Watch, listen and be inspired by Calum Henderson's definitive list of what's hot right now and from the vault.
Designing Dreams (Prime, 8:30pm Tuesday)
When it comes to house shows like Grand Designs, there are two types of people: those who revel in the twisting, turning, inevitable budget-blowout journey of the build, and those who sit through it impatiently just to see what the finished house looks like. Matthew Ridge is in the latter camp, and Designing Dreams is the answer to his prayers, and the prayers of everybody like him.
Each episode features a different New Zealand architect taking Ridge on a tour of some of their favourite homes – showing off a handful of their own top designs along with others they admire and have probably always wanted to have a little nosey inside. Anyone who's ever been to Wellington has probably had that thought about one of architect Roger Walker's buildings – he designed the Park Mews apartment complex in Hataitai, with its distinctive colourful turrets and portholes, and many of the capital's other eye-catching buildings.
Although we, unfortunately, don't get a look inside that one, we do get a tour of the remarkable Athfield House in Khandallah, which Walker helped old mate Sir Ian Athfield build way back in the day. "I actually painted that about 60 years ago", he remembers while down one of the house's many rabbit warrens. "Yeah, you did a pretty average job," the host jokes.
A notorious former TV larrikin like Ridge might seem an unusual fit to host a series about architecture, but his is actually an inspired selection – you want someone who's not shy to unleash a "holy moly!" or "wooow!" when they step through a doorway, after all. His energy and enthusiasm for cool houses is infectious and helps open the door to deeper conversations around housing and architecture along the way without losing momentum. The end result is a well-made and extremely enjoyable watch.
Invasion (Apple TV+)
Apple's impossibly big-budget alien invasion series has so far confounded viewers with its conspicuous lack of aliens. In fact, you could probably watch most of the movie Arrival in the time it takes before anybody even mentions the word "alien". Instead, the series takes its time to focus on a set of characters spread across the continents here on Earth (including New Zealand's own Sam Neill as a US sheriff on his last day before retirement), so expectations clearly need to be adjusted. If your favourite part of the alien invasion movie is the bit before the aliens arrive, you'll probably love Invasion.
The Larkins (TVNZ 1, 8:30pm tonight)
Bradley Walsh was an actor long before he was the host of The Chase, of course, but seeing him in any other TV show still feels a bit like seeing your teacher at the supermarket. In The Larkins, a reboot of beloved series The Darling Buds of May, he plays Pop Larkin (a role played by David Jason in the original series) – a classic wheeler-dealer type and the patriarch of a large and lively family having a lovely old time of it in the 1950s Kent countryside. Keep an eye out for Walsh's son Barney, who plays a local bobby in the first episode.
Good With Wood (TVNZ OnDemand)
If the new season of The Great Kiwi Bake Off isn't quite satisfying your appetite for nice gentle reality television, try Good With Wood on for size. Same type of deal but replace the KitchenAids with circular saws and the self-raising flour with big bits of wood. Hosted by former Great British Bake Off pun-master Mel Giedroyc, the series doesn't muck about, asking contestants to build a full-size bed for their first challenge. If you can ignore the part of your brain that thinks this is a major health and safety disaster waiting to happen, it's a very enjoyable watch.
Movie of the Week: Host (Shudder)
If you're looking for a good fright this Halloween, specialist scary streaming platform Shudder is the place to look. That's where you'll find Host, which is truly a horror movie for these times. The whole thing takes place on a very eventful 60-minute Zoom call between a group of friends who've decided to forego the weekly quiz and hold a virtual seance instead. It's frightening in a way that makes you laugh every time you get a fright, which seems like exactly what you want from a scary movie.
From the Vault: The Exorcist (1973) (Netflix)
You do not know true horror until you've seen a demonically possessed young girl's head rotate 360 degrees. Just one of the countless unforgettable scenes to be found in The Exorcist, which is definitely worth rewatching if you haven't seen it in a while. The "Production" section of the film's Wikipedia entry is also worth a read while you're at it.
Podcast of the Week: Uncanny
If it's a spooky podcast you seek this Hallows' Eve, look no further than the BBC's recent mix of paranormal investigation and radio drama The Battersea Poltergeist, in which host Danny Robins does an extremely entertaining job of telling a real-life English ghost story that played out in the pages of the tabloids in the 1950s and 60s. After that podcast came out earlier this year, listeners started getting in touch with Robins with their own spooky paranormal experiences, which he's now looking into in his new series, Uncanny.
The first episode introduces a sane and sensible seeming scientist called Ken, who recounts a terrifying experience he had in a university hall of residence in Belfast back in 1991, when an evil spirit visited him and his roommate. They're not the only ones who've been spooked out of their minds by an ominous presence in Room 611, so what's the deal? That's where Robins comes in, taking the case to the experts and putting it to the listeners to get in touch with their theories. By carefully treading the line between believer and sceptic, he manages to make the podcast an equally fun listen for members of both camps.
