Idols 18
Channel: Mzansi Magic (DStv 161)
TX Time: 17h30
Genre: Reality Competition, Music
The quest to find Mzansi's next Idol begins when Season 16 premieres, promising drama, fashion, tears, triumphs and unforgettable moments.
The theme for this season is "Singing a Different Tune".
The season starts with a new panel of judges: actress Thembi Seete and rapper-producer JR Bogopa join the returning Somizi Mhlongo.
The three will be nurturing and ushering in new talent with judging styles as unique as each of their personalities.
Co-executive producer Tebogo 'ProVerb' Thekisho returns as host for his 13th season.
TVSA Show Page: Idols 18
Bewonder & Bewaar met Bonné de Bod
Channel: kykNET (DStv 144)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: Wildlife, Nature, Documentary Series, Afrikaans
Come on a journey through South Africa with Bonné de Bod as she meets other people and experts who are just as invested in the conservation of animals as she is.
Presenter and producer Bonné de Bod and director Susan Scott have filmed all over the world – in Africa, Asia, Europe, the North Pole, as well as North and South America.
For this series, the team captured various wildlife researchers on camera in remarkable areas of South Africa, Namibia and Argentina.
On her travels to the far corners of the world, Bonné experiences first-hand how some of the planet's most dedicated scientists unlock the mysteries of Mother Nature.
She discovers how these people not only work with small and large animals, but at the same time their dreams.
Game of Sharks
Channel: Nat Geo Wild (DStv 182 / StarSat 221)
TX Time: 19h30
Genre: Wildlife, Documentary
It's time for sharks to face off in the ultimate species competition with the greatest matchups the ocean has ever seen.
In 10 nail-biting competitions, we'll prove once and for all which shark is the MVP of the open sea.
The Great White is favoured, but can it beat the shortfin mako in the 100-metre dash?
Or out-jump the thresher shark?
Can it keep up with the appetite of the whale shark?
An underdog might just swim into first place...
Lost Kingdom of the Black Pharaohs
Channel: BBC Earth (DStv 184)
TX Time: 21h50
Genre: Documentary, History
A late dynasty of Ancient Egypt that ruled for 100 years beginning in 744 BC was led by pharaohs including Piye, Shabaqo and Taharqa, who won battles, powered the last great pyramid building boom, and gave the Egyptian empire its final golden age.
Many scholars believed that these powerful pharaohs were black, but outdated stereotyping dismissed the idea as myth.
In recent years, new evidence has shown that the 25th dynasty was indeed ruled by these great black pharaohs who were conquerors from Egypt's southern neighbour Nubia, now Sudan.
The latest research on the Kush Empire from leading archaeologists is revealed in this two-hour special.
For most of the last century research on ancient Nubia had been limited, but in the last few years, as war in Sudan died down, there has been an explosion of exploration there with more than 30 teams of archaeologists working along the Sudanese Nile.
Large scale excavations are taking place that are uncovering new evidence that Nubia was a great civilization equal to that of Egypt's.
Lost Kingdom of the Black Pharaohs tells this incredible story of the Kush Empire's 100-year reign over Egypt while also going back further to detail the overall history of Nubia.
The show follows research teams who are unearthing a lost fortified city, opening newly discovered pyramids, and extracting DNA from the ancient dead.
They aim to show how this African culture, home to fabulous wealth, monumental architecture, and a rich culture, all led by a black dynasty, should now be given its place alongside the great revered ancient civilizations.
This is Fate 5
Channel: Zee World (DStv 166)
TX Time: 21h00
Genre: Telenovela
Wicked desires...
Fueled by great jealousy...
Spawns into a dangerous hate...
Witness Prithvi and Sherlyn continue to cause turmoil in the new season of This is Fate.
Sky Sharks
Channel: Nat Geo Wild (DStv 182 / StarSat 221)
TX Time: 18h00
Genre: Wildlife, Documentary
If you go down to the beach today, you could get a big surprise.
Drones are revolutionising everything that we thought we knew about sharks.
And the biggest surprise? That many sharks live closer to our shores than we might like to imagine.
It's time to look behind you; the ocean's top predator could be much closer than you think.
Steve Rannazzisi: Breaking Dad
Channel: Comedy Central (DStv 122)
TX Time: 23h00
Genre: Comedy, Special
Steve Rannazzisi discusses why date night is crucial for married couples, reveals the futility of coaching six-year-olds and describes his first visit to a gun range.
Shot at The Wilbur Theatre, Breaking Dad details the playbook strategies of parenting his sons, how to dodge pumpkin picking with the wife on NFL Sundays, the ups and downs of coaching a little league team of mini-superheroes and more.
Apocalypse Cow: How Meat Killed the Planet
Channel: S3
TX Time: 17h00
Genre: Documentary, Nature, Food
In a topical and provocative documentary environmental campaigner, George Monbiot, looks at how food is driving us towards global disaster.
We're told the cure to climate breakdown is to stop flying, or using plastic bags, or to have smaller families.
The biggest single problem is how we feed ourselves, particularly on meat.
Animal grazing is a disaster: we cut down trees that suck in atmospheric carbon and replace them with animals responsible for generating vast quantities of greenhouse gases.
And we're blind to the problem: some of what we think are Britain's most beautiful landscapes, such as the Lake District, are treeless 'sheep-wrecked deserts'.
Grazing uses twice as much land as all the world's crops but produces just 1% of our food. Free range farming may be kinder to the animals but does even more damage to the planet.
Monbiot believes there is room for optimism.
He looks at alternative food sources, including synthetic meat, and a process that produces protein just from bacteria, and air.
Freeing grazing land will allow re-wilding – with forests that will capture carbon.
In a powerful sequence vegan Monbiot shows that he is prepared to make a painful personal sacrifice, by killing a deer, to allow trees to re-grow in the Scottish Highlands.
Ordinary Joe
Channel: Me (DStv 115)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: Drama
Life is all about the choices you make - and sometimes, what you do in a single moment can change everything.
This drama follows Joe Kimbreau, who faces one of these decisions at his college graduation.
The three parallel stories that diverge from that night find Joe and the people around him with different careers, relationships and family lives, showing the unexpected ways that things change - and stay the same.
But when it comes down to it, there is no "right" choice; no matter what happens, Joe's life is always messy, exciting, tough, unpredictable... and beautiful.
In the series premiere, "Way Leads on to Way": After his college graduation, Joe Kimbreau is faced with a pivotal decision that steers his life down three drastically different paths.
In the second episode of the weekly double bill, "Requiem": With the anniversary of 9/11 approaching, all three Joes grapple with the emotions that come with the day.
Also, Cop Joe and Amy pursue a romance, but Music Joe and Amy's marriage is clouded by a big secret.
Meanwhile, nurse Joe and Jenny have a breakthrough.
Shark Superpower
Channel: Nat Geo Wild (DStv 182 / StarSat 221)
TX Time: 18h45
Genre: Wildlife, Documentary
Two teams of experts go to extraordinary lengths to take shark science into the wild as they investigate two of the most iconic shark superpowers: speed and bite force.
In California, the race is on as Andy Casagrande attempts to reveal the top speed of the world's fastest shark.
And in the Bahamas, Brocq Maxey gets much closer than most to investigate the power in a shark's bite.