10.30 The Nile: 5000 Years of History (PG) 11.30 Outlawed: The Real Ned Kelly (PG) 12.30 Coast Australia (PG) 1.30 WWII: Witness to War (PG) 2.30 Nazi Collaborators (M) 3.30 The Machinery of War (PG) 4.30 Impossible Peace (M) 5.30 Titanic: Stories from the Deep (PG) 6.30 Abandoned Engineering (PG) 7.30 Navy Seals: Their Untold Story (M) 9.30 Coast Australia (PG) 10.30 Oskar Schindler: The Man Behind the List (PG) 11.30 Project Nazi (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

BBC Earth SKY 074 6.00 Grizzly Bear Cubs & Me (PG) 6.55 Life Below Zero (M) 7.45 Where the Wild Men Are (PG) 8.35 Animal Impossible (PG) 9.30 Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities (PG) 9.55 Embarrassing Illnesses (M) 10.45 The Dog Rescuers (PG) 11.30 24 Hours in A&E (PG) 12.20 Blue Planet (PG) 1.10 The Hunt: The Making of (PG) 1.20 Embarrassing Illnesses (M) 2.10 Animal Impossible (PG) 3.05 Grizzly Bear Cubs & Me (PG) 4.00 My Year with the Tribe (M) 5.05 Life Below Zero (M) 6.00 Where the Wild Men Are (PG) 6.50 The Dog Rescuers (PG) 7.40 24 Hours in A&E (PG) 8.30 Fabulous Frogs (PG) 9.35 Animal Attraction (PG) 10.35 Blue Planet (PG) 11.30 The Hunt: The Making of (PG) 11.40 Wild Thailand (PG) 12.40am Programmes continue

History: Oskar Schindler: The Man Behind the List, 10.30pm

SKY SPORT Sky Sport 1 SKY 051 6.00 The Pod: Andrew Mehrtens 7.30 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, highlights 1.30 Condor 7s, day 1, highlights from King’s College, Auckland 3.00 Condor 7s, day 2 highlights from King’s College, Auckland 4.30 World Schools 7s, highlights from Pakuranga Rugby Club, Auckland 6.00 Highlanders’ Greatest Games 8.00 30 for 30: Once Brothers: Documentary about NBA players Croatian Dražen Petrovic and Serbian Vlade Divac 9.30 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Harlequins v Munster, replay from Twickenham Stoop, London 11.30 Highlanders’ Greatest Games 1.30am Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, highlights 2.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, highlights 2.30 World Schools 7s, highlights 4.00 The Pod: Andrew Mehrtens 5.30 Rugby, Currie Cup, final, replay

Sky Sport 2 SKY 052 6.00 2 Nations, 1 Obsession 8.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Brisbane Heat v Perth Scorchers, replay from the SCG, Sydney 11.30 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Hobart Hurricanes, replay from the MCG, Melbourne 3.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers, replay from the MCG, Melbourne 6.30 Australia Women v India Women, ODI, highlights 7.30 Australia Women v India Women, ODI, highlights 8.30 Cricket, Big Bash League, Brisbane Heat v Perth Scorchers, highlights from the SCG, Sydney 9.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Hobart Hurricanes, highlights from the MCG, Melbourne 9.30 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers, highlights rom the MCG, Melbourne 10.00 South Africa Women v Pakistan Women, 3rd ODI, replay from Pietermaritzburg Oval 5.00am Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Hobart Hurricanes highlights 5.30 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers, highlights

Sky Sport 3 SKY 053 6.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 4, semi-finals, highlights 7.30 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 5, finals, 8.30 Tennis, 2019 Australian Open, men’s doubles final, replay 9.55 Tennis, 2019 Australian Open, men’s final, Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal, replay 1.00 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 2, r16, highlights 2.00 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 3, quarter-finals, highlights 3.00 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 4, semi-finals, highlights 4.00 Badminton, BWF Toyota Thailand Open, day 5, finals, highlights 5.00 Badminton, BWF HSBC World Tour Finals, day 1, Group, from Impact Arena, Bangkok, live 3.00am Tennis, 2018 Australian Open, men’s singles 4th round, Novak Djokovic v Hyeon Chung, highlights 3.30 Tennis, 2019 Australian Open, men’s final, Novak Djokovic v Rafael Nadal, replay

85

THURSDAY JANUARY 28

TODAY'S PICKS

Going backwards: DEVOLUTION: A DEVO THEORY The idea of devolution stretches all the way back to the shootings at Kent State University in 1970: “We came to the conclusions that humans were de-evolving,” says Devo founder and bass player Gerald Casale in this documentary about the art-rock band who couched serious messages in surreal humour. Sadly, nothing in the past 40 years has disavowed them of this notion and in this documentary, remaining members of the band reﬂect back. “What the hell happened?” says one. The ﬁlm also follows as the band remix their 1981 classic Beautiful World. SKY ARTS, 8.30pm

Just breathe: GREY’S ANATOMY How does a medical show keep relevant after 16 years? Luckily, a global pandemic came along in time for Grey’s Anatomy’s 17th season, which has gone all-out on Covid emergency storylines. There’s a genuine feeling of anger at the real-world situation in the US, as patients die, PPE doesn’t arrive – or when it does, it’s just boxes and boxes of shoe covers – and doctors succumb to the virus. One character has lost their mum and the biggest cliﬀhanger of all is whether Meredith Grey herself will become one of the 390,000. TVNZ OnDemand has the ﬁrst six episodes of the season; it is due to resume on March 4 in the US. TVNZ ONDEMAND

TVNZ 1 FREEVIEW 1 SKY 001

TVNZ 2 FREEVIEW 2 SKY 002

THREE FREEVIEW 3 SKY 003

6.00 Breakfast (HD, C) With John Campbell and Jenny-May Clarkson. 9.00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show (PGR, C) 10.00 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? UK (G, R, HD, C) 11.00 The Chase (G, R, HD, C) Noon 1 News (HD, C) 12.30 Emmerdale (PGR, HD, C) Laurel and Jai speak to the kids, Tracy has a plan to reunite Leyla and Liam, and Wendy is delighted by Victoria’s offer but Bob is disappointed. 1.00 Coronation Street (PGR, R, C, AD) 2.00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show (PGR, R, C) 3.00 Tipping Point (G, R, HD, C) Ben Shephard hosts a UK quiz show. 4.00 Te Karere (HD) A Māori perspective on the day’s news and current affairs. 4.30 Embarrassing Pets (G, R, HD, C) Holly and Jake need help controlling their high-speed husky Luna, and Zuri the burmese mountain dog has an ongoing problem with sore paws and stinky ears. 5.00 The Chase (G, HD, C) Bradley Walsh hosts a UK quiz show. 6.00 1 News (HD, C) 7.00 The Repair Shop (PGR, HD, C) UK series in which expert craftspeople restore treasured items. 7.25 Drop a Stone in a Month (G, HD, C, AD) UK series in which presenter Ruth Langsford investigates diets and invites 12 people to test some of the most extreme weight-loss programmes under the supervision of GP Dr Amir Khan. 8.30 George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (G, R, HD, C, AD) In Suffolk, George meets Simon, who wants to thank his mum Carole by converting a railway cattle carriage into a luxury mobile holiday home fit for a queen. 9.30 Coronation Street (PGR, C, AD) 10.30 1 News Tonight (HD, C) 11.00 The Late Cut Cricket Show (PGR, HD) Ben Hurley and the Alternative Commentary Collective discuss the latest from the world of cricket. 11.30 ■ Gate to the Globe (G, R, HD, C) New Zealand venison being served to the rich and famous in the tallest building in the world. 12.00am Inconceivable (PGR, R, HD) Documentary about Kiwi couples trying to conceive. 12.50 Te Karere (R, HD) 1.15 Infomercials 5.35 – 6.00 Te Karere (R, HD)

6.00 Les Mills Born to Move (G, HD, C) 6.25 Rescue Bots Academy (G, HD, C) 6.50 Bluey (G, R, HD, C) 6.55 Masha’s Tales (G, HD, C) 7.00 Littlest Pet Shop (G, R, HD, C) 7.25 The Deep (G, R, HD, C) 7.50 Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (G, R, HD, C) 8.15 MyaGo (G, R, HD, C) 8.20 The Wiggles’ World (G, R, HD, C, AD) 8.30 Sesame Street (G, HD, C) 9.00 Infomercials 9.30 Religious Programming 10.00 Neighbours (G, R, HD, C) 10.25 American Housewife (PGR, R, HD, C) 10.55 The Amazing Race Australia (PGR, R, HD, C) s4ep9 12.05 Selling Houses Australia (G, R, HD, C) 1.05 Judge Rinder (G, R, HD) 2.05 The Middle (G, R, HD, C) 3.00 Shortland Street (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 3.35 Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel (G, HD, C) 4.00 The Worst Witch (C) 4.30 Friends (G, R, HD, C) s1ep18 5.00 The Simpsons (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) s29ep16 5.30 The Big Bang Theory (G, R, HD, C) s2ep7 6.00 Neighbours (G, HD, C) Jane gets help from an unexpected place, Nicolette tells Chloe a painful truth, and Toadie makes an unusual friend. 6.30 Ten 7 Summer (PGR, HD, C) Some of the biggest cases and best moments on the past season. 7.00 Shortland Street (PGR, HD, C, AD) It’s all about Eve, Esther aches, and Marty comes clean. 7.30 ■ Junior MasterChef Australia (G, HD, C) Australia’s Junior MasterChef 2020 is crowned and takes home $25,000 in prize money. s3ep13 9.00 ■ CHiPs (2017, AO, R, HD, C, AD) Two completely different cops are forced to work together. Dax Shepherd, Michael Peña, Rosa Salazar. TV Films, page 70 11.05 Ambulance Australia (PGR, R, HD, C) A surfing incident leaves a young girl with a suspected spinal injury. 12.10am Gordon Ramsay’s 24Hrs to Hell and Back (AO, R, HD, C) 1.05 Hell’s Kitchen (AO, R, HD, C) 1.55 Shortland Street (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 2.20 Infomercials 3.25 2 Overnight 4.15 The Middle (G, R, HD, C) 4.35 Neighbours (G, R, HD, C) 5.00 – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 The AM Show (HD) With Duncan Garner, Amanda Gillies and Mark Richardson. 9.00 Infomercials 10.25 Celebrity MasterChef UK (G, HD, C) s14ep9 11.00 Peter Kuruvita’s Coastal Kitchen (G, HD, C) s1ep3 11.30 Find Me a Dream Home Australia (G, HD) s1ep8 Noon Flip Wars: Buying Blind (G, HD) s1ep7 1.00 ■ Road Less Traveled (2017, PGR, HD, C) A country music singer returns to Tennessee a week before her wedding. Lauren Alaina, Donny Boaz. 3.00 Bondi Vet (G, HD, C) s7ep13 4.00 Duck Dynasty (PGR, HD, C) s8ep14 4.30 Newshub Live (HD) 5.00 Millionaire Hot Seat (G, R, HD) 6.00 Newshub Live (HD) 7.00 The Project (HD) With Kanoa Lloyd, Jesse Mulligan and Jeremy Corbett. 7.30 Grand Designs NZ: Signature Series (PGR, R, HD, C) A couple want to create a massive Italian-style villa. s4ep4 8.30 The Graham Norton Show (AO, HD, C) With Gal Gadot, Claudia Winkleman, Jennifer Saunders, Tessa Thompson, Lee Mack, Nicola Coughlan and McFly. s28ep10 9.35 ■ Live at the Apollo (AO, HD, C) s6ep5 10.35 Newshub Late 11.05 Blue Bloods (AO, HD, C) s8ep14 12.00am – 6.00 Infomercials

