More swords and sorcery in Camelot, and Kim Hill's final show for the year.
TV
Camelot
Camelot (SoHo, Sky 010, 8.30pm). The swords and sorcery genre has taken off since Spartacus: Blood and Sand made slo-mo blood spatter the new bullet time, and it has been attracting some reasonably big names, too – Sean Bean in Game of Thrones, for example, and now Joseph Fiennes and Eva Green in Camelot. It’s a typically adult reworking of the Arthurian myth from the mind of The Tudors’ creator Michael Hirst, in which Merlin (Fiennes) is an Alastair Campbell-style spinmeister trying to shore up the throne before someone else gets it. When King Uther dies, Merlin is the puppeteer who installs the king’s son, Arthur (Jamie Campbell Bower), who is pretty new to this whole royal thing on account of having been brought up as a commoner. But there’s a Bond girl waiting for her chance – Green as Arthur’s evil sister, Morgan. “Seriously camp fun,” said the Guardian’s Andrew Collins.
Michael Flatley: Lord of the Dance (Prime, 8.40pm). The monumental hubris of calling himself Lord of the Dance doesn’t seem to have dimmed Michael Flatley’s star – apparently, audiences still flock to see the twinkle-toed Irishman 13 years after he began the worldwide trend for dancing with stiff arms. Here’s footage, both onstage and behind the scenes, from the Dublin and London legs (ha ha) of his 2011 European tour.
FILM
The Santa Clause 2 (TV2, 7.00pm). Father Christmas searches for a subordinate Claus. (2002) 5 – Diana Balham
The Holiday (TV3, 8.30pm). Three good-looking people plus Jack Black find love during the festive season. An Englishwoman, Iris (Kate Winslet), swaps houses and countries with an American, Amanda (Cameron Diaz), and – hey presto! – their man problems are solved when they meet some new ones. Sit through this sickly offering and you’ll feel as if you’ve eaten the entire Christmas pud, the cake and all the chocolate angels off the tree. The other guy is Jude Law. (2006) 5 – Diana Balham
aimRenderAd(300, 250, '300X250','ContentRect','/POS=POS2'); if(!$.browser.msie){ ContentRect_frame = $("#ContentRect")[0]; ContentRect_frame.src = ContentRect_frame.src; }The Wicker Man (TV2, 9.10pm). The main problem with this ridiculous remake of the 1973 horror classic is that it is really funny when it shouldn’t be at all. Pagan community, child sacrifice, Nicolas Cage – what’s funny about that? (2006) 4 – Diana Balham
Forever Fever (Maori, 10.00pm). A fan letter to John Travolta and Saturday Night Fever via Singapore that is the first – and possibly only – disco kung-fu romcom musical. It loosely follows the original story but with Eastern touches: in the original, Tony’s older brother announced he was leaving the priesthood. Here, our hero Hock’s younger brother is studying to be a doctor and announces – horror! – he’s taking an English name. With Adrian Pang, Medaline Tan and Anna Belle Francis. You know how to do it! (Aka That’s the Way I Like It.) (1998) 6 – Diana Balham
The Phantom of the Opera (TV3, 11.20pm). And you thought the musical-theatre version was melodramatic? A boring disaster that most critics hated. Directed by Joel Schumacher (Phone Booth) and starring Gerard Butler (appalling), Emmy Rossum and Minnie Driver. (2004) 5 – Diana Balham
RADIO
Saturday Morning with Kim Hill (Radio New Zealand National, 8.10am). It’s the last live show for the year and Hill’s guests include Kiwi playwright Gary Henderson, whose play Peninsula will feature in the New Zealand International Arts Festival in Wellington next year, and fellow festival guest Harry Christophers, the founder and conductor of early music choir and orchestra the Sixteen, who will perform two concerts. Hill will also talk to the Prime Minister’s Future Scientist Award winner. But because it’s Christmas, we’re not going to tell you who it is. That would spoil the surprise. – Diana Balham
Pajama Club/Lydia Cole Recorded Live at Roundhead Studios (95bFM, 11.00am and Friday, 2.00pm). Neil Finn’s version of a home recording is playing in his very own studio – here with his new band Pajama Club, formed with wife Sharon, Sean Donnelly and Alana Skyring, after the kids left home. To start with, Neil played drums and Sharon played bass, despite neither having played those instruments before. With this band, Neil adds words to instrumentals, whereas with Crowded House numbers, he writes the lyrics first. The result: “It’s not as songy as Crowded House.” This was their first “public” outing, recorded days before they headed to the US to tour with Wilco. Lydia Cole is a North Shore singer-songwriter with a gorgeous voice and great acoustic guitar skills who released her debut EP, Love Will Find a Way, in 2009. She is somewhat mysterious about biographical details and on her Facebook page says only this: “I really wish chimps didn’t de-limb people. I want them as friends.” (The first part of this concert will be repeated on Radio New Zealand National, 4.10pm and Friday, 8.35pm.) There will be live streaming and podcasts on 95bfm.com and video on this website after December 17. – Diana Balham
Music Alive (Radio New Zealand Concert, 8.00pm). If it’s Christmas, it must be Handel’s Messiah from Christchurch. The last bit not so much, but this performance of the festive evergreen is especially poignant. Recorded in Christ’s College auditorium on December 3, it has been called “our Christmas gift to the city” by Christchurch City Choir’s music director, Brian Law, with a special ticket price of just $15. The choir and Christchurch Symphony are joined by soloists soprano Anna Leese, mezzo Kate Spence, tenor Keith Lewis and bass Martin Snell. Hallelujah! – Diana Balham
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