The Week in HD - Friday 8th May

This week's another fairly quiet one for games and Blu-rays, but the TV line-up includes plenty of cricket, football and some cracking shows.

Oh, and remember, if you're a Sky user you can set recordings from sky.com, but you need to have set up Remote Record from within your HD Box's menus first. Believe me, it's absolutely worth it!

Games

It’s another quiet week on the games front, with no releases for the PS3 and only Velvet Assassin hitting Xbox 360. Despite a fairly intriguing plot and unique presentation, the game itself is a rather generic sneak-em-up.

Friday 8th May

Cricket: England v. West Indies – Sky Sports HD1 – 10.30am

Who’d’ve thought it? We’re actually giving the Windies a bit of a pasting! Fingers crossed the weather remains dry for the rest of the day and we can continue in that vein.

Dexter – FX HD – 10pm

The Lion Sleeps Tonight: Dexter’s still trying to slow down his colleagues in the police, while trying to work out what to do about Freebo and whether he can really trust Miguel Prado.

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross – BBC HD – 10.35pm

Old Wossy’s got another rather dull line-up tonight. The Loose Women? Seriously?! Tom Hanks is admittedly much higher profile, but how many times have we seen him interviewed over the years. Think I’ll just record this one and skip to Dizzee Rascal’s appearance and performance.

Generation Kill – FX HD – 11.05pm

Another sobering, exciting, hilarious and frightening episode in this series about American troops in Iraq. This really is telly at its very best.

Later with Jools Holland – 11.35pm

Does anyone still listen to Manic Street Preachers? If you do, this week’s Later... may well be of interest, but to be honest, I’m not that bothered about them or the other guests, which include Paolo Nutini, Booker T and Taylor Swift.

Saturday 9th May

Cricket: England v. West Indies – Sky Sports HD2 – 10.30am

It’s day four of the first test, and judging by the way we were running away with it at the time of writing, it may all be over by now. I rather hope not, though; I’m supposed to be watching it at Lords!

Sunday 10th May

Cricket: England v. West Indies – Sky Sports HD2 – 10.30am

It’s looking unlikely that the first test will continue into the fifth day, but if it does, this is where you’ll find it.

Football: Manchester Utd v. Manchester City – Sky Sports HD1 – 1pm

This should be an especially tasty Manchester derby, as United push to seal Premiership victory, while City fight for the final spot in Europe.

Football: Arsenal v. Chelsea – Sky Sports HD1 – 3.30pm

The sorest of sore losers travel to the Emirates and attempt to keep their Premiership title hopes alive. Arsenal, also keen to put their Champions League exit behind them, aren’t going to make it easy.

Planet Earth – BBC HD – 4pm

Caves: Another edition of the Beeb’s excellent nature documentary, this time all about the world’s deepest, darkest nooks and crannies.

Lost – Sky HD – 9pm

Follow the Leader: After last week’s revelations and drama concerning Daniel, this week the focus turns to the apparently immortal Richard Alpert. Meanwhile, Sawyer and Juliet find themselves in a spot of hot water at the Dharma camp. Honestly, if you gave up on Lost during the slow and confusing second season, you’re really missing out now.

Fringe – Sky HD – 10pm

Midnight: Blimey, this one really is a creepy episode, which features a serial killer who drains his victim’s spinal fluid. Could this be related to the experiments conducted on Agent Dunham?

Monday 11th May

Blu-rays

Not a lot again this week, but Role Models is certainly worth checking out if you appreciate the odd bit of silly, immature comedy.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Sky Screen 2HD – 5pm

I actually missed this hugely well-regarded film at the cinema and on DVD, so I’ll be recording it today. It’s an adaptation of Elle editor Jean Dominique Bauby’s memoir, which he dictated by blinking his left eye after being paralysed by a severe stroke. Apparently it’s an astonishing watch.

24 – Sky 1 HD – 9pm

Ok, the last couple of episodes have been better, and even the music’s less rubbish, but seriously, how many times are they going to arrest a terrorist leader, only for them to say, ‘oh, I’m just a cog in a big machine – now you’re gonna have to deal with my boss, and he’s even scarier and more powerful! Mwa ha ha!’? I think that’s happened three or four times in this season already!

Tuesday 12th May

Beverly Hills Cop – Sky Modern Greats HD – 6.10pm

Yeah, I know this is on all the time, but it’s a quiet night for telly, so why not sit back and enjoy one of the greatest action-comedies of all-time, and the film that made Eddie Murphy a star.

Beverly Hills Cop II – Sky Modern Greats HD – 8pm

Well, you have just watched the first one...

Wednesday 13th May

Football: Wigan Athletic v. Manchester Utd – Sky Sports HD1 – 7.30pm

Could this be the game that confirms United’s Premier League victory? Wigan will hope not, but it’s hard to see them getting the win.

Napoleon – BBC HD – 10pm

This drama-documentary tells the story of Napoleon Bonaparte’s rise from the rank-and-file to military legend. It forms part of the BBC’s Heroes and Villains season, which in my opinion could do with a little less dramatisation, but has been very interesting all the same.

Thursday 14th May

Cricket: England v. West Indies – Sky Sports HD1 – 10.30pm

Action switches to The Riverside for the second test.

One to Avoid

Quantum of Solace

007’s latest outing hits Sky Box Office this week. It’ll cost £3.91 to watch in HD, and it’s really not worth it, with the badly directed and edited action combining with a weak baddy, ill-conceived story, occasionally ropey special effects and a charmless Bond to create a film that serves only to undo all the hard work done with Casino Royale.

In a couple of year’s time, those of us who’ve seen the film will be trying desperately to forget it so that we can get excited about the next one. If you can, save yourself the effort by not watching QoS at all.