Top Guns: The Next Generation
Channel: National Geographic Channel (DStv 181 / StarSat 220)
TX Time: 20h30
Genre: Documentary Series, Docu-Reality
It's the ultimate test of precision, pressure and perseverance.
In this six-part series, cameras follow a class of Navy and Marine Corps student pilots as they enter the final and most unforgiving phase of elite strike fighter training.
It's six months of high-stakes aerial training, brutal physical demands and emotional reckoning, where only the top performers earn the chance to fly the most coveted aircrafts.
The series goes beyond the cockpit, following ambitious young Navy and Marine students both in the air and off-base, capturing candid moments with family and friends and revealing the personal stakes, sacrifices and motivations that brought them here.
Filmed with unprecedented access, it immerses audiences in a world of intense pressure and soaring expectations, where dreams of earning wings of gold collide with the harsh reality of the grueling training.
From bombing drills to close-range dogfights and nailbiting carrier approaches, each episode captures the intense demands of a program that challenges their abilities, endurance and resolve at every turn.
While the emotional stakes fuel the story, it's in the skies where the drama hits full throttle.
Outfitted with in-cockpit cameras, the series delivers a breathtaking front-row experience to capture moments of precision, panic and hard-fought triumph as they happen.
Filmed by some of the creative talent behind the blockbuster film Top Gun: Maverick, the aerial sequences are cinematic and pulse-pounding, pushing the limits of what these student aviators - and their aircraft - can do.
Strike
One student's dreams of becoming a fighter pilot are put in jeopardy as the class starts advanced phase training with a set of breathtaking bombing tests.
Diving at speeds they've never faced before, students struggle with the dynamic moves and start to make high-risk mistakes.
Instructors deliver tough assessments in the debriefs to keep the students safe.
Catching the Wire
Landing on an aircraft carrier demands precision flying and is a skill vital for all U.S. Navy fighter pilots. As the students tackle the longest and most technical section of the Advanced Phase, they know it's a test they must pass to keep their dreams alive. The pressure mounts on some struggling students, and the commanding officer issues a timely warning to one.
Attack Attack!
As the students reach the midpoint of their training, they start the iconic dogfighting phase.
Against them are seasoned instructors with hundreds of hours of real-world experience.
To pass, they must outmaneuver the enemy to take a "kill shot".
One student has the added pressure of flying with his Top Gun-trained commodore, while another struggles to control his aggressive instincts.
Fight's On!
As they enter the second and most challenging phase of dog fighting, everything is on the line for our students.
Defensive dogfighting involves dynamic maneuvers to evade battle-hardened instructors.
The physical strain proves too much for one student, while another has a crisis of confidence when past failures come back to haunt him.
Head-to-Head
The students face their final test in an iconic head-to-head dogfight against an instructor.
To pass, they must bring all the skills they've learned during their Advanced Phase training.
With graduation just days away, students start to worry about their final grades and whether they will get the posting they - and in many cases, their families - want.
Last Chance
It's graduation week. For the remaining students, it means they have one last chance to prove they deserve their prestigious fighter pilot wings.
Standing in their way is a tense head-to-head dogfight against an instructor.
Past failures come back to haunt one student, and another's whole fighter pilot future comes down to a single flight with their commanding officer.
Electric Bloom
Channel: Disney+
TX Time: 10h00
Genre: Musical, Comedy
This musical comedy series follows the three members of the now mega-famous pop group Electric Bloom as they look back and tell the story of their band and friendship, starting with the day they all met in high school.
The girls go on a journey to becoming the biggest band in the world and the best friends in the universe.
In the series premiere, "How It Started": After being forced to perform together in Battle of the Bands, Posey, Jade and Tulip come together despite their differences and pull off a performance that's truly electric.
Allegiance 2
Channel: M-Net (DStv 101)
TX Time: 19h00
Genre: Police Procedural, Drama
Allegiance is a high-octane police procedural drama uniquely set in Surrey, British Columbia, Canada.
The series stars Supinder Wraich as Sabrina Sohal and Enrico Colantoni as Vince Brambilla.
The show aims to complicate mainstream crime drama narratives by offering a nuanced and thoughtful perspective in how it approaches topical issues by focusing on identity and belonging, policing and politics, and finding truth within the heart of a flawed justice system.
In the Season 2 premiere, "Unsee This": On Sabrina's first day at her job with Serious Crimes, her investigation into a woman's murder leads her into the sinister side of the tech world.
The Morning Show 4
Channel: Apple TV+
TX Time: 10h00
Genre: Drama
Season 4 opens in spring 2024, almost two years after the events of Season 3.
With the UBA-NBN merger complete, the newsroom must grapple with newfound responsibility, hidden motives and the elusive nature of truth in a polarized America.
In a world rife with deepfakes, conspiracy theories and corporate cover-ups - who can you trust?
And how can you know what's actually real?
Next Gen Chef
Channel: Netflix South Africa
TX Time: 10h00 (all episodes)
Genre: Reality Competition, Food
Twenty-one rising chefs vie to be crowned a generational talent and win $500,000 in this cutthroat competition set at the Culinary Institute of America.
Inside the world's most prestigious culinary school, 21 of America's hottest young chefs, under the age of 30, compete in a one-of-a-kind competition.