■ NEW ■ RETURN ■ FINAL ■ FILM

86

PRIME FREEVIEW 10 SKY 004 6.00 Kids’ Programmes (G, R) 9.00 Portrait Artist of the Year (G, R, C) 10.00 The Doctors (PGR, R) 11.00 Hot Bench (PGR) 11.30 Truck Night in America (PGR, R, C) 12.30 The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice (G, R, C) 1.30 Married … with Children (PGR, R) 2.00 The Late Show (PGR, R) 3.00 Judge Judy (PGR) 3.30 Jeopardy (G, R) 4.00 American Pickers (PGR) 5.00 Everybody Loves Raymond (PGR, R, C) 5.30 Prime News 6.00 ISPS Handa Premiership Highlights (G) 6.30 A-League Highlights (G) 7.00 The Crowd Goes Wild 7.30 ■ Inside the Tower of London (PGR, R, C) 8.30 Classic Albums: Tears for Fears (AO, C) 9.45 Evil (AO, C) 10.40 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (PGR) 11.40 – 12.15am QI (PGR, R)

C Captions AD Audio Description HD High Definition LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

THURSDAY JANUARY 28

MĀORI TV FREEVIEW 5 SKY 019

Unconventional: VITA & VIRGINIA Chanya Button’s ﬁlm about the love aﬀair that inspired Virginia Woolf’s Orlando is scripted by the inimitable Eileen Atkins. Woolf and Vita SackvilleWest “were living in a way that would be progressive even for now”, says Button. RIALTO, 5.15pm

Kids’ Programmes (G) Kai with Anne Thorp (G, R) Ōpaki (G) Iwi Anthems (G, R) Whānau Living (G, R) Taringa (G, R) It’s in the Bag (G, R) Ngā Pari Kārangaranga o te Motu (G, R) 1.30 Ako (G, R) 2.00 Tōku Reo (G, R) 3.00 Kids’ Programmes (G) 6.30 Te Ao I Te Raumati (R) 7.30 On Country Kitchen (G, R) Derek Nannup and Mark Olive explore Western Australia produce. 8.00 Rage Against the Rangatahi (G) Tonight, money: who has it, who doesn’t, and who is marrying for it. 8.30 Waiata Nation (G, R) Meto merges her Māori and Samoan cultures in her waiata. 9.00 The Barber (PGR, R) Series featuring Hastings barber Peleti Oli-Alainu’uese. 9.30 Tongue Tied (AO, R) Sitcom about a Māori language class. Nehmet gives Barry a koha when his choc-box is stolen. 10.00 He Aha to Say? (G, R) Do you have to speak Naati to be Naati? And which woman makes the list of master Ngāti Porou orators? 10.30 – 11.30 Te Ao I Te Raumati (R)

BRAVO FREEVIEW 4 SKY 012

CHOICE TV FREEVIEW 12 SKY 024 TVNZ DUKE FREEVIEW 13 SKY 023

6.00 Infomercials 10.00 I Found the Gown (G, R) 10.35 How to Look Good Naked USA (PGR, R) 11.30 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 12.30 The People’s Court (G, R) 1.30 The Real Housewives of Orange County (R) s10ep5 2.30 Vanderpump Rules (R) 3.30 Hoarders (PGR, R) s3ep13 4.30 David Tutera’s Celebrations (G, R) 5.30 Face Off (PGR, R) s7ep9 6.30 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 7.30 Tattoo Fixers (AO) Lou helps a tomboy who has a vulgar phrase tattooed on her leg. 8.30 Below Deck (AO) The repercussions of Rachel’s decision cause uncertainty. 9.30 The Real Housewives of Orange County (AO) 10.30 Snapped (AO, R) 11.25 The Case of Caylee Anthony (AO, R) 12.15am – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 Sarah Off the Grid (G) 7.00 Nigella Bites (G) 7.30 Jamie’s Quick and Easy Food (G) 8.00 Coyote Peterson: Brave the Wild (G) 9.00 Collectors Candy (G) 10.00 Gordon Ramsay Ultimate Home Cooking (G) 10.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 11.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 12.30 Aussie Lobster Men (PGR) 1.30 Ice Cold Gold (PGR) 2.30 Chasing Monsters (G) 3.30 Dr Dee Alaska Vet (PGR) 4.30 Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club (G) 5.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 6.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 7.30 Forged in Fire (PGR) 8.30 First Man Out (PGR) 9.30 Alone Redemption (PGR) 10.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 11.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 12.30am Programmes continue

1.40pm Top Gear (PGR, HD, C) 2.40 Two and a Half Men (PGR, HD, C) s4ep16 3.05 American Pickers (G, HD) 3.55 The Chase Australia (G, HD, C) 4.45 Funny You Should Ask (G, HD) 5.05 ABC World News (PGR) 5.30 Top Gear (PGR, HD, C) 6.30 The Big Bang Theory (PGR, HD, C) s2ep19 7.00 Two and a Half Men (PGR, HD, C) s4ep17 7.30 The Simpsons (G, HD, C) 8.30 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (AO, HD, C) 9.35 The Late Cut Cricket Show (PGR, HD) With Ben Hurley. 10.05 The Last Leg (AO) With Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker. 11.05 Late Night Big Breakfast (AO, HD, C) 11.35 Snort Live (AO, HD, C) 12.00am – 12.35 Late Night DUKEbox Music

SKY PREMIERE SKY 030

MOVIES EXTRA SKY 031

MOVIESVINTAGE SKY 035

RIALTO SKY 039

The Lodge (2019, 16) Riley Keough, Richard Armitage 8.37 Brahms: The Boy 2 (2020, M) Katie Holmes 10.05 Killers Anonymous (2019, 16) Gary Oldman, Jessica Alba 11.40 Poms (2019, PG) Diane Keaton, Jacki Weaver 1.10 Finding Steve McQueen (2018, M) Travis Fimmel 2.40 Phoenix, Oregon (2019, 16) James Le Gros 4.30 Papillon (2019, 16) Charlie Hunnam, Rami Malek 6.40 Birds of Prey (2020, 16) Margot Robbie 8.30 Survive the Night (2019, 16) A disgraced doctor and his family are held hostage in their home by a wounded gunman and his unhinged brother. Bruce Willis, Chad Michael Murray 10.05 Shot Caller (2017, 16) A successful businessman is sentenced to a maximum security prison. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Omari Hardwick 12.05am The Way Back (2020, M) 1.50 Christmas in Montana (2019, PG) 3.10 Phoenix, Oregon (2019, 16) 5.00 Papillon (2019, 16)

7.41

Safe Spaces (2019, M) Justin Long, Fran Drescher 9.15 An Affair to Die For (2018, 16) Claire Forlani, Jake Abel 10.41 For Love or Money (2019, 16) Robert Kazinsky 12.16 Domino (2019, 18) Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Guy Pearce 1.49 A Royal Christmas Ball (2017, PG) Tara Reid 3.21 Into the Ashes (2019, 16) Luke Grimes, Robert Taylor 5.01 They’re Inside (2019, 18) Karli Hall, Amanda Kathleen Ward 6.26 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019, M) Jimmie Fails, Danny Glover 8.30 Level 16 (2018, 16) Two teens in a prison-like boarding school search for the truth behind their captivity. Katie Douglas, Celina Martin 10.15 They Come Knocking (2018, 16) On a road trip, a father and his daughters are tormented by the supernatural. Clayne Crawford 11.40 Teen Spirit (2019, PG) Elle Fanning, Zlatko Buric 1.15am The Dark Tapes (2018, 16) 2.55 A Royal Christmas Ball (2017, PG) 4.25 Into the Ashes (2019, 16)

6.15

7.05

6.30 9.00 9.30 10.00 10.30 11.00 12.30 1.00

6.52

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

Hollywood Singing and Dancing (2009, PG) The 1970s. 7.10 The Greatest Show on Earth (1952, G) Betty Hutton 9.40 A Bridge Too Far (1977, PG) James Caan, Michael Caine 12.35 Funny Face (1957, G) Audrey Hepburn, Fred Astaire 2.20 The Greatest Show on Earth (1952, G) Betty Hutton 4.50 High Noon (1952, G) Gary Cooper, Thomas Mitchell 6.15 Zulu (1964, PG) Michael Caine, Stanley Baker 8.30 The High and Mighty (1954, PG) When a flight from Hawaii to California loses an engine and the pilot goes to pieces, it’s up to the washedup co-pilot to bring the plane in safely. John Wayne, Claire Trevor, Laraine Day, Robert Stack 10.55 The Pink Panther (1964, PG) Inspector Clouseau is hot on the trail of a burglar who is scheming to steal the rare Pink Panther gem. Peter Sellers, David Niven 12.50am High Noon (1952, G) 2.12 Zulu (1964, PG) 4.27 The High and Mighty (1954, PG)

