Katavi: Africa's Fallen Paradise
Channel: Nat Geo Wild (DStv 182 / StarSat 221)
TX Time: 18h00
Genre: Wildlife, Nature, Documentary Series
An extreme weather phenomenon strikes remote, inaccessible Katavi National Park in Southern Tanzania.
The powerful local tribes of hippo, lion and crocodile struggle for survival while defending their turf from intruders.
Only the oldest crocodile matriarch remembers 90 years ago when a similar event occurred...
This allegorical tale offers a fascinating insight into how an animal society can be affected by a changing climate, and how this situation requires new strategies and changed behaviors from everyone to battle despair and to create hope for the future of their lineage.
This three-part documentary takes us into the unusual, secluded world of Katavi National Park in Southern Tanzania, capturing a once-in-a-lifetime event: during a very special year, a severe drought and flood due to a 90 year cyclic change in climate makes life increasingly difficult over the course of the seasons.
Katavi flourishes in the normal rainy season. Babies are born and life is bountiful.
But the dry season develops into an extreme drought, until the last water holes dwindle into dark mud pools in which the residential hippos, lions and crocodiles are forced together, fighting for the last drop.
In stark contrast, the rainy season that follows the extended drought brings flooding to the region, creating havoc, cutting off members of the lion pride from each other, leaving them vulnerable.
The filmmakers lead the audience into an intimate drama that unfolds between these powerful clans over the most extreme year of our characters' lives.
The main protagonists:
Lions
Clad in a patchwork of mud, the notorious hippo hunters take on amphibious behaviour traits, entering the watery realm of crocodiles and hippos in order to survive.
Hippos
Ferocious giants that amass in their hundreds, fighting for dominance with everyone over the smallest puddles.
Crocodiles
Prehistoric hunters forced together in a hellish mass of claws and teeth, but who reveal a surprising sensitivity in their behaviour toward the other tribes.
This triad of power is disrupted when migratory species of birds and mammals – such as wild dogs, buffalo and pelicans – suddenly invade from land and sky.
How the different tribes deal with them will make the difference between life and death.
We follow their increasingly entwined struggles to keep their families alive and together, and to hold out until the blessing of the eventual rainfall.
Finally, the rains bring respite but the continuous torrential downpours bring flooding to the region, creating havoc – cutting off members of the resident pride from each other and leaving them stranded and vulnerable.
Will the triangular relationship return to normal as the waters subside or will the three tribes' lives be entwined forever?
The narrative unfolds in an epic struggle, yet one with motives familiar to us all.
Our characters' plight to overcome lean and dark times is governed by the wisdom of generations.
It ultimately weaves a message of tolerance, flexibility and hope.
A deeply resonant lesson we can all learn from, and one that has governed Katavi since time immemorial...
Temptation Island
Channel: Netflix South Africa
TX Time: 10h00 (all episodes)
Genre: Dating Game Show, Reality
In this spicy update to the reality series, four couples test their relationships by shacking up with eligible singles on a tropical island.
Emotions run high when four couples, each at a crossroads in their relationship, head to Temptation Island to put their love to the ultimate test as they agree to live separately with a group of singles of the opposite sex.
Will the choices they make push the couples closer together or farther apart into the arms of a new lover?
The series is hosted by Mark L. Walberg.
Tokyo Vice 2
Channel: M-Net (DStv 101)
TX Time: 21h00
Genre: Drama, Period Drama
Loosely inspired by American journalist Jake Adelstein's non-fiction first-hand account of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police beat, the crime drama series, filmed on location in Tokyo, captures Adelstein's daily descent into the neon-soaked underbelly of Tokyo in the late '90s, where nothing and no one is truly what or who they seem.
Thrust into Tokyo's criminal underworld, Jake realises he's in terrible danger - and so are those close to him.
In the Season 2 premiere, "Don't Ever F***ing Miss": Tozawa has escaped justice, and Polina has still not been found.
Jake and Katagiri have received a videotape with damning evidence about what happened.
As Sato battles for his life in intensive care, Samantha is trying to look to the future by opening a club of her own.
Exposed: Naked Crimes 2
Channel: Investigation Discovery (DStv 171 / StarSat 223)
TX Time: 21h00
Genre: True Crime, Documentary Series, Clip Show
Get up close and personal with the most exposed offenders ever caught on camera.
Witnesses and police share the inside stories of dangerous crimes committed totally naked.
From burglaries in the buff to nude DUIs, these lawbreakers let it all hang out.
In the Season 2 premiere, "Expect the Undressed": A violent car snatcher, a trusted adult with an unpredictable game plan, and a guest gone wild at the happiest place on Earth all terrorise strangers and family alike; these frightening experiences happen when their witnesses least expect it.
In the second episode of the weekly double bill, "Planes, Trains & Automobiles": A police chase across Los Angeles freeways gets dangerously wild; an out-of-control airline passenger threatens to stream the unthinkable; a security checkpoint at a Texas airport gets downright nasty; and a raging rush hour keeps Portland weird.
Road Rage 2
Channel: Investigation Discovery (DStv 171 / StarSat 223)
TX Time: 21h55
Genre: Clip Show, Reality
A half hour program featuring four or five real-life, caught-on-camera road rage incidents.
Enraged drivers are caught on camera going toe-to-toe with other motorists in some of the wildest road rage moments ever recorded.
Each episode features multiple interviews from victims or witnesses from these harrowing events and graphics are used to enhance and clarify each segment.
In the Season 2 premiere, "Disorderly Conduct": A sports car driver destroys multiple cars; a man climbs onto the hood of a school bus; a menacing man harasses a father and his son; and a disgruntled driver shoots at another motorist.
In the second episode of the weekly double bill, "Unfiltered Fury": A group of drivers brawl in a Texas intersection; a man pursues and attacks a motorist on an isolated road; a driver gets into an intense exchange with construction workers; and a raging motorist takes out his frustrations on another man's windshield.
Everybody's Live with John Mulaney
Channel: Netflix South Africa
TX Time: 05h00 (live)
Genre: Talk Show, Comedy
John Mulaney conducts his first-ever celebrity sit-down talk show, which airs live every week.