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Pop CultureApril 28, 2025

New to streaming: What to watch on Netflix NZ, Neon and more this week

Guest writer
Alex-feature-images-2025-04-24T151004.915.png

We round up everything coming to streaming services this week, including Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+, ThreeNow, Neon and TVNZ+.

Grand Designs NZ (TVNZ+, April 27)

Grand Designs NZ and Tom Webster, our very own Kevin McCloud, return for a third season to follow another group of determined New Zealanders on a tumultuous journey to build their one-of-a-kind dream home. Testing their aspirations and the depth of their pockets, this season’s highlights include a teetering cliffside escape on Waiheke Island, a stealth bomber-like abode in the rolling plains of Canterbury and a beachside citadel in Tāmaki Makaurau. Even if home-ownership is aeons away because of your avocado toast habit, you can at least live vicariously through Grand Designs NZ.

Choir Games (Neon, May 4) 

If Tinā made you sob, get ready for round two. This four part series spear-headed by documentarian Leanne Pooley (The Topp Twins: Untouchable Girls, Beyond the Edge) goes inside the biggest choir competition in the world when it came to Tāmaki Makaurau last year. Following two choirs from different corners of the globe – New Zealand’s Kaitāia Community Voices and the Young People’s Chorus of New York City – from rehearsals to their climactic performances, this series looks to be an emotional rollercoaster through the transcendent power of song. / Alex Casey

The Eternaut (Netflix, April 30)

Owing to copyright issues and the “disappearance” of its creator at the hands of the Argentine military junta, it’s taken decades for a screen adaptation of the iconic 50s comic The Eternaut to touch down. Finally landing on Netflix, the dystopian series opens in present-day Buenos Aires on a serene summer’s night that soon becomes a nightmare when a toxic snowfall slaughters millions. Trapped indoors, a group of survivors must fight to live, knowing that the touch of a single snowflake is a death sentence. Its source material is described as “one of the most exciting comics you’ll ever read”, so don’t let The Eternaut freeze over on your watchlist.

Travel Man (TVNZ+, April 28)

Travel Man host Joe Lycett might have the best job in all of television, as he again swaps stand-up for sightseeing, whisking fellow comedians and celebrity guests away on whirlwind weekend getaways. He’s off to Málaga, Rotterdam and Washington, D.C., but it’s Lycett’s escape to Malmö with Kiwi Rose Matafeo which is sure to be the highlight. Full of hilarious high jinks, they’ll visit the world’s first twisting skyscraper and the Disgusting Food Museum, where delicacies like beaver gland alcohol, dried stinkbugs and surströmming can be sampled. Packed with laughs and local flavours (that you might be able to smell through the screen), Travel Man is a certified hoot.

Another Simple Favour (Prime Video, May 1)

Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively are back to co-star in the “divinely twisted” follow-up to A Simple Favour. Directed by Bridesmaids’ Paul Feig, the not-so self-serious Another Simple Favour sees Lively’s Emily Nelson released from prison, heading to the picturesque island of Capri to marry 365 Days star and mafioso Michele Morrone. Kendrick as Stephanie Smothers is reuniting with her frenemy as the maid of honour, but not all is as it seems at this extravagant wedding – murder and betrayal is afoot. Be sure to check out this salacious sequel, ripe with “tart zingers and bicker-banter.”

Carême (Apple TV+, April 30)

Before Simon Gault, Annabel Langbein and Nadia Lim, there was Carême, the world’s first celebrity chef. Set in Napoleon-era France and helmed by Martin Bourboulon, this opulent eight-part TV series explores how the sultry patissier’s delectable delights lead him from poverty to the gold-laden kitchens and bedrooms of monarchs. But in rising to the top of the European food-chain, powerful politicians enlist Carême as a spy who, with a mille-feuille and a wink, can seduce anyone into revealing their secrets. Spice up your viewing options with this French blend of Bridgerton and The Bear.

Pick of the Flicks: Aotearoa Cinema (TVNZ+, May 1)

If you’re stuck at home having spent all your money during the back-to-back long weekends, “the best free service out there,” TVNZ+ is sure to keep you entertained with its latest additions of local cinema, having added Waru, The Changeover, Vai, Born To Dance, The Pa Boys and Fresh Meat to its lineup of local goodies. Take your pick!

The rest

Netflix

Chef’s Table: Legends (April 28)

Cheat: Unfinished Business (April 30)

Turning Point: The Vietnam War (April 30)

Exterritorial (April 30)

The Eternaut (April 30)

Asterix & Obelix: The Big Fight (April 30)

The Four Seasons (May 1)

Angi: Fake Life, True Crime (May 1)

TVNZ+

Grand Designs NZ S3 (April 27)

The Rookie (April 28)

Cold Case (April 28)

Travel Man S13 (April 28)

The Prison Confessions of Gypsy Rose Blanchard (April 29)

Hillside Strangler: Devil in Disguise (April 30)

Paddy and Chris: Road Tripping (April 30)

The Hunting Party (May 1)

Waru (May 1)

The Changeover (May 1)

Vai (May 1)

Born To Dance (May 1)

The Pa Boys (May 1)

Fresh Meat (May 1)

Into The Forest (May 1)

Ten Pound Poms (May 2)

Chateau DIY (May 2)

The Feud (May 4)

Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle Of Life (May 3)

The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (May 4)

Mr Deeds (May 4)