Hannah (2017, M) Charlotte Rampling 8.40 Stieg Larsson: The Man Who Played with Fire (2018, 16) Swedish documentary. 10.20 Call Her Ganda (2019, 16) Philippine documentary. Noon Don’t Look Now (1973, M) Julie Christie 1.50 Bad Banks (16) s2ep5&6 3.40 Martin Margiela: In His Own Words (2019, M) German documentary. 5.15 Vita & Virginia (2018, M) Gemma Arterton 7.05 Paranoid Park (2007, M) Gabe Nevins 8.30 Rialto Documentary: Wrinkles the Clown (2019, M) US documentary about a clown who likes to scare misbehaving children in Florida. 9.50 Mean Dreams (2016, 16) Two teenagers desperate to escape their abusive homes go on the run. Josh Wiggins 11.35 Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall (2019, 16) UK documentary. 1.05am Bad Banks (16) s2ep5&6 2.55 Paranoid Park (2007, M) 4.20 Mean Dreams (2016, 16)

87

THURSDAY JANUARY 28

SKY CHANNELS Vibe SKY 006 6.00 Blue Bloods (M) s5ep4 6.50 Judge Judy (PG) 7.15 Scandal (M) s5ep13 8.05 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep21 8.50 Murdoch Mysteries (M) 9.35 Cold Case (M) 10.20 Judge Judy (PG) 11.05 Fosse/ Verdon (M) s1ep4 12.05 White House Farm (18) s1ep6 1.05 The Sounds (M) s1ep2 2.00 Scandal (M) s5ep13 2.50 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep21 3.40 Murdoch Mysteries (M) 4.30 Judge Judy (PG) 5.30 Blue Bloods (M) s5ep4 6.30 Cold Case (M) 7.30 ■ Fixer Upper Mysteries: Deadly Deed (2018, PG) A body is found inside the mansion that Shannon is renovating. Jewel Kilcher. 9.15 A Million Little Things (M) s2ep4 10.15 Cold Case (M) 11.15 Judge Judy (PG) 11.45 ■ Fixer Upper Mysteries: Deadly Deed (2018, PG) 1.25am Programmes continue

UKTV SKY 007 6.15 Father Brown (M) s2ep2 7.00 EastEnders (PG) 7.30 The Graham Norton Show (M) s21ep3 8.20 The Bill (M) 9.10 A Touch of Frost (16) s10ep1 10.55 Father Brown (M) s2ep5 11.40 Call the Midwife (M) 12.35 Midsomer Murders (M) s14ep4 2.05 The Bill (M) 3.00 New Tricks (M) s4ep5 3.55 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (M) 4.50 The Graham Norton Show (M) s21ep4 5.45 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (PG) 6.30 QI (PG) 7.00 EastEnders (PG) 7.30 QI (M) With Jo Brand, Rich Hall and Phil Kay. 8.00 Would I Lie to You? (M) 8.30 The Windsors: Inside the Royal Dynasty (PG) s1ep3 9.20 The Graham Norton Show (M) With Whoopi Goldberg, Jamie Dornan, Rosamund Pike, Harry Connick Jr, and BTS. s24ep3 10.20 Doc Martin (PG) s9ep4 11.15 Midsomer Murders (M) s14ep4 12.50am Programmes continue

SoHo SKY 010 6.20 A Million Little Things (M) s3ep5 7.20 The Affair (16) s4ep6 8.20 Yellowstone (16) s1ep3 9.20 The Good Lord Bird (18) 10.20 Get Shorty (16) s2ep9 11.20 Strike Back (18) s6ep9 12.10 Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (M) s7ep26 12.40 A Million Little Things (M) s3ep5 1.40 The Affair (16) s4ep6 2.40 Yellowstone (16) s1ep3 3.40 The Good Lord Bird (18) 4.40 Get Shorty (16) s2ep9 5.40 Strike Back (18) s6ep9 6.30 A Discovery of Witches (M) s2ep3 7.30 Your Honor (16) s1ep7 8.30 Pete Holmes: Dirty Clean (16) Comedy special. 9.30 Animal Kingdom (16) Frankie lures Craig with the promise of another big score. s4ep2 10.15 SoHo on Set (M) Watchmen. 10.25 Escape at Dannemora (18) s1ep1 11.30 Yellowstone (16) s1ep2 12.30am Programmes continue

Living SKY 017 6.00 Selling Houses Australia (G) 6.55 Escape to the Country (PG) 7.45 Long Lost Family UK (PG) 8.40 Grand Designs New Zealand (PG) 10.30 Love Your Garden (PG) 11.20 Gardening Australia (PG) 12.25 Location Location Location Australia (G) 1.20 Escape to the Country (PG) 2.10 Location Location Location (PG) 3.00 Long Lost Family UK (PG) 3.55 Garden Rescue (PG) 4.50 Love Your Garden (PG) 5.45 Selling Houses Australia (G) 6.40 Location Location Location Australia (G) 7.35 Escape to the Country (PG) 8.30 Ugly House to Lovely House with George Clarke (PG) 10.30 Grand Designs New Zealand (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

Food Network SKY 018 6.00 Bobby Flay’s Barbecue Addiction (PG) 6.50 The Pioneer Woman: Home Sweet Home (PG) 7.15 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 7.45 Chopped Junior (PG) 8.40 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 9.05 Trisha’s Southern Kitchen (PG) 9.30 Kids Baking Championship (PG) 10.20 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 10.45 The Pioneer Woman: Home Sweet Home (PG) 11.10 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 11.35 Cake Boss Noon Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 1.00 Supermarket Stakeout (PG) 1.55 Chopped Junior

88

(PG) 2.50 Beat Bobby Flay (PG) 3.45 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 4.10 Trisha’s Southern Kitchen (PG) 4.35 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 5.00 Symon’s Dinners: Cooking Out (PG) 5.25 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 5.50 Cake Boss 6.40 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 7.35 Wedding Cake Championship (PG) 9.25 Ridiculous Cakes (PG) 10.20 Cake Boss 10.45 Beat Bobby Flay (PG) 11.35 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

Sky Arts SKY 020 6.30 Baden Baden 2019: Verdi Requiem 8.00 Verbier 2018: Seong-Jin Cho Recital 9.30 Valery Gergiev Conducts Bruckner No 9 10.35 Beyond Perfection: The Pianist Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli 11.55 Yuja Wang: The Berlin Recital 12.55 Gustavo Dudamel Conducts Mahler No 2 2.30 Baden Baden 2019: Verdi Requiem 4.00 The Victorian House of Arts & Crafts 5.00 Fake or Fortune 6.00 This Is Art 7.00 Home Is Where the Art Is 7.45 Art of Architecture 8.30 Devolution: A Devo Theory 9.30 Great Film Composers 10.15 The Art of Architecture 10.55 Walking on Cars Plays Baloise Session 12.00am Programmes continue

Discovery SKY 070 6.35 Fast N’ Loud (PG) 7.30 Secrets of the Underground (PG) 8.20 Homestead Rescue (PG) 9.10 100 Days Wild (M) 10.00 How Do They Do It? (PG) 10.50 How It’s Made (PG) 11.40 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 12.30 Murder Comes to Town (M) 1.20 American Monster (M) 2.10 Top Gear (PG) 3.00 Gold Rush (PG) 4.45 Fast N’ Loud (PG) 5.40 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 6.35 Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail (PG) 8.30 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 10.15 Homestead Rescue (PG) 11.05 Naked and Afraid (M) 11.55 How It’s Made (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

National Geographic SKY 072 6.30 Mega Factories 7.30 Lost Treasures of Egypt (PG) 8.30 Gathering Storm (PG) 10.30 X-Ray Earth (PG) 11.30 Celebration Nation (PG) 12.30 Food Factory (PG) 1.30 Drain the Oceans: Deep Dive (PG) 2.30 Australia’s Great Flood (PG) 3.30 Air Crash Investigation (M) 5.30 Lost Treasures of Egypt (PG) 6.30 Mega Factories 7.30 Drain the Sunken War Machines (PG) 8.30 16th Man (PG) 9.30 Ghosts of Ole Miss (M) 10.30 Mine Kings (M) 12.30am Programmes continue

History SKY 073 6.30 Coast Australia (PG) 7.30 Oskar Schindler: The Man Behind the List (PG) 8.30 Time Team 9.30 Titanic: Stories from the Deep (PG) 10.30 Abandoned Engineering (PG) 11.30 Navy Seals: Their Untold Story (M) 1.30 Coast Australia (PG) 2.30 Nazi Collaborators (M) 3.30 The Machinery of War (PG) 4.30 Impossible Peace (M) 5.30 Ancient Skies (PG) 6.30 Abandoned Engineering (PG) 7.30 World War II in HD Colour (M) 8.30 Manhunt: Hunt for Bin Laden (M) 10.30 Einsatzgruppen: The Nazi Death Squads (16) 11.30 Dictatorships: Stalin (M) 12.30am Programmes continue

BBC Earth SKY 074 6.00 Grizzly Bear Cubs & Me (PG) 6.55 Life Below Zero (M) 7.45 Where the Wild Men Are (PG) 8.35 Animal Impossible (PG) 9.30 Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities (PG) 9.55 Embarrassing Bodies (M) 10.45 The Dog Rescuers (PG) 11.30 24 Hours in A&E (PG) 12.20 Blue Planet (PG) 1.10 The Hunt: The Making of (PG) 1.20 Embarrassing Bodies (M) 2.10 Animal Impossible (PG) 3.05 Grizzly Bear Cubs & Me (PG) 4.00 My Year with the Tribe (M) 5.05 Life Below Zero (M) 6.00 Where the Wild Men Are (PG) 6.50 The Dog Rescuers (PG) 7.40 24 Hours in A&E (PG) 8.30 Hotel Armadillo (PG) 9.30 Dynasties (PG) 10.25 Dynasties: The Making of (PG) 10.35 Blue Planet (PG) 11.30 The Hunt: The Making of (PG) 11.40 Wild Thailand (PG) 12.40am Programmes continue

