Essex County
Channel: M-Net (DStv 101)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: Drama, Miniseries
A five-part limited series based on the graphic novel by Jeff Lemire.
Essex County follows the intertwined lives of two rural families, while exploring the generational impact of loss, betrayal, and trauma, and how redemption and hope are found through human connection.
From old Uncle Lou, to young Lester, to Anne the country nurse and Ken, the stoic farmer, the four lead characters ebb and flow into each other’s lives, slowly weaving connections between them that ultimately save and redeem them.
It Takes a Killer
Channel: CBS Justice (DStv 170 / StarSat 222)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: True Crime, Documentary Series
Some of the world's most notorious murders are the subject of It Takes a Killer, which investigates the crimes from the perspective of the killers, trying to get inside their minds to determine their motives.
Leading homicide investigators and experts from such agencies as the FBI and Scotland Yard take a look at the evidence pulled from crime scenes and profile the killer's behaviour to try to piece together the details of each murder, explaining when, why and how each criminal committed the crime.
For the wannabe detectives watching the show, the experts also reveal how the crime was solved - which often requires authorities to think like a killer.
In the series premiere, "The Craigslist Killer": When three women who advertised on Craigslist are assaulted, one of them killed, police match surveillance video to a young man that no one would ever suspect to be a killer.
In the second episode of the weekday double bill, "Snipers in the Capital": When a sniper terrorizes the DC area, police search for a white van.
But the FBI believes there might be more than one sniper, and they're not driving a white van.
How To Live Longer: The Big Think
Channel: S3
TX Time: 21h00
Genre: Documentary
Our lifespan is increasing by 2.5 years every decade - and a third of all babies born today can expect to live to 100.
But living longer can come at a cost.
Old age itself brings with it a range of debilitating illnesses, many of which are the result of accumulating damage during our lifetime.
Three diseases in particular have become the main killers in the developed world: cancer, heart disease and dementia.
But a revolution in bio-medicine is now offering new hope for the treatment of these ailments, and the potential to extend our lives still further.
Methods such as gene editing and stem cell therapies are transforming the way medicine can conquer disease today.
These extreme frontiers of medicine do, however, also come with a range of ethical dilemmas - when is the right time to try out an experimental technique on a patient?
Should we gene edit human embryos? And is it right to use cells from aborted foetuses for medical treatments?
Guiding us through this fast-moving and complex field is Nobel laureate Paul Nurse, for whom the big question isn't just what science can do to fix our bodies and extend our lives, but whether it's right to use all the tools and techniques available.
Grootboom & Sons
Channel: Mzansi Wethu (DStv 163)
TX Time: 21h30
Genre: Drama
Drama series which revolves around the internal squabbles of a family-run business, when its fate is left in the hands of the wrong sibling.
The series follows an estranged kin in the funeral business, with one sister on her deathbed and the other with her own selfish plans for the family business.
In the series premiere: Vuyo is at death's door, as the family makes plans for the unveiling of her father, while Funeka flees her Cape Town home.
The series stars Zandile Msutwana, Mbasa Msongelo and Bongile Mantsai.
TVSA Show Page: Grootboom & Sons
The Last of Us
Channel: Me (DStv 115)
TX Time: 22h00
Genre: Sci-Fi, Drama
Based on the 2013 video game of the same name, The Last of Us takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed.
Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone.
What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal and heartbreaking journey as they both must traverse the US and depend on each other for survival.
Life Below Zero: First Alaskans 2
Channel: National Geographic Channel (DStv 181 / StarSat 220)
TX Time: 19h00
Genre: Docu-Reality
Life Below Zero has given unprecedented access to the hardships that come with living in some of the most extreme conditions on Earth.
Now, the team is bringing audiences back to Alaska, following the Native peoples of the harsh landscape.
Enter a world that Indigenous Alaskans have inhabited for thousands of years, but one which is rapidly changing every day.
Life Below Zero: First Alaskans follows new Alaska Natives as they use sophisticated techniques and methods passed down from generation to generation to thrive in some of the most brutal environments.
Indigenous Alaskans walk in two worlds: one of traditional ways and one of 21st-century challenges.
In the Season 2 premiere, "Good Day to be Indigenous": Alaska’s Indigenous Peoples survive and thrive in extreme climates by following the lessons passed down through the generations.
Rick and Morty 7
Channel: Netflix South Africa
TX Time: 10h00 (all episodes)
Genre: Animation, Comedy
Rick and Morty follows a sociopathic genius scientist who drags his inherently timid grandson on insanely dangerous adventures across the universe.
Rick Sanchez is living with his daughter Beth's family and constantly bringing her, his son-in-law Jerry, granddaughter Summer, and grandson Morty into intergalactic escapades.
Rick and Morty are back and sounding more like themselves than ever.
It's Season 7, and the possibilities are endless: what's up with Jerry? EVIL Summer?!
And will they ever go back to the high school?! Maybe not! But let's find out!
There's probably less piss than last season.
In the Season 7 premiere, "How Poopy Got His Poop Back": A sociopathic scientist arrives at his daughter's doorstep 20 years after disappearing and moves in with her family, setting up a laboratory in the garage and taking his grandson on wild adventures across the universe.
Animals with Cameras
Channel: BBC UKTV (DStv 134)
TX Time: 15h15
Genre: Documentary Series, Wildlife, Hidden Camera
In this series, wildlife cameraman Gordon Buchanan joins forces with scientists to put cameras on animals.
Together, they make extraordinary discoveries about the lives of some of the planet's most fascinating species.
With the help of the animals themselves, they're going to be the ones that are doing the filming.
The animals are going to take us to places that a cameraman simply cannot go and reveal a side of their lives like we have never seen before.
In the first episode, the team uncover the hidden lives of three iconic animals. In the Kalahari Desert the team put cameras on wild meerkats for the first time, allowing scientists to finally understand what these miniature mammals get up to underground.
Heading to Cameroon, Gordon works with scientist Mimi Swift, who is desperate to understand whether Kimbang, a four-year-old orphan chimp, has the skills she needs to be able to join a chimp family living wild in the forest.
Leaving Africa for Argentina, the team have penguins carry tiny cameras far out to sea on an epic journey of up to 300 kilometres.
For the first time, scientists are able to see the tactics these charismatic characters use to catch their prey.