Vise Le Coeur S1-S2 (May 4)

ThreeNow

The 100 S1-S7 (May 4)

Neon

Jellystone! (April 28)

Teen Titans Go! S1-S2 (April 30)

30 Grizzy and the Lemmings S1-S2 (April 30)

Trap (April 30)

200% Wolf (April 30)

The Crow (May 1)

San Andreas (May 2)

7 Little Johnstons (May 2)

The Great Home Transformation (May 2)

Crescent City (May 4)

Smile 2 (May 4)

Choir Games (May 4)

Aaron Hernandez and the Untold Murders of Bristol (May 4)

Prime Video

Django Unchained (April 28)

Jupiter Ascending (April 30)

Another Simple Favour (May 1)

Disney+

The Great North: S5 (April 30)

Beyblade X (May 1)

Star Wars: Tales of the Underworld (May 4)

Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge  (May 4)

Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance  (May 4)

Apple TV+

Carême (April 30)

Hayu

Southern Fried Lies (April 28)

Bravo’s Love Hotel (April 28)

Shudder/AMC+/Acorn/HIDIVE

In the Kitchen with Harry Hamlin S2 (AMC+, April 30)

The Devil’s Business (Shudder, May 1)

Blood on Satan’s Claw (Shudder, May 1)

Curse of the Crimson Alter (Shudder, May 1)

Witchfinder General (Shudder, May 1)

Itim (The Rites of May) (Shudder, May 1)

Shutter (Shudder, May 1)

Coming Soon (Shudder, May 1)

Phobia (Shudder, May 1)

Phobia 2 (Shudder, May 1)

DocPlay

The Carnival (May 1)

Whakaata Māori

Frocks & Divas (May 1)

Keep going!
Photo: SPP
Photo: SPP

Pop CultureApril 28, 2025

Everything you need to know about Shortland Street’s new season

Staff writer
Photo: SPP
Photo: SPP

As Shortland Street’s mysterious new ‘Back in Black’ season starts tonight, Tara Ward explains exactly what’s going on in Ferndale. 

What’s all this then? 

Back in Black is the name of Shortland Street’s new mini-season, which begins tonight. In 2025, the long-running soap is dividing the year into four “mini-seasons”, each focussing on one or two particular storylines that involve the show’s core characters, and each climaxing with a one hour special. 

So we’ve already had a mini-season? 

Yes. Shortland Street kicked 2025 off with “New Blood”, which introduced several new characters to Ferndale and signalled a shift in the show’s direction. Shortland Street returned as a fast-paced medical drama, with nearly every scene set in the hospital. Over the last few weeks, characters have dared to venture outside the hospital again with a few scenes set in houses and the local bar, but the drama continues to focus on one or two self-contained medical storylines each week. 

Last week, viewers watched the New Blood one-hour finale episode, where a storm forced several medical staff out of their comfort zones to save lives, loves, and probably the world.

Chris and Julian (Photo: SPP)

So what else has been happening in Ferndale? 

The year began with hospital staff grieving the death of Dr Harper Whitely and processing their shock at nurse Nicole being imprisoned for murder. New medical staff Poppy, Cleo and Mana struggled to cope with the pressures of dealing with an endless stream of dying people, as well as putting up with their grumpy colleagues. Most recently, we waved goodbye to nurse Madonna, who moved to the Philippines with her baby daddy Thaddeus. 

And what’s the vibe so far? 

Now that it’s on three nights a week, Shortland Street has stepped up the pace and intensity and a soundtrack of up and coming New Zealand artists has provided a more contemporary feel. The show has never looked better, but as we wrote in March, the focus on medical cases has made Shortland Street feel both slick and bleak. The show looks glossy and modern, but the characters are perpetually stressed and miserable, which makes for a heavier viewing experience than traditional Shortland Street fans might be used to. 

Drew and Selena (Photo: SPP)

What do we know about the new mini-season Back in Black?

“Back in Black” might refer to the big storm that ended the last mini-season, where the hospital was put into an emergency “code black” status. There’s also an impressive and slightly terrifying image going around of the surgeons all wearing black, which suggests this season will focus on the surgical expertise (or lack of) of the doctors. 

Or maybe the black refers to mourning? Perhaps some more All Blacks are going to turn up in Ferndale (it’s happened before)? Or maybe Shortland Street is referring to dead receptionist Leanne, whose last name was Black when she first arrived in Ferndale? Is Ghost Leanne about to bless us with her ethereal presence once again?! 

But seriously, what’s going to happen?

Gird your loins and grab your tissues, because it sounds like the new mini-season will be just as intense as the first. Shortland Street revealed to The Spinoff that Poppy, Cleo, and Mana will “grapple with the harsh realities of life at Shortland Street: the failings, the heartbreak, and the relentless death.” Fun!

But amid all that misery, it seems Shortland Street staff are going to find….their family? “As the rest of the staff wrestle with their grief, their fragile bonds start to fracture, and relationships are pushed to their breaking points,” they added. “In the chaos, our team will learn that their true family isn’t always the one they’re born into – sometimes it’s the one they choose. Sometimes it’s the only one they have.” 

More Reading

Wow, that does sound like fun. Where can I watch all this grief and heartbreak? 

The Back in Black season starts tonight. Shortland Street screens Mondays to Wednesdays on TVNZ2 at 7pm, and streams on TVNZ+.

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