Couch potato by Danie Jacobs
Friday October 1: It’s the all-important kitchen reveal of The Block Australia. M-Net, 17:55.
Saturday October 2: Teams have a Shisanyma-style challenge on The Ultimate Braai Master. etv, 18:00.
Sunday October 3: 2067 is one man’s journey to the future to save a dying world. M-Net Movies 1, 23:00.
Monday October 4: New miniseries Scenes from a marriage is an English-language remake of a Swedish miniseries based on contemporary couples and their challenges. M-Net, 22:30.
Tuesday October 5: Ed Sheeran performs his number hit Shivers on The Graham Norton Show. BBC Brit, 20:00.
Wednesday October 6: Medical show New Amsterdam is on free TV! In this episode, Max and Bloom help a pregnant patient. etv, 20:30.
Thursday October 7: Get the popcorn ready for the 3 hour and 14 minute long Titanic! This film tells the story of eternal love aboard the ill-fated liner. M-Net Hollywood’s Sexiest pop-up on DStv, 16:50.
Friday October 8: Happy Mr Bean is a documentary about the unlikeliest of heroes. BBC Brit on DStv, 20:35.
Saturday October 9: Deutschland 89 is the third and final series in the trilogy. This series is set during the fall of the DDR and the Berlin Wall. M-Net, 22:30.
Sunday October 10: Follow South Africa’s Johannes Radebe on Strictly Come Dancing. BBC Brit on DStv, 19:00.
Documentary: Zero to Zero
Frontline healthcare workers document their fight against Covid-19 in M-Net’s gripping and emotional new documentary, Zero to Zero.
“Somewhere there is a light at the end of this tunnel. We have to believe it. Let’s hope for the dawn to break.” Those are the words uttered by Dr Yanila Nyasulu, specialist physician and a central figure in the riveting new documentary Zero to Zero, which will broadcast exclusively on DStv Premium on M-Net on October 8 at 14:30.
Filmed over 15 months, the gripping one-hour doc offers an unfiltered look at what it’s like to be a healthcare worker in the grips of the Covid-19 pandemic. It follows the staff of Zuid-Afrikaans Hospital (ZAH), a 100-year-old, private, non-profit hospital in Muckleneuk, Pretoria, from the moment they admit their first Covid-19 patient in June 2020.
Gripping and emotional – at parts intense yet also hopeful - what makes Zero to Zero especially stand out is that it’s filmed by a frontline worker at the hospital, radiologist and part time filmmaker Prof Leonie Scholtz. She co-directed the film with Christa Lategan and Shem Compion.
“What’s special about Zero to Zero is that it is told from the perspectives of those who have been battling this pandemic daily since it began. It humanises the frontline workers, showing us a fraction of what they have had to face,” says Jan du Plessis, Director for M-Net Channels.
“It also puts faces to some of the Covid-19 stats - there are interviews with former patients about their experiences at the hospital, as well as with their families about the impact that this has had on them,” du Plessis concludes.
About why she began filming the hospital’s fight against Covid-19, Prof Leonie Scholtz says in the documentary: “When the pandemic started, I immediately realised that this is one catastrophic event where no photographers were allowed. Being a photographer myself, and also having access to the inner sanctum of the frontline, I felt obliged to document it.”
Filming the events as they unfolded presented a challenge for the team, as they had no idea how the story would unfold. “We dealt with people going through real life and death situations, so our focus remained on the human spirit. The constant changing narrative was immensely difficult, but the personal journeys delivered a wonderful and authentic story,” says Producer, Christa Lategan.
What results is an incredible film that gives us a glimpse of the toll the pandemic has had on healthcare and frontline workers, emotionally, mentally and physically. With some narration by actress Jana Cilliers, Zero to Zero also features interviews with various experts, including celebrated epidemiologist Prof Salim Abdool Karim.
With unprecedented access to the hospital frontline, this story narrates what unfolded during the darkest moments of the Covid peaks. The unequalled footage from ICU and beyond tells a story of despair and hope.
This film will inspire viewers to remember the strength of the human spirit, but filmmakers and the healthcare workers also hope to drive home another key message: Protect yourself and the ones you love by wearing your mask, washing your hands, keeping a safe distance, and getting vaccinated.
Couch potato by Danie Jacobs
