Watch, listen and be inspired by Calum Henderson's definitive list of what's hot right now and from the vault.
The Time Traveller's Wife (Neon, from Monday)
When did you first meet your significant other? For most, that's a simple enough type of question. But if you're married to a time traveller? "It's complicated," says Clare Abshire (Rose Leslie) aka The Time Traveller's Wife.
The new TV adaptation of Audrey Niffenegger's beloved romance novel starts out like a documentary, with its two main protagonists giving insightful tell-all interviews about their unusual relationship. "It's not a superpower," time traveller Henry DeTamble (Theo James) explains, "it's a disability." He doesn't have any control over when or to where he time travels – he just vanishes into thin air leaving a pile of clothes behind, showing up naked (there's a LOT of bare bum in the first episode) in another time and place.
So when did they first meet? Clare first met Henry when she was a little girl in the mid-90s and he was her 30-something "imaginary friend" who showed up in the woods near her house and told her he was the man she was going to marry one day (not troubling behaviour in the slightest, moving right along). But Henry first met Claire when she was 20 and walked into the library where he worked and told him she was the woman he was going to marry one day.
Clare's right, it is confusing, but we're in safe hands – this series has been adapted by Steven Moffatt, who knows a thing or two about time travel having written close to 50 episodes of Doctor Who (also Sherlock and cult British sitcom Coupling). And so the first episode unfolds in this very satisfying way where every scene makes you think "hang on … how does that work" and then the next scene comes along and answers all your questions before raising even more new ones. If the film version left you wanting, this could well prove the definitive adaptation.
Conversations With Friends (Prime Video)
A whole generation of male comedians are collectively seething that Sally Rooney wasted the perfect title for their podcast project on a book. The Irish publishing phenomenon's debut novel has been adapted for the screen by the same crew that adapted her second novel Normal People last year, so if you liked that one then you're probably on to a winner here. This one's about a couple of college students (Alison Oliver and Sasha Lane) who become entangled with an older (which in this context means 30-something) couple (Jemima Kirke and Joe Alwyn) whom they meet through spoken-word poetry. Nothing good has ever come from spoken-word poetry.
Hacks (TVNZ OnDemand)
One of the best new shows of 2021 is finally available in New Zealand, and the timing couldn't be better – now you can burn through the first 10 episodes and straight into season two. Jean Smart stars as an old-school comedian with a decades-long Las Vegas residency who has a young, trendy TV writer (Hannah Einbinder) foist upon her in an attempt to freshen up her material. It starts out as pure insult comedy as the pair clash over their many generational and stylistic differences, but just wait – five episodes in you'll be more emotionally invested in their relationship than you ever could have imagined.
The Lincoln Lawyer (Netflix)
Ultra-prolific screenwriter David E Kelley (Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Big Little Lies) is back with another serving of prestige drama. This time it's an adaptation of Michael Connelly's novel The Brass Verdict (the sequel to his book The Lincoln Lawyer, which was adapted as a 2011 film of the same name starring Matthew McConaughey), about a LA defence attorney who works out of the back of his Lincoln Town Car (it all makes sense). In this series he's played by Mexican actor Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, who stars alongside Neve Campbell (Party of Five, every cool teen movie released in 1996-97).
Movie of the Week: Senior Year (Netflix)
If the time travel of The Time Traveller's Wife is too much to get your head around, try this: in Senior Year, Rebel Wilson plays a high school cheerleader who wakes up from a 20-year coma determined to make it to prom and claim her rightful crown as prom queen. Physically she's in her 30s now (aka ancient), although Drew Barrymore in Never Been Kissed proved that it can be done. The bigger concern is that mentally she's still a teenager but a teenager from 20 years ago, i.e. devastatingly uncool or "cringe" now probably. She's absolutely doomed – as are our best intentions to watch only quality cinema when movies like this are an option at a fraction of the effort.
From the Vault: Line of Duty (TVNZ OnDemand, from Thursday)
Some time last year, seemingly overnight, half the country revealed themselves to be complete Line of Duty obsessives. Why it took until the sturdy British crime drama's sixth season before anybody thought to mention it is just one of those mysteries we will never have an answer for. Anyway, if you missed the secret Line of Duty train and have been meaning to see what the fuss is about, the whole thing – not just the latest season – is now on TVNZ OnDemand.
Podcast of the Week: Not Lost
In most cases, the gap between TV travel shows and what it's like to actually be on holiday could not be wider. And for good reason – a TV travel show where people spend most of their time wandering around in search of unique knick-knacks to buy and a nice place to drink a beer would probably make for extremely frustrating viewing.
At the same time, a little bit of the authentic holiday dithering can go a long way. New podcast series Not Lost (from Malcolm Gladwell's Pushkin Industries) finds an enjoyable middle-ground between the traditional all-action structure of most travel media and reality which involves a lot more sitting around, aimless wandering and idle conversations.
In the second episode, host Brendan Francis Newnam (a self-described "great indoorsman") and a friend head for the bougie outdoors adventure hub of Bozeman, Montana (local equivalent: maybe like Wānaka) with the only real goal being to get invited to dinner by a local. A mix of field interviews and idle chatter with just enough narration to keep it on track, it's funny and interesting, but better than that, it lets you feel like you're right there with them.