The Culinary Institute of America has set a rigorous gauntlet of tests to find who is worthy of being crowned the leading chef of the next generation.
Gen V 2
Channel: Prime Video
TX Time: 10h00
Genre: Superhero, Drama
Set in the diabolical world of The Boys, Gen V expands the universe to Godolkin University, the prestigious superhero-only college where students train to be the next generation of heroes — preferably with lucrative endorsements.
You know what happens when supes go bad, but not all superheroes start out corrupt.
Beyond the typical college chaos of finding oneself and partying, these kids are facing explosive situations... literally.
As the students vie for popularity and good grades, it's clear that the stakes are much higher when super powers are involved.
When the group of young supes discover that something bigger and sinister is going on at school, they're put to the test: Will they be the heroes or the villains of their stories?
In Season 2, school is back in session.
As the rest of America adjusts to Homelander's iron fist, back at Godolkin University the mysterious new Dean preaches a curriculum that promises to make students more powerful than ever.
Cate and Sam are celebrated heroes, while Marie, Jordan and Emma reluctantly return to college, burdened by months of trauma and loss.
But parties and classes are hard to care about with war brewing between Humans and Supes, both on and off campus.
The gang learns of a secret program that goes back to the founding of Godolkin University that may have larger implications than they realise.
And, somehow, Marie is a part of it.
Chicago P.D. 11
Channel: Universal TV (DStv 117)
TX Time: 20h00
Genre: Drama, Police Procedural
Chicago P.D. is a police drama about the men and women of the Chicago Police Department's elite Intelligence Unit combatting the city's most heinous offenses - organised crime, drug trafficking, high-profile murders and beyond.
Chicago P.D. is back for an all-new season as the Intelligence Unit continues to protect the city – and each other – at all costs.
Led by the tough but fair Sergeant Hank Voight, the team is committed to seeking justice and cracking down on crime to make Chicago a safer place.
In the Season 11 premiere, "Unpacking": Tasked with shadowing a crisis prevention team, Upton finds her approach to policing at odds with the team's mental health clinician.
The case brings out Upton's personal struggles, but Voight stands by her.
Hacks 4
Channel: M-Net (DStv 101)
TX Time: 22h00
Genre: Comedy-Drama
Hacks explores a dark mentorship that forms between Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), a legendary Las Vegas comedian, and an entitled, outcast 25-year-old (Hannah Einbinder).
To salvage her waning career, Deborah is forced to team up with Ava, a Gen Z comedy writer who is unable to find work due to being "canceled" over an insensitive tweet.
The two reluctantly team up to freshen up Vance's material and learn to respect each other's differences.
Hacks is back for a fourth season, with Deborah and Ava working to get their late-night show off the ground and make history doing it.
Following the events of Season 3, where Deborah secures her own late-night talk show and Ava manoeuvres into the head writer position through blackmail, the new season delves into their increasingly complex relationship.
In the Season 4 premiere, "Big, Brave Girl": Furious with Ava for forcing her way into the head writer position, Deborah stops at nothing to get her removed from Late Night.
Matchroom: The Greatest Showmen
Channel: Netflix South Africa
TX Time: 10h00 (all episodes)
Genre: Docu-Reality, Sport
Follow father-son duo Barry and Eddie Hearn in their bid to take their heavyweight sports promotion company to the next level in this documentary series.
Brash, bold and total box office... meet Barry and Eddie Hearn, the Essex father-son duo who run Matchroom, a billion-pound sports promotion company.
For decades, it has been a powerhouse in the worlds of boxing, darts and snooker, and now they're setting their sights on global domination.
From Romford to riches, Barry built an empire from just a hundred quid.
He now hopes his son, Eddie, can be his successor, but can Eddie really live up to his dad's larger-than-life legacy?
The series follows Eddie and his team of ambitious CEOs, as he tries to take their company to the next level.
All the while, he's navigating the cutthroat world of promotion, battling age-old feuds, potential takeovers and, most importantly, dealing with his Dad.
Featuring appearances from sports stars like Luke Littler, Conor Benn, Katie Taylor, Antony Joshua and Ronnie O'Sullivan, this documentary series from the makers of Formula 1: Drive to Survive and the producer of At Home with the Furys is more than a look behind the curtain - it's a front-row seat into a real life succession story.
Lost Treasures of Egypt 5
Channel: Disney+
TX Time: 10h00
Genre: Documentary Series, History
Witness the secrets of ancient Egypt being unlocked before your very eyes in the fifth instalment of Lost Treasures of Egypt, as groundbreaking new discoveries lift the lid on this intriguing ancient civilisation.
Join National Geographic's cameras as they follow top international archaeologists during a full season of excavations across Egypt.
With unprecedented access to these intrepid modern-day explorers who are on the frontline of archaeology, you can follow the action as the teams battle searing heat and inhospitable terrain to make the discoveries of a lifetime.
Using cutting-edge technology to bring the exciting digs and discoveries up close like never before, combined with personal testimonies from the archaeologists on the ground, you are thrust to the heart of the action, as you crawl beneath pyramids to uncover long-lost tombs and unearth 3,000-year-old mummies for the very first time.
In the Season 5 premiere, "Khufu's Palace": In the shadow of the Great Pyramid a team of archaeologists led by Dr Mark Lehner unearth one of most important royal palaces in ancient Egypt.