BBC Earth: Hotel Armadillo, 8.30pm

SKY SPORT Sky Sport 1 SKY 051 6.00 The Pod: Mils Muliaina 7.00 Highlanders’ Greatest Games 9.00 Pacific Brothers: A wrap up of the past season of the sports chat show hosted by Oscar Kightley 10.00 Rugby, Charity Invitational, Blair Vining Invitational XV v New Zealand Parliamentary, highlights 11.30 Autumn Nations, England v France, replay from Twickenham, London 2.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Wasps v Dragons, replay from Ricoh Arena, Coventry 4.00 The Conversation: Highlanders’ coach Tony Brown 4.30 Rugby, Charity Invitational, Blair Vining Invitational XV v New Zealand Parliamentary, highlights 6.00 Highlanders’ Greatest Games 8.00 30 for 30: Winning Time: Documentay about NBA player Reggie Miller during the 1990s 9.30 Rugby, Currie Cup, final, replay 11.30 Japan Top League, Wild Knights v Kobelco Steelers, replay 1.30am Japan Top League, Suntory Sungoliath v Kubota Spears, replay 3.30 The Conversation: Highlanders’ coach Tony Brown 4.00 Highlanders’ Greatest Games

Sky Sport 2 SKY 052 6.00 Cricket’s Greatest Wonders and Blunders 7.30 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers, replay 11.00 Australia Women v India Women, ODI, highlights Noon Australia Women v India Women, ODI, highlights 1.00 Australia Women v India Women, ODI, live 9.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Brisbane Heat v Perth Scorchers, highlights 9.30 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Hobart Hurricanes, highlights 10.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers, highlights 10.30 Australia v India, 4th test wrap-up 1.00am Australia Women v India Women, ODI, highlights 2.00 Shark Curry 2.30 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers, replay

Sky Sport 3 SKY 053 6.35 Badminton, BWF HSBC World Tour Finals, day 1, highlights 7.35 Tennis, 2020 Australian Open, mixed doubles final, replay 9.15 Tennis, 2020 Australian Open, women’s final, Garbine Muguruza v Sofia Kenin, replay 11.50 Badminton, BWF HSBC World Tour Finals, day 1, highlights 12.50 Tennis, 2019 Australian Open, men’s doubles final, replay 2.20 Tennis, 2020 Australian Open, mixed doubles final, Barbora Krejčíková/Nikola Mektić v Bethanie Mattek-Sands/Jamie Murray, replay 4.00 Badminton, BWF HSBC World Tour Finals, day 1, highlights 5.00 Badminton, BWF HSBC World Tour Finals, day 2, Group, from Impact Arena, Bangkok, live 3.15am Tennis, 2016 Australian Open, women’s singles final, Serena Williams v Angelique Kerber, highlights 3.45 2020 Australian Open, women’s final, Garbine Muguruza v Sofia Kenin, replay

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

FRIDAY JANUARY 29

TVNZ 1 FREEVIEW 1 SKY 001

TVNZ 2 FREEVIEW 2 SKY 002

THREE FREEVIEW 3 SKY 003

6.00 Breakfast (HD, C) John Campbell and Jenny-May Clarkson present news, interviews, information and weather. 9.00 The Ellen DeGeneres Show (PGR, C) 10.00 Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? UK (G, R, HD, C) With Jeremy Clarkson. 11.00 The Chase (G, R, HD, C) Bradley Walsh presents a UK quiz show. Noon 1 News (HD, C) 12.30 Te Karere (HD) 1.00 Coronation Street (PGR, R, C, AD) 2.00 Big Race Day (HD, C) Toni Street and Scotty Stevenson preview today’s Prada Cup race from Viaduct Harbour, Auckland. 3.00 America’s Cup: Prada Cup (C) Live coverage of the Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series from the Hauraki Gulf, Auckland. The series will determine which of the Challenger teams will take on Emirates Team New Zealand in the 36th America’s Cup in March. 5.00 The Chase (G, R, HD, C) Bradley Walsh hosts a UK quiz show. 6.00 1 News (HD, C) 7.00 The Repair Shop (PGR, C) UK series in which expert craftspeople restore treasured items. 8.00 Big Fat Gypsy Weddings (AO, R, HD, C, AD) UK series featuring members of the traveller community. Margaretha and John Boy have their first holy communion, Josie and Swanley are planning their big day, and single girls Cheyenne and Montana reveal the rules of dating within the community. 9.00 ■ Schitt’s Creek (AO, R, HD, C, AD) Canadian sitcom about a rich family who lose all their money and are forced to relocate to a small, depressing town. Tonight, when their business manager steals all their money, the Roses move to Schitt’s Creek, which Johnny bought in 1991 as a joke gift for David. s1ep1 10.00 1 News Tonight (HD, C) 10.30 Prada America’s Cup Highlights (C) The latest action from the Prada Cup Challenger Selection Series in the Hauraki Gulf. 11.00 ■ Blindspot (AO, HD, C) US crime drama series. The team rush to find a solution when Jane is exposed to substantial amounts of ZIP. s5ep11 12.40am Te Karere (R, HD) 1.05 – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 Les Mills Born to Move (G, HD, C) 6.30 Rescue Bots Academy (G, HD, C) 6.50 Bluey (G, R, HD, C) 6.55 Masha’s Tales (G, HD, C) 7.00 Littlest Pet Shop (G, R, HD, C) 7.25 The Deep (G, R, HD, C) 7.50 Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir (G, R, HD, C) 8.15 MyaGo (G, R, HD, C) 8.20 The Wiggles’ World (G, R, HD, C, AD) 8.30 Sesame Street (G, HD, C) 9.00 Infomercials 9.30 Religious Programming 10.00 Neighbours (G, R, HD, C) 10.30 American Housewife (G, R, HD, C) 10.55 The Amazing Race Australia (PGR, R, HD, C) s4ep10 Noon Selling Houses Australia (G, R, HD, C) 1.05 Judge Rinder (G, R, HD) 2.05 The Middle (G, R, HD, C) 3.00 Shortland Street (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 3.35 Power Rangers Super Ninja Steel (PGR, HD, C) 4.00 The Worst Witch (C) 4.30 Friends (G, R, HD, C) s1ep19 5.00 The Simpsons (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) s29ep17 5.30 The Big Bang Theory (PGR, R, HD, C) s2ep8 6.00 Neighbours (G, HD, C) Aaron and David revisit a fraught relationship, Terese is confronted with her past, and Paul has a very bad day. 6.30 Ten 7 Summer (PGR, HD, C) Some of the biggest cases and best moments on the past season. 7.00 Shortland Street (PGR, HD, C, AD) Karl is surprised by a viper, Esther cuts Eddie loose, and Boyd is torn. 7.30 ■ Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007, PGR, R, HD, C, AD) The Fantastic Four are forced to work with Doctor Doom when a humanoid silver surfer appears to be about to destroy Earth. Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Ioan Gruffudd, Michael Chiklis. TV Films, page 70 9.20 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (AO, HD, C) 11.25 ■ Rhys Darby: Big in Japan (G, R, HD, C, AD) Kiwi comedian Rhys Darby takes a journey across Japan. Tonight, Rhys learns the tricks of the trade from Japan’s No 1 mascot. s1ep1 1.30am Shortland Street (PGR, R, HD, C, AD) 1.55 Infomercials 3.00 2 Overnight 4.20 The Middle (G, R, HD, C) 4.40 Neighbours (G, R, HD, C) 5.05 Brain Busters (G, R, HD, C) 5.35 – 6.00 Andi Mack (G, R, HD, C)

6.00 The AM Show (HD) With Duncan Garner, Amanda Gillies and Mark Richardson. 9.00 Infomercials 10.25 Celebrity MasterChef UK (G, HD, C) s14ep10 11.35 Find Me a Dream Home Australia (G, HD) s1ep9 12.05 Flip Wars: Buying Blind (G, HD) s1ep8 1.05 ■ Heavenly Match (2014, PGR, HD, C) A minister is thrust into a senior role at her church. Brendan Penny, LeToya Luckett. 3.00 Bondi Vet (G, HD, C) s7ep14 4.00 Duck Dynasty (PGR, HD, C) s9ep1 4.30 Newshub Live (HD) 5.00 Millionaire Hot Seat (G, R, HD) 6.00 Newshub Live (HD) 7.00 The Project (HD) With Kanoa Lloyd, Jesse Mulligan and Jeremy Corbett. 7.30 ■ Mission: Impossible III (2006, AO, R, HD, C) Ethan Hunt is sent back into action to track down an elusive arms dealer. Tom Cruise Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Ving Rhames, Michelle Monaghan. TV Films, page 70 9.55 Newshub Late 10.25 Wanted (AO, R, HD, C) Chelsea asks an old friend for refuge, Lola decides to visit her mother, and Susan finds a way to reunite with her daughter. s3ep5 11.30 Millionaire Hot Seat (G, R, HD) 12.25am – 6.00 Infomercials

■ NEW ■ RETURN ■ FINAL ■ FILM JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

TODAY'S PICKS

Up the: SCHITT’S CREEK It began in 2015, but when it swept all seven major comedy awards at the Primetime Emmys last year, it was as if it came out of nowhere. Four of those awards went to co-creator Dan Levy, who became the ﬁrst person to win in four major disciplines in one year. Levy created the show with his father, the inimitable Eugene, and both star along with another brilliant comedy actor, Catherine O’Hara. The story of a wealthy family who go broke and end up in the sticks perhaps speaks to an era of privilege for some. “There are Schitts in every phone book in every country around the world,” Eugene says. TVNZ 1, 9.00pm

PRIME FREEVIEW 10 SKY 004 6.00 Kids’ Programmes (G, R) 9.05 A Place in the Sun: Winter Sun (G, R) 10.00 The Doctors (PGR, R) 11.00 Hot Bench (PGR) 11.30 Truck Night in America (PGR, R, C) 12.30 Cruising with Jane McDonald (PGR, R, C) 1.30 Married … with Children (PGR, R) 2.00 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (PGR, R) 3.00 Judge Judy (PGR) 3.30 Jeopardy (G, R) 4.00 American Pickers (PGR) 5.00 Everybody Loves Raymond (PGR, R, C) 5.30 Prime News 6.00 Pawn Stars (PGR) 6.30 Shipping Wars (PGR, C) 7.00 The Crowd Goes Wild 7.30 Pawn Stars (PGR) 8.00 Border Security (PGR, C) 8.30 SEAL Team (AO, C) Bravo Team is ambushed. 9.30 RAW (PGR) 10.30 The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (PGR) 11.30 – 12.05am QI (PGR, R)

