Stuff to Watch: Your guide to the week’s best on Sky and free-to-air TV
Tuesday, 21 July 2026
A Woman of Substance (8.30pm, Sundays from July 26, TVNZ 1)
Barbara Taylor Bradford’s best-selling 1979 novel gets the series treatment for a second time, 41 years after Channel 4’s original stab.
Spanning six decades and eight episodes, it charts the rise of Emma Harte (Jessica Reynolds and Brenda Blethyn), from penniless Yorkshire maid in the early 1900s to powerful 1970s business mogul.
“While it veers from the book in a number of key plot points, it’s an enjoyably soapy wallow that will remind you of other and maybe better shows, but nonetheless keep you watching,” wrote Seattle Times’ Moira MacDonald.
The Old Man (9.20pm, Wednesdays from July 22, Sky Drama)
Broadcast debut for this seven-part 2022 Disney+ series, which was both Jeff Bridges’ first on-screen role since 2018’s Bad Times at the El Royale and debut as a recurring TV character. He’s electric and compelling as former CIA operative Dan Chase, whose long-standing off-grid life is suddenly shattered, when he kills an assassin who breaks into his Upstate New York home.
What follows is truly absorbing, addictive viewing that also features John Lithgow and Alia Shawkat. A second eight-episode run played out in 2024.
2026 Commonwealth Games (From 6.30pm, Friday, July 24, Three)
Having acquired Three last year, Sky TV has now decided to make it the home of near wall-to-wall free-to-air coverage of the 23rd edition of the quadrennial sporting celebration.
After the Australian state of Victoria baulked at the escalating cost of hosting the event, the Scottish city of Glasgow (who last took it on only 12 years ago) have stepped in to provide the backdrop for what is a much-reduced programme (10 sports compared to 2022’s 20 that competed in Birmingham).
Live coverage (which will also be spread across a number of Sky Sport channels) continues nightly until August 2.
Football: Auckland FC v Tottenham Hotspur (2.30pm, Sunday, July 26, TVNZ 2)
The A-League champions take on the English Premier League glamour club who have only just avoided relegation for the past two seasons (despite also winning the Europa League in 2024-25).
The latter will be looking for this game to help kick start a new era under Italian coach Roberto De Zerbi and help integrate new signings like Newcastle United’s Sandro Tonali and Liverpool’s Andy Robertson.
Game of Wool (7.30pm, Sundays from July 26, Living)
Hosted by British Olympic gold medallist Tom Daley, this reality competition sees a group of talented amateur knitters go head-to-head in a series of imaginative challenges, all vying to be crowned the UK’s best knitter.
“The ex-diver is so fantastic that this needle-based Bake Off wannabe is 80% better every time he’s on screen. He absolutely makes this show,” enthused The Guardian’s Sarah Dempster.
Dead of Winter (8.30pm, Sunday, July 26, Sky Movies Premiere)
Aiming to fulfill her late husband Karl’s wishes that his ashes be scattered where they had their first date – Northern Minnesota’s Lake Hilda – Emma Thompson’s Barb strikes trouble, when a snowstorm makes navigating the forest roads near impossible.
Spotting signs of life at a cabin, she seeks directions from the bloke chopping wood (Marc Menchaca), noting and slightly unnerved by the gun on the dashboard of his truck and the smatterings of blood on the snow nearby.
But it’s while setting up her cabin on the iced-over body of water that Barb hears and sees things she can’t look away from. Shouting, gunshots and cursing are followed by a vision of that same guy chasing down a young woman (Laurel Marsden) whose hands appear to be bound together.
Barb’s initial thought is to flee the scene, but after her old Ford gets stuck, she decides it’s a sign that she should investigate instead.
Filmed in Finland and Germany, Northern Ireland-director Brian Kirk’s (TV’s The Day of the Jackal) makes terrific use of its wintry setting to deliver a taut, tense cat-and-mouse tale. While there might be a touch of Fargo about the 2025 film’s backdrop and a seemingly eccentric female protagonist, Nicholas Jacobson-Larson and Dalton Leeb’s story actually feels more like a cross between Panic Room, No Exit and The River Wild, as Barb’s battle with a dastardly duo – and the elements – ramps up towards a bleak, but beautiful ending.
Sheriff Country (8.40pm, Mondays from July 27, TVNZ 2)
Broadcast debut for this 2025 spin-off of hit drama Fire Country.
Morena Baccarin (Deadpool, Homeland) plays straight-shooting sheriff Mickey Fox, the step-sister of Cal Fires division chief Sharon Leone, who investigates criminal activity as she patrols the street of the small-town of Edgewater. However, she also has to contend with her ex-con father and a mysterious incident involving her wayward daughter.
Followed by the first episode of the fourth season of Fire Country (9.40pm).