AUGUST 3 2019 LISTENER 67
GETTING A PASS: Freeview has just made it
slightly easier – although not cheaper – to see
Rugby World Cup coverage, by adding Spark
Sport to its A2 Recorder and SmartVU X
streaming device. The A2 Recorder is an excel-
lent PVR that allows access to apps such as
Lightbox and YouTube, as well as on-demand
content from TVNZ, Three and Māori Television.
The SmartVU X device has Chromecast built in
and features streaming, on-demand and apps
and doesn’t require an aerial. Naturally, none
of this will be possible without the internet and
Spark Sport’s Rugby World Cup Tournament
Pass, which is currently retailing at $79.99. For
those without the wherewithal, seven games
will be screening free on TVNZ, including the
semi-finals and the final. Sparksport.co.nz has in-
formation about the technology required for the
service and freeviewnz.tv is also useful.END GAME JUST THE BEGINNING: Any sugges-
tion that Avengers: Endgame, which just be-
came the highest-grossing movie of all time,
was the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe
was put to rest at the
San Diego Comic-Con,
where Marvel head
Kevin Feige outlined the
way ahead, including
Taika Waititi returning
to direct Thor: Love and
Thunder. There’s even
an Oscar winner in the
mix: Mahershala Ali will
play vampire hunter
Blade. Elsewhere, the
really exciting news is Star Trek: Picard, in which
Patrick Stewart’s Jean-Luc Picard is hauled out
of retirement with a few other Star Trek: The
Next Generation characters: tinyurl.com/NZLPicard.series based on the novel by
Marele Day. Also living in the
enclosed order of St Agnes on
a remote island are Ann Dowd
- cruel Aunt Lydia of The
Handmaid’s Tale – and young
English actress Jessica Barden.
In mythology, the maiden, the
mother and the crone, we sup-
pose, and the women do tell
some interesting fairy stories
around the fire. Their sanctu-
ary is about to be penetrated
by young and handsome
Father Ignatius (Sam Reid),
who has come to sell the mon-
astery. “Intensely gothic and
deliriously compelling,” said
the Guardian Australia.
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 7Michael McIntyre’s Big Show
(TVNZ 2, 8.30pm). The world’s
most annoying comedian
returns for a fourth season of
his live show, which is filmed
at the Theatre Royal, Drury
Lane, in London’s West End.
For something that began as a
Christmas special, it’s having a
long life, having been already
renewed for a fifth season. In
the first episode, comedian
Holly Willoughby hands over
her phone for the “Send to
All” segment, and Little Mix
perform. Other guests in the
season include Michael Bublé,
Josh Groban, Kylie Minogue
and Nile Rodgers and Chic.THURSDAY AUGUST 8
Hypothetical (TVNZ Duke,
9.30pm). Gosh, if you’re a
comedian in the UK, they just
make up panel shows for you.
Josh Widdicombe, whom you
may recognise from everyOnline
Catch of the Week
Kew Gardens, including a visit
to a 1500-year-old yew tree
in a Surrey churchyard. An
English civil war cannon ball
was once found inside the
tree.
But what really makes the
programme special is Dench’s
own private woodland in
Surrey that she and husband
Michael Williams began plant-
ing 30 years ago and which
she has continued to nur-
ture since his death in 2001.
The trees are there to
remember those who are
gone. There is one for her
brother, Jeff, and for actors Ian
Richardson and Natasha Rich-
ardson. There is one simply
called “Mike”.
“It is about remembering,”
she says. ”It’s something that’s
living that goes on, so you
don’t remember them and
stop, you remember them and
the memory goes on and gets
more wonderful.”SVOD HIGHLIGHT: What’s good in streaming video
on demand. Documentary film The Great Hack,
which arrived on Netflix on July 24, follows key
players in the Cambridge Analytica scandal,
including journalist Carole Cadwalladr, whis-
tle-blower Brittany Kaiser and David Carroll,
who sued the company. “Platforms created to
connect us have now been weaponised,” says
Cadwalladr.Lambs of God, Tuesday.