Jailbreak: ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA All the plaudits went to an almost unrecognisable Patricia Arquette for her performance as prison worker Joyce Mitchell, who helped free two inmates from the Clinton Correctional Facility in Upstate New York in 2015. She won Golden Globe, Critics’ Choice and SAG awards, and Ben Stiller, who directs all seven episodes, also received multiple nominations and won a Directors Guild of America award. The series builds slowly, but Benicio del Toro is particularly menacing as convicted murderer Richard Matt. Mitchell, now behind bars herself, later called Stiller “an idiot”. SOHO, 4.25pm

C Captions AD Audio Description HD High Definition

89

FRIDAY JANUARY 29

MĀORI TV FREEVIEW 5 SKY 019

The trials of: ROMAN J. ISRAEL, ESQ. Director Dan Gilroy doesn’t quite have the clear focus of his previous ﬁlm, Nightcrawler; perhaps the inequities of the US justice system were too big to tackle. Denzel Washington’s performance as an awkward genius saves the day; he was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe. MĀORI TV, 8.30pm

6.30 Kids’ Programmes (G) 9.00 Kai with Anne Thorp (G, R) Tomahawk steaks with Akaroa salad, lemon, lime and thyme chicken, and yoghurt flatbreads done on the barbecue. 9.30 Ōpaki (G) 10.00 Iwi Anthems (G, R) 10.30 Whānau Living (G, R) 11.00 ■ Taringa (G) Noon Hamu & Tofiga (PGR, R) 12.30 It’s in the Bag (G, R) 1.00 Ngā Pari Kārangaranga o te Motu (G, R) Te Reo O Ngāti Wai. 1.30 Ako (G, R) 2.00 Tōku Reo (G, R) Māori language learning series. 3.00 Kids’ Programmes (G) 6.30 ■ Te Ao I Te Raumati 7.30 Moosemeat & Marmalade (G, R) Chefs Art Napoleon and Dan Hayes explore culture, traditions and great food. 8.00 Tangaroa with Pio (G, R) Pio Terei explores the domain of Tangaroa. 8.30 ■ Roman J. Israel, Esq. (2017, AO) An idealistic, socially awkward attorney suffers a series of difficult events that lead him to take a wrong turn. Denzel Washington, Colin Farrell, Carmen Ejogo, Shelley Hennig. 10.40 – 11.40 Te Ao I Te Raumati (R)

BRAVO FREEVIEW 4 SKY 012

CHOICE TV FREEVIEW 12 SKY 024 TVNZ DUKE FREEVIEW 13 SKY 023

6.00 Infomercials 10.00 I Found the Gown (G, R) 10.35 How to Look Good Naked USA (PGR, R) 11.30 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 12.30 The People’s Court (G, R) 1.30 The Real Housewives of Orange County (R) s10ep6 2.30 Vanderpump Rules (R) 3.30 Hoarders (PGR, R) s3ep14 4.30 David Tutera: CELEBrations (G, R) 5.30 Face Off (PGR, R) s7ep10 6.30 Million Dollar Listing NY (G, R) 7.30 ■ The Breakfast Club (1985, AO, R) Five disparate high school kids spend Saturday afternoon in detention. Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez. 9.35 Deadly Cults (AO, R) A cult informant tells FBI agents about torture and murder. 10.35 Snapped (AO, R) 11.30 The Case of Caylee Anthony (AO, R) 12.20am – 6.00 Infomercials

6.00 Sarah Off the Grid (G) 7.00 Jamie & Jimmy’s Food Fight Club (G) 8.00 Dr Dee Alaska Vet (PGR) 9.00 Collectors Candy (G) 10.00 Gordon Ramsay Ultimate Home Cooking (G) 10.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 11.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 12.30 Forged in Fire (PGR) 1.30 Alone Redemption (PGR) 2.30 First Man Out (PGR) 3.30 Expedition Mungo (PGR) 4.30 James Martin’s Great British Adventure (G) 5.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 6.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 7.30 Salvage Hunters (G) 8.30 Location Location Location (G) 9.30 Escape to the Chateau: DIY (G) 10.30 Wheeler Dealers (G) 11.30 Mysteries at the Museum (PGR) 12.30am Programmes continue

1.20pm Top Gear (PGR, HD, C) Jeremy, Richard and James take on three German motoring rivals, James chauffeurs sumo wrestlers in Japanese cars, and Richard takes the Mazda Furai to the track. 2.20 Two and a Half Men (PGR, HD, C) s4ep17 2.45 ABC World News (PGR) 3.10 Live: Cricket Super Smash (HD) Northern Knights v Auckland Aces, from Seddon Park, Hamilton. 6.40 The Cricket Show (PGR, HD) Ben Hurley discusses the latest cricket news. 7.00 Live: Cricket Super Smash (HD) Northern Spirit v Auckland Hearts, from Seddon Park, Hamilton. 10.00 ■ Jackass 3.5 (2011, AO, HD, C) A compilation of stunts that didn’t make it into Jackass 3D. 11.35 – 12.35am Late Night DUKEbox Music

SKY PREMIERE SKY 030

MOVIES EXTRA SKY 031

MOVIES VINTAGE SKY 035

RIALTO SKY 039

7.10

6.00 They’re Inside (2019, 18) Karli Hall, Amanda Kathleen Ward 7.25 The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019, M) Jimmie Fails, Danny Glover 9.25 Level 16 (2018, 16) Katie Douglas, Celina Martin 11.10 They Come Knocking (2018, 16) Clayne Crawford 12.39 Teen Spirit (2019, PG) Elle Fanning, Zlatko Buric 2.15 Finding Steve McQueen (2018, M) Travis Fimmel 3.45 The Wedding Year (2019, M) Sarah Hyland 5.15 All That We Destroy (2018, 16) Samantha Mathis 6.40 Fisherman’s Friends (2019, M) Daniel Mays, James Purefoy 8.30 Deadly Flight (2019, M) A flight instructor becomes obsessed with her student. Allison McAtee 10.00 The Current Occupant (2020, 16) Barry Watson 11.30 Book of Monsters (2018, 18) Lyndsey Craine 12.50am Christmas on the Bayou (2013, PG) 2.15 Finding Steve McQueen (2018, M) 3.44 The Wedding Year (2019, M) 5.12 All That We Destroy (2018, 16)

6.50 The Pink Panther (1964, PG) Peter Sellers, David Niven 8.45 High Noon (1952, G) Gary Cooper, Lloyd Bridges 10.10 Zulu (1964, PG) Michael Caine, Stanley Baker 12.25 The High and Mighty (1954, PG) John Wayne 2.50 The Pink Panther (1964, PG) Peter Sellers, David Niven 4.45 The Desperate Hours (1955, PG) Humphrey Bogart, 6.35 Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, PG) Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard 8.30 Soldier Blue (1970, 16) After a cavalry patrol is ambushed by the Cheyenne, the two survivors try to get to safety at a nearby fort. Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss, Donald Pleasence, Jorge Rivero 10.25 The Human Factor (1979, M) A bureaucrat is asked to investigate a leak at MI6. Richard Attenborough, Nicol Williamson, John Gielgud, Derek Jacobi, Iman 12.20am The Desperate Hours (1955, PG) 2.10 Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961, PG) 4.05 Soldier Blue (1970, 16)

6.05 Martin Margiela: In His Own Words (2019, M) German documentary. 7.40 Vita & Virginia (2018, M) Gemma Arterton 9.30 Mean Dreams (2016, 16) Bill Paxton 11.15 Show Me the Picture: The Story of Jim Marshall (2019, 16) UK documentary. 12.45 Paranoid Park (2007, M) Gabe Nevins 2.10 Friend (2018, M) Samantha Mugatsia 3.35 Kill Your Darlings (2013, 16) Daniel Radcliffe 5.15 Resistance Fighters (2019, 16) German documentary. 7.00 Cold Sweat (2018, M) Baran Kosari 8.30 The Butterfly Tree (2017, M) A grieving father and son both fall for a kooky florist and former exotic dancer. Melissa George, Ewen Leslie 10.10 Beats (2019, 16) Cristian Ortega 11.55 Reinventing Marvin (2017, 16) Finnegan Oldfield 1.45am Elle (2016, 18) 3.55 Women’s Adventure Film Tour (2018, G) 4.10 Friend (2018, M) 5.35 Kill Your Darlings (2013, 16)

Elvis Goes There: Guillermo Del Toro (2019, M) Documentary. 8.07 Birds of Prey (2020, 16) Margot Robbie 9.57 Survive the Night (2019, 16) Bruce Willis 11.29 Shot Caller (2017, 16) Nikolaj Coster-Waldau 1.30 The Way Back (2020, M) Ben Affleck, Al Madrigal 3.20 Encounter (2018, M) Luke Hemsworth, Anna Hutchison 4.50 The Catcher Was a Spy (2018, M) Paul Rudd 6.25 Terminator: Dark Fate (2019, 16) Linda Hamilton 8.30 The Last Full Measure (2019, 16) Based on the story of a Pentagon staffer who campaigned for the Medal of Honor to be awarded to a Vietnam War hero. Sebastien Stan, Christopher Plummer 10.27 Yesterday (2019, M) A singer-songwriter becomes the only person on Earth who remembers the Beatles. Himesh Patel, Lily James 12.19am Stockholm (2019, M) 1.48 Encounter (2018, M) 3.18 The Catcher Was a Spy (2018, M) 4.51 Christmas Bounty (2013, PG)

90

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

FRIDAY JANUARY 29

SKY CHANNELS Vibe SKY 006 6.00 Blue Bloods (M) s5ep5 6.50 Judge Judy (PG) 7.15 Scandal (M) s5ep14 8.05 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep22 8.50 Murdoch Mysteries (M) 9.40 Cold Case (M) 10.35 Judge Judy (PG) 11.25 Fixer Upper Mysteries: Deadly Deed (PG) 1.05 A Million Little Things (M) s2ep4 2.00 Scandal (M) s5ep14 2.50 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep22 3.40 Murdoch Mysteries (M) 4.30 Judge Judy (PG) 5.30 Blue Bloods (M) s5ep5 6.30 Cold Case (M) 7.30 Frayed (M) Sammy’s brother and his lover conspire against her. s1ep2 8.30 Breeders (16) Michael thrives in his new role as dad and granddad. s1ep3&4 9.30 No Offence (M) s2ep3 10.25 Cold Case (M) 11.15 Judge Judy (PG) 11.45 The Great Escapers (G) s2ep22 12.40am Programmes continue

