A new era in New Zealand free-to-air television gets under way with Preposterous Pets at 6am on Monday morning.

That marks the start of Discovery’s Eden, one of two channels being introduced by the global company to Kiwi viewers (the other being Rush, described as the “home of high adventure, high octane and high adrenaline reality”).

Essentially a replacement for the long-running Choice TV, Eden has been pitched as offering “an escape from life’s routine” and content that “entertains, informs and provokes new thinking and interests”.

While much of the line-up will be familiar to viewers, there are a number of new programmes being launched over the next week or so.

After looking through the schedules, Stuff to Watch has come up with a list of eight great reasons to give Eden a go.

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A kind of Antiques Roadshow-meets-Dragon’s Den by way of The Repair Shop, former Chariots of Fire star Nigel Havers hosts this British version of a long-running German reality show.

Members of the public bring in their curiosity, rarity, or antique for a panel of experts to assess and vie to add it to their collections. Has been running since 2020.

Reality series which chronicles the remarkable adventures of Yorkshire shepherds Amanda and Clive Owen as they raise their nine children – and more than a thousand sheep – on one of the most remote and spectacular farms in Britain.

“If there is anything else in our culture that is as wholesome, pure and good as this, please tell me about it,” wrote The Spectator’s Theo Hobson.

Before House Rules, The Block, or even Mitre 10 Dream Home, this was the down-to-earth reno reality series that Kiwis were addicted to.

Some 17 years after a brush was last picked up in anger, the flamboyant Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen (magnificently described by The Telegraph’s Anita Singh as “the well-fed love child of Ross Poldark and Captain Hook”) is back with a new company of support acts.

America’s second stab at transplanting the beloved British quiz show across the Atlantic looks far more sustainable.

Upping the cash significantly also means upping the Jeopardy! In this initial first season, the three Chasers are all former serial champions of that long-running show.

Former Shazam! host Phillip Schofield continues his belated domination of Kiwi screens with the debut of this long-running reality competition on our shores.

Although it first aired in 2006, it was only revived in 2018 after a four-year hiatus.

The head judges are none other than beloved former Olympic duo Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean. This series comes from 2019.

Like the TVNZ-hosted Assembly Required, this is a reality competition especially created to suit pandemic conditions.

As she prepares for life after her long-running talkshow, Ellen DeGeneres here encourages up-and-coming furniture designers to showcase their best work via a series of challenges that they can whip up in their hometown workshops.

Winner of five AACTAs last December, this six-part, mid-1980s Australian period drama set in the challenging world of television news was a smash-hit across the Tasman.

Anna Torv plays Helen Norville, a network co-anchor who has far greater ambitions than just reading an autocue.

“It’s a well-told and engrossing drama, offsetting the franticness of a tumultuous industry with a dignified sensibility,” wrote The Guardian’s Luke Buckmaster.

It’s back to the future, with Eden promising quality flicks starting at the same time each week on Saturday and Sunday evenings.

The former promises more broad crowd-pleasing fare, with The Great Gatsby and Silver Linings Playbook among the early titles, while the latter’s line-up (On the Basis of Sex, The Last Full Measure) reflects a more recent and issues-based focus.

Debuting at 6am on Monday, March 21, Eden can be found on Freeview Channel 8 and Sky TV Channel 13. Rush will appear on Freeview 14 and Sky 24. A selection of content from each channel will also be available on demand at threenow.co.nz