UKTV SKY 007 6.35 QI (M) 7.05 EastEnders (PG) 7.30 The Graham Norton Show (M) s21ep4 8.20 The Bill (M) 9.10 A Touch of Frost (16) s10ep2 10.55 Father Brown (M) s2ep6 11.40 Call the Midwife (M) 12.35 Midsomer Murders (M) s14ep5 2.05 The Bill (M) 3.00 New Tricks (M) s4ep6 3.55 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (M) 4.50 The Graham Norton Show (M) s21ep5 5.45 Who Do You Think You Are? USA (PG) 6.30 QI (M) 7.00 Mrs Brown’s Boys (M) s1ep4 7.30 QI (M) 8.00 Would I Lie to You? (PG) 8.30 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (M) 9.25 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown (M) 10.20 Alan Davies: As Yet Untitled (M) With Jimmy Carr, Reginald D Hunter and Alice Levine. s5ep1 11.10 Midsomer Murders (M) s14ep5 12.45am Programmes continue

SoHo SKY 010 6.30 A Discovery of Witches (M) s2ep3 7.30 Your Honor (16) s1ep7 8.30 Pete Holmes: Dirty Clean (16) 9.30 Animal Kingdom (16) s4ep2 10.30 Escape at Dannemora (18) s1ep1 11.35 Yellowstone (16) s1ep2 12.30 A Discovery of Witches (M) s2ep3 1.30 Your Honor (16) s1ep7 2.30 Pete Holmes: Dirty Clean (16) 3.30 Animal Kingdom (16) s4ep2 4.25 Escape at Dannemora (18) s1ep1 5.30 Yellowstone (16) s1ep2 6.30 The Good Lord Bird (18) 7.30 C.B. Strike: Lethal White (16) s1ep1 8.30 Devils (16) Massimo devises a plan to create a scandal against NYL. s1ep2 9.30 Gentleman Jack (M) When difficult news arrives from Shibden, Lister must decide whether to go home. s1ep8 10.30 American Horror Story: 1984 (18) s9ep7 11.15 SoHo on Set (M) Westworld season two. 11.30 Knightfall (16) s2ep8 12.15am Programmes continue

Living SKY 017 6.00 Selling Houses Australia (G) 6.50 Escape to the Country (PG) 7.40 Long Lost Family UK (PG) 8.35 Grand Designs New Zealand (PG) 10.30 Ugly House to Lovely House with George Clarke (PG) 11.25 Escape to the Country (PG) 12.20 Location Location Location Australia (G) 1.15 Escape to the Country (PG) 2.10 Ugly House to Lovely House with George Clarke (PG) 3.10 Long Lost Family UK (PG) 4.05 Garden Rescue (PG) 5.00 Ugly House to Lovely House with George Clarke (PG) 5.55 Selling Houses Australia (G) 6.45 Location Location Location Australia (G) 7.40 Escape to the Country (PG) 8.30 Long Lost Family UK (G) 9.25 Long Lost Family Australia (G) 10.25 Salvage Hunters (PG) 11.20 Grand Designs New Zealand (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

Food Network SKY 018 6.00 Beat Bobby Flay (PG) 6.55 Symon’s Dinners: Cooking Out (PG) 7.20 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 7.45 Wedding Cake Championship (PG) 8.40 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 9.10 Trisha’s Southern Kitchen (PG) 9.35 Kids Baking Championship (PG) 10.30 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 10.55 Symon’s Dinners: Cooking Out (PG) 11.20 Farmhouse Rules (PG) 11.45 Cake Boss 12.10 Guy’s

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

Grocery Games (PG) 1.05 Ridiculous Cakes (PG) 2.00 Wedding Cake Championship (PG) 2.55 Beat Bobby Flay (PG) 3.45 Valerie’s Home Cooking (PG) 4.10 Trisha’s Southern Kitchen (PG) 4.35 Barefoot Contessa: Back to Basics (PG) 5.00 The Pioneer Woman: Home Sweet Home (PG) 5.25 Girl Meets Farm (PG) 5.50 Cake Boss 6.45 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 7.40 Mystery Diners (PG) 8.30 Restaurant: Impossible (PG) 9.25 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 10.20 Cake Boss 10.45 Beat Bobby Flay (PG) 11.35 Guy’s Grocery Games (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

Sky Arts SKY 020 6.15 The Art of Architecture 6.55 Walking on Cars Plays Baloise Session 8.00 The Victorian House of Arts & Crafts 9.00 Fake or Fortune 10.00 This Is Art 11.00 Home Is Where the Art Is 11.45 Art of Architecture 12.30 Devolution: A Devo Theory 1.30 Great Film Composers 2.15 The Art of Architecture 2.55 Walking on Cars Plays Baloise Session 4.00 Suburban Steps to Rockland 5.30 Making Child Prodigies 6.00 Finding Your Roots 6.55 Grayson’s Art Club 7.40 The Directors (PG) 8.30 Rough Draft with Reza Aslan 9.15 Off Camera 10.15 The Art of Television 10.40 ■ Pan! Our Music Odyssey (2014, G) 12.00am Programmes continue

Discovery SKY 070 6.35 Fast N’ Loud (PG) 7.30 Secrets of the Underground (PG) 8.20 Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail (PG) 9.10 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 10.00 How Do They Do It? (PG) 10.50 How It’s Made (PG) 11.40 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 12.30 Murder Comes to Town (M) 1.20 People Magazine Investigates (M) 2.10 Top Gear (PG) 3.00 Alaska: The Last Frontier (PG) 3.50 Gold Rush (PG) 4.45 Gold Rush: Parker’s Trail (PG) 5.40 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 6.35 Aussie Mega Mechanics (PG) 7.30 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 8.30 Aussie Gold Hunters (PG) 9.25 Outback Opal Hunters (PG) 10.15 Expedition Unknown (PG) 11.05 Naked and Afraid (M) 11.55 How It’s Made (PG) 12.20am Programmes continue

National Geographic SKY 072 6.30 Mega Factories 7.30 Drain the Sunken War Machines (PG) 8.30 Gathering Storm (PG) 10.30 Mine Kings (M) 12.30 Food Factory (PG) 1.30 Wicked Tuna: North vs South Marathon (PG) 4.30 Mega Food 6.30 Mega Factories 7.30 Inside America’s Secret Missions (PG) 8.30 Hawaiian: The Legend of Eddie Aikau (PG) 10.30 Banged Up Abroad (M) 12.30am Programmes continue

History SKY 073 7.30 Einsatzgruppen: The Nazi Death Squads (16) 8.30 Time Team 9.30 Ancient Skies (PG) 10.30 Abandoned Engineering (PG) 11.30 Manhunt: Hunt for Bin Laden (M) 1.30 WWII: Witness to War (PG) 2.30 Nazi Collaborators (M) 3.30 The Machinery of War (PG) 4.30 Avro Lancaster (PG) 5.30 Plane Resurrection (M) 6.30 Abandoned Engineering (PG) 7.30 The Men Who Built America (M) 8.30 The Apollo Experience: Apollo 17 (PG) 9.30 Night Bombers (PG) 10.30 Coast Australia (PG) 11.30 1944: Should We Bomb Auschwitz? (PG) 12.30am Programmes continue

BBC Earth SKY 074 6.00 Animal Weapons (PG) 6.55 Life Below Zero (M) 7.45 Where the Wild Men Are (PG) 8.35 Animal Impossible (PG) 9.30 Attenborough’s Natural Curiosities (PG) 9.55 Embarrassing Bodies (M) 10.45 The Dog Rescuers (PG) 11.30 24 Hours in A&E (PG) 12.20 Blue Planet (PG) 1.10 The Hunt: The Making of (PG) 1.20 Embarrassing Bodies (M) 2.10 Animal Impossible (PG) 3.05 Animal Weapons (PG) 4.00 Without Limits: Australia (PG) 5.05 Life Below Zero (M) 6.00 Where the Wild Men Are (PG) 6.50 The Dog Rescuers (PG) 7.40 24 Hours in A&E (PG) 8.30 Big Birds (PG) 9.35 Birds of Paradise (PG) 10.40 Blue Planet (PG) 11.35 Wild Thailand (PG) 12.35am Programmes continue

Vibe: No Vib N Offence, 9 9.30pm 30

SKY SPORT Sky Sport 1 SKY 051 6.00 The Pod: Tony Brown 7.00 Rugby, Currie Cup, final, highlights 7.30 Highlanders’ Greatest Games 9.30 Rugby, Mitre 10 Cup, championship final, Hawke’s Bay v Northland, replay 11.45 Rugby, Mitre 10 Cup, premiership final, Auckland v Tasman, replay 2.00 Japan Top League, Wild Knights v Kobelco Steelers, replay 4.00 Japan Top League, Suntory Sungoliath v Kubota Spears, replay 6.00 Highlanders’ Greatest Games 8.00 30 for 30: Jordan Rides the Bus: Documentary about Michael Jordon’s 1993 pivot to baseball 9.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Bordeaux Bègles v Northampton Saints, replay from Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux 11.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, La Rochelle v Edinburgh, replay fromStade Marcel-Deflandre, La Rochelle 1.00am Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Wasps v Dragons, replay from Ricoh Arena, Coventry 3.00 Rugby, Heineken Champions Cup, Connacht v Racing 92, replay from the Galway Sportsgrounds 5.00 One Fern. One Hundred Years

Sky Sport 2 SKY 052 6.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers, highlights from the MCG, Melbourne 6.30 Walkabout Wickets 7.30 Australia v India, 4th test wrap-up 10.00 Australia Women v India Women, ODI, replay 5.00 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers, replay from the MCG, Melbourne 8.45 Cricket, Big Bash League, live 1.00am Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Renegades v Hobart Hurricanes, highlights from the MCG, Melbourne 1.25 South Africa Women v Pakistan Women, T20, live 5.30 Cricket, Big Bash League, Melbourne Stars v Sydney Sixers, highlights from the MCG, Melbourne

Sky Sport 3 SKY 053 6.25 Badminton, BWF HSBC World Tour Finals, day 2, highlights from Impact Arena, Bangkok 7.25 Tennis, 2019 Australian Open, men’s doubles final, Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut v Henri Kontinen/John Peers, replay 8.55 Tennis, 2020 Australian Open, mixed doubles final, Barbora Krejčíková/Nikola Mektić v Bethanie Mattek-Sands/ Jamie Murray, replay 10.35 Badminton, BWF HSBC World Tour Finals, day 2, highlights 11.35 Tennis, 2020 Australian Open, men’s final, Novak Djokovic v Dominic Thiem, replay 4.00 Badminton, BWF HSBC World Tour Finals, day 2, highlights 5.00 Badminton, BWF HSBC World Tour Finals, day 3, Group, from Impact Arena, Bangkok, live 3.00am Tennis, 2017 Australian Open, men’s singles semifinal, Rafael Nadal v Grigor Dimitrov, highlights 3.30 Tennis, 2020 Australian Open, men’s doubles final, Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut v Henri Kontinen/John Peers, replay 5.15 Tennis, 2020 Australian Open, men’s final, Novak Djokovic v Dominic Thiem, replay

91

RADIO JANUARY 2329 RNZ Concert

Wellington Cathedral 30 Years Ago – Tallis: Salvator mundi, salva nos I; Byrd: Agnus Dei, from the Mass for four voices; Howells: Magnificat; Elgar: Ave verum corpus Op 2/1; Dienes, Katherine: Jesu dulcis memoria; Dienes, Katherine: St Paul Eucharist; Wood: Hail gladdening light, Choir of Wellington Cathedral of St Paul/Peter Godfrey, Katherine Dienes (organ) (recorded July 1989 in St Paul’s Cathedral, Wellington) 8.40 Orchestra Wellington: Mahler & Schubert – Mahler: Adagio, from Symphony No 10 in F# minor; Schubert: Symphony No 9 in C D944, Great, Orchestra Wellington/Marc Taddei (recorded in the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington) 10.00 Day’s End 12.00am Music Through the Night

FREEVIEW 51 SKY 422 iHeartRADIO rnz.co.nz/concert

SATURDAY News and Weather 6.00am, 7.00, 8.00, 9.00, Noon 6.00 Summer Mornings 10.00 Summer Days 1.00 Onstage 2.00 Worlds of Music with Trevor Reekie 3.00 Summer Afternoons 5.00 Inside Out with Nick Tipping Jazz favourites, standards and new releases 7.00 Summer Evenings 8.00 Music Alive APO: The Soldier’s Tale – Ravel: Introduction and Allegro; Hamilton: The Ripe Breath of Autumn; Stravinsky: The Soldier’s Tale Suite, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (recorded in the Auckland Town Hall without audience) 9.30 Sound Lounge Contemporary music 12.00am Music Through the Night

TUESDAY

SUNDAY News and Weather 6.00am, 8.00, 9.00, noon 6.00 Sanctuary 7.30 Hymns on Sunday with Robyn Jaquiery 8.00 Grace Notes 9.00 Summer Days Noon Pick and Mix with Eva Radich 1.00 Onstage 3.00 The Musical Omnivore with David Morriss Including Vintage Years 5.00 New Horizons with William Dart 6.00 Opera on Sunday Metropolitan Opera Season: Philip Glass’ Satyagraha – Richard Croft (Mohandas K Gandhi), Bradley Garvin (Prince Arjuna), Richard Bernstein (Lord Krishna), Rachelle Durkin (Miss Schlesen), Molly Fillmore (Mrs Naidoo), Maria Zifchak (Kasturbai), Kim Josephson (Mr Kallenbach), Alfred Walker (Parsi Rustomji), Mary Phillips (Mrs Alexander), Metropolitan Opera Chorus & Orchestra/Dante Anzolini

RNZ National FREEVIEW 50 SKY 421 iHeartRADIO rnz.co.nz

SATURDAY 6.08 Storytime 7.08 Country Life Summer 8.00 The Weekend with Karyn Hay Noon Music 101 5.15 The Origin of Stuff The Toilet (BBC) 6.06 Womad Taranaki 2020 7.06 Saturday night with Phil O’Brien Requests, nostalgia and musical memories 12.04am All Night Programme

SUNDAY 6.08 Storytime 7.15 Summer Science 8.00 The Weekend with Karyn Hay 3.05 Classic Drama 4.06 Nashville Babylon 5.15 Heart and Soul (BBC) 6.15 Getting Better A year in the life of a Māori medical student Emma Espiner 7.04 The TED Radio Hour (NPR) 8.06 Sunday Night with Grant Walker 10.00 The 10 O’Clock Report 10.10 The Bomb (BBC) 10.45 The Sound of Drumming A series of documentaries made by communications students at AUT University 11.04 The Retro Cocktail Hour (KPR) 12.04am All Night Programme

MONDAY 5.00 First Up 6.00 Morning Report News, interviews and bulletins on the hour and halfhour with Susie Ferguson and Corin Dann 9.06 Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan Current affairs and topics of interest, including 10.45 The Reading Noon Midday Report 1.06 Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan 4.06 The Panel with Wallace Chapman 5.00 Checkpoint with Lisa Owen Drive-time news, current affairs and interviews 6.30 Trending Now 7.06 Nights with Barry Crump 10.00 News at Ten 11.04 Nashville

92

Rachelle Durkin, Opera on Sunday, 6.00pm. (recorded in the Metropolitan Opera House, New York) 9.00 Made in New Zealand 11.00 New Music Dreams Ryan Smith explores ambient and drone music 12.00am Music Through the Night

MONDAY News and Weather 6.00am, 7.00, 8.00, 9.00, noon, 5.00pm 6.00 Summer Mornings 10.00 Summer Days 1.00 Onstage 3.00 Summer Afternoons 6.00 Summer Evenings 8.00 Music Alive Choir of

Babylon Mark Rogers presents Americana, alt country, folk, soul and blues 12.04am All Night Programme

TUESDAY 5.00 First Up 6.00 Morning Report News, interviews and bulletins on the hour and halfhour with Susie Ferguson and Corin Dann 9.06 Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan Including 10.45 The Reading Noon Midday Report 1.06 Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan 4.06 The Panel with Wallace Chapman 5.00 Checkpoint with Lisa Owen Drive-time news, current affairs and interviews 6.30 Trending Now 7.06 Nights with Barry Crump 10.00 News at Ten 11.04 Worlds of Music With Trevor Reekie 12.04am All Night Programme

WEDNESDAY 5.00 First Up 6.00 Morning Report News, interviews and bulletins on the hour and halfhour with Susie Ferguson and Corin Dann 9.06 06 Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan Including 10.45 The Reading Noon Midday Report 1.06 Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan 4.06 The Panel el with Wallace Chapman 5.00 Checkpoint with h Lisa Owen Drive-time news, current affairs and nd interviews 6.30 Trending Now 7.06 Nights with th Barry Crump 10.00 News at Ten 11.04 Inside Out with Nick Tipping Classic recordings and d modern masterpieces from the world of jazz 12.04am All Night Programme

News and Weather 6.00am, 7.00, 8.00, 9.00, noon, 5.00pm 6.00 Summer Mornings 10.00 Summer Days 1.00 Onstage 3.00 Summer Afternoons 6.00 Summer Evenings 8.00 Music Alive Adam Chamber Music Festival 2017: Bold Strokes – Puts: And Legions Will Rise; Natalie Hunt: Clarinet Quartet; Gareth Farr: String Octet; Mozart: String Quintet No 3 in C K515, Ian Rosenbaum (marimba), James Campbell (clarinet), Dimity Hall (violin), Matthew Barley (cello), Justine Cormack (violin), Irina Morozova (viola), New Zealand String Quartet, Goldner Quartet (recorded in Nelson Cathedral) 10.00 Day’s End 12.00am Music Through the Night

WEDNESDAY News and Weather 6.00am, 7.00, 8.00, 9.00, noon, 5.00pm 6.00 Summer Mornings 10.00 Summer Days

10.45 The Reading Noon Midday Report 1.06 Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan 4.06 The Panel with Wallace Chapman 5.00 Checkpoint with Lisa Owen Drive-time news, current affairs and interviews 6.30 Trending Now 7.06 Nights with Barry Crump 10.00 News at Ten 11.04 Pocket Edition Tony Stamp wraps up the highlights from Music 101 12.04am All Night Programme

FRIDAY 5.00 First Up 6.00 Morning Report News, interviews and bulletins on the hour and halfhour with Susie Ferguson and Corin Dann 9.06 Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan Including 10.45 The Reading Noon Midday Report 4.06 The Panel with Wallace Chapman 5.00 Checkpoint with Lisa Owen Drive-time news, current affairs and interviews 6.30 Trending Now 7.06 Nights with Barry Crump 10.00 News at Ten 11.04 The Mixtape 12.04am All Night Programme

THURSDAY 5.00 First Up 6.00 Morning Report News, interviews and bulletins on the hour and halfhour with Susie Ferguson and Corin Dann 9.06 06 Nine to Noon with Kathryn Ryan Including

Simon Barnett & Phil Gifford

LISTENER LI LIS LIST I ENER NER ER R JA J JANUARY AN ANU A NUARY NU ARY Y 23 32 2021 02 021 0 2 21

1.00 Onstage 3.00 Summer Afternoons 6.00 Summer Evenings 8.00 Music Alive Deutsche Welle Festival: Pastoral Plus, Karen Gomyo (violin), West German Radio Symphony Orchestra/Cristian Macelaru, Members of the Beethoven Orchestra Bonn/Dirk Kaftan and other soloists (recorded in various venues in Moscow, Berlin, St Petersburg, Colgne and Bonn) 10.00 Day’s End 12.00am Music Through the Night

Classical Home Listening by ELIZABETH KERR

THURSDAY News and Weather 6.00am, 7.00, 8.00, 9.00, noon, 5.00pm 6.00 Summer Mornings 10.00 Summer Days 1.00 Onstage 3.00 Summer Afternoons 6.00 Summer Evenings 8.00 Music Alive APO: French Twist – Debussy: Prelude à l’après midi d’un faun; Ravel: Piano Concerto in G; Pierne: Étude de Concert; Prokofiev: Symphony No 6, Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (piano), Auckland Philharmonia/Andrew Gourlay (recorded in Auckland Town Hall) 10.00 Day’s End 12.00am Music Through the Night

A brighter shade of blue

FRIDAY News and Weather 6.00am, 7.00, 8.00, 9.00, noon, 5.00pm 6.00 Summer Mornings 10.00 Summer Days 1.00 Onstage 3.00 Summer Afternoons 6.00 Summer Evenings 8.00 Music Alive 2019 Wellington Jazz Festival: CODE Quartet – Original compositions, including from New Zealanders Lex French, Christine Jensen (saxophone), Lex French (trumpet), Adrian Vedady (bass), Jim Doxas (bass) (recorded in the Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington) 10.00 Day’s End 12.00am Music Through the Night

Newstalk ZB newstalkzb.co.nz SATURDAY 6.00 All Sport Breakfast with D’Arcy Waldegrave 9.00 Jack Tame Noon Martin Devlin 3.00 Tim Roxborogh & Tim Beveridge 6.00 Bruce Russell 12.00am Jim Snedden

SUNDAY 6.00 Peter Wolfkamp 9.00 Francesca Rudkin Noon Martin Devlin 3.00 Tim Roxborogh & Tim Beveridge 6.00 Frank Ritchie & Jax van Buuren 7.30 John Cowan 8.00 Tim Wilson 11.00 The Nutters Club with Hamish Coleman-Ross & Kyle MacDonald 1.00am Bruce Russell 5.00 Kate Hawkesby

MONDAY 6.00 Mike Hosking 9.00 Kerre McIvor Noon Andrew Dickens 4.00 Heather du Plessis-Allan 7.00 Sportstalk with Martin Devlin 8.00 Marcus Lush 12.00am Bruce Russell 5.00 Kate Hawkesby

TUESDAY 6.00 Mike Hosking 9.00 Kerre McIvor Noon Simon Barnett & Phil Gifford 4.00 Heather du Plessis-Allan 7.00 Sportstalk with D’Arcy Waldegrave 8.00 Marcus Lush 12.00am Tim Beveridge 5.00 Kate Hawkesby

WEDNESDAY 6.00 Mike Hosking 9.00 Kerre McIvor Noon Simon Barnett & Phil Gifford 4.00 Heather du Plessis-Allan 7.00 Sportstalk with D’Arcy Waldegrave 8.00 Marcus Lush 12.00am Tim Beveridge 5.00 Kate Hawkesby

THURSDAY 6.00 Mike Hosking 9.00 Kerre McIvor Noon Simon Barnett & Phil Gifford 4.00 Heather du Plessis-Allan 7.00 Sportstalk with D’Arcy Waldegrave 8.00 Marcus Lush 12.00am Bruce Russell 5.00 Kate Hawkesby

FRIDAY 6.00 Mike Hosking 9.00 Kerre McIvor Noon Simon Barnett & Phil Gifford 4.00 Heather du Plessis-Allan 7.00 Sportstalk with D’Arcy Waldegrave 8.00 Marcus Lush 12.00am Jim Snedden

JANUARY 23 2021 LISTENER

Chamber music with guitar by three Kiwi composers.

B

righter than Blue is an elegant new CD perfect for summertime listening. Guitarist Matthew Marshall features chamber music with guitar by three New Zealand composers, the album’s title referring to a line in Alistair Campbell’s poem The Fall: “I had been painting the blue sky a brighter blue.” Campbell and his wife, poet Meg Campbell, had a long and loving marriage that was also storm-tossed by inﬁdelity and mental illness. A year after Meg’s death in 2007, their joint collection It’s love, isn’t it? The Love Poems was published, pairs of poems chronicling their turbulent life together. A few years ago, Marshall invited composer Philip Norman to set some of these poems for narration and guitar. Norman selected 15 for his theatrical composition It’s love, isn’t it?, recited on this recording by two of New Zealand’s venerable performing artists, Sir Jon Trimmer and Dame Kate Harcourt. Each poem is followed by a short guitar piece played by Marshall with thoughtful tenderness. Like his six tiny Tense Melodies for ﬂute and guitar that open the album, Norman’s miniatures are well-crafted incidental music, but it’s the poetry itself

Matthew Marshall: superb in accompaniment and subtle when in melodious centre stage. that carries the emotional and metaphorical weight of the work. The Campbells’ words express profound and painful feelings through anguished outbursts or wryly guarded regret, and the gentle romantic guitar responses seem a little pallid in comparison. All works on the CD are premiere recordings, including Kenneth Young’s Suite for violin and guitar composed over 40 years ago. His clever sleight of hand has the different timbres and attacks of the instruments slipping in and out of the musical foreground. Marshall is superb in accompaniment and subtle when in melodious centre stage. Tessa Petersen’s slightly acidic violin tone works well for the sometimes wonky tonality of the piece and her improvisatory lines are always skilfully underpinned by ﬂexible guitar. The whole album is distinguished by the ﬁne musicianship of Marshall and his collaborators. Norman’s Tense melodies feature attractive playing from ﬂautist Carol Hohauser, while in the minor/ modal shadows of Anthony Ritchie’s lovely and atmospheric Autumn Moods, cellist Heleen du Plessis brings a shapely singing approach to her nicely balanced duet with Marshall. l Brighter than Blue, Matthew Marshall (guitar) (Rattle)

93

THE GOOD LIFE

GREG DIXON Confessions of a Fatkins foodie

B

lemon pie made by Michele and ambrosia y the time you read this, we made by Pru, el presidente of the Donkey, should ﬁnally have ﬁnished Mule and Traditional Pudding Protection our Christmas ham. Trust. We assaulted the northIt was no wonder that during the game west face of the thing on the of lawn croquet we all played soon after, day and, thereafter, struck out for the summit of Mt Ham most other days, only to return to base camp each night completely and utterly stuﬀed, beaten back by the mountain’s sheer size. More than a few may suspect that ham – actually two enormous hams – can be found all year around at Lush Places. So why would we bother buying in another one? Well, it’s all down to the special diet we go on every year for our summer holidays. It’s called the Fatkins Diet, and by tradition it must begin with lashings of ham for Christmas Day lunch. But not only ham. Although there were just four of us, it also featured a prawn cocktail starter, a pork roast with boiled new potatoes, beans and peas, accompanied by home-baked dinner “The fat Owl rolls. There were individual rolled into mini pavlovas served with wellan armchair.” whipped cream and home-grown strawberries and raspberries for dessert. Michele outdid herself. I immediately awarded her two chefs hats. But New Year’s Day lunch was an even bigger nosh-up, featuring ham (natch), marinated pork and fresh pineapple kebabs, barbecued we each had to sit down between shots. sausages, a tomato and roasted capsicum salad, a green salad and boiled potatoes, all Andrew and Janet left soon after, saying they were oﬀ for a much-needed walk. prepared by master chef Hewitson. By agreement, the star dish was the melting, barbecued ﬁllet of wild fallow ince New Year, the succession of ham deer brought by our mates Janet and salads, ham sandwiches, ploughAndrew, who live just around the bend. man’s lunches featuring lots of ham, He shot the beast himself “from my fourham steaks, and ham served with a generwheel bike”, because he can’t be arsed ous side of ham have been keeping Lush stalking by foot these days. Dessert was a Places well and truly on the Fatkins.

ILLUSTRATION BY C. H. CHAPMAN

It can’t be long now before fat corgis eye me with sympathy and wonder if perhaps my name might be Billy Bunter.

S

94

The size of my waistline suggests I am now approaching the end of my ﬁrst trimester, which, if I’m honest, appals me. For most of my life, whippets have looked at me and thought, “He could do with a feed.” It can’t be long now before fat corgis eye me with sympathy and wonder if perhaps my name might be Billy Bunter. As it happens, on the cusp of Christmas, I came across a handsome, wonderfully illustrated collection of Bunter stories at the Masterton Hospice Shop, a treasure trove that keeps on giving. For those unfamiliar with the ignoble Bunter, he’s a ﬁctional English public school boy who appeared in stories in weekly newspapers for lads in the ﬁrst half of last century and on British TV in the 1950s and 60s. Bunter’s most outstanding quality is that he’s immensely chubby – hence his nickname: “the fat Owl of the Remove”, the Remove being the lower fourth form at his school, Greyfriars. He is, by turns, lazy, scheming, selfsatisﬁed and self-important. He’s also utterly glutinous and – even if, to modern minds, he represents political incorrectness gone mad – utterly hilarious. In this collection of stories, Bunter is forever on the trail of someone else’s “tuck”, usually a bag of doughnuts. “On the subject of tuck,” we’re told, “William George Bunter never seemed able to remember the distinction between ‘meum’ and ‘tumm’ [Latin for what is one’s own and what is another’s]. “Often and often had Bunter been kicked for snooping other fellows’ tuck. But he never could resist its lure. Somehow or other, it always seemed to him that, if there was tuck about, its natural destination was his own capacious inside.” What wonders he might have performed on Mt Ham. l

LISTENER JANUARY 23 2021

Subscribe or gift any of our magazines and you could

W I N $ 10 , 0 0 0 PLUS, 200 runner-ups will receive a Byron Bay Gifts Food Hamper worth $250 each.

FREE

home y deliver

magshop.co.nz/xmas4

0800 624 7467

Competition starts on 19/10/2020 and closes 31/01/2021 at 11:59pm AEST. The competition is open to all residents of New Zealand aged 18 years or over, who subscribe or renew their subscription to one or more magazine titles or purchase any product available on Magshop (magshop.co.nz). Competition draw will take place 08/02/2021 at 11:00am AEST. Prize is valued in AUD. Please see aremedia.com.au/privacy for location of our privacy policy. For full terms and conditions of entry, visit magshop.co.nz/Christmas-tc. The Promoter is Are Media Pty Ltd (ABN 18 053 273 546). *Savings based on the New Idea NZ magazine cover price $5.50 and the 26 issue automatic renewal subscription rate.

and quote M20XLIS