TV week: 'Patrick – A Slave to Ireland'
TV WEEK (Wednesday 12th to Tuesday 18th)
TOP SPECIALS
What We Do In The Shadows (BBC 2, Wednesday 12th, 10pm)
A group of vampires who have lived together for hundreds of years on Staten Island, led by an ancient Ottoman Empire warrior, Nandor the Relentless, try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.
The Complaints Bureau (RTÉ 1, Thursday 13th, 7pm)
Finance expert Eoin McGee sets the caseload for three consumer journalists – Conor Pope, Amy Molloy and Siobhan Maguire – to tackle problems big, small and seemingly intractable. This first episode returns with the case of the missing rental car, the defective front door and the unwilling builder, plus a new car’s display system that won’t display.
Bradley Walsh: Egypt’s Cosmic Code (Sky History, Tuesday 18th, 9pm)
Bradley Walsh’s trip is to Egypt in search of answers to some of ancient history’s biggest mysteries – who built the pyramids, why and how? Could Ancient Egyptians have had supernatural abilities, and is the Great Sphinx much older than we think? Bradley fulfils a lifetime ambition to try to understand how it could have been possible to produce such ‘wonders of the ancient world’ 4,500 years ago.
Dancing with the Stars 2025 Final (RTÉ 1, Sunday 16th, 6.30pm)
It’s the final! Get ready to cha-cha, tango, and waltz your way as the surviving celebrity figures strut their stuff in front of hosts Jennifer Zamparelli and Doireann Garrihy and the judging panel – professional dancer Karen Byrne alongside longstanding judges Loraine Barry, Brian Redmond and Arthur Gourounlian.
WATCH OF THE WEEK
Patrick – A Slave to Ireland (RTÉ 1, Monday 17th, 7pm)
The story of St Patrick and his extraordinary mission from Roman Britain to Ireland to spread the Christian faith 1,500 years ago. In a challenge to the conventional narrative, this places British-born Patrick in his European context and shows how Ireland’s patron saint was part of a radical Christian movement that converted, not only the Irish at the edge of the earth, but also large swathes of Europe, to Christianity.
BEST FILMS
Collateral (Film4, Wednesday 14th, 11.15pm)
Jamie Foxx is a taxi driver hired by hit man Tom Cruise to drive him to a number of murderous jobs across the city on one fateful night. Finally waking up to his part in this wave of killings, the cabbie has to prevent the assassin from wiping out his last witness.
Big Jake (TG4, Friday 14th, 9.05pm)
John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara get star chemistry going in this rollicking Western, where Big Jake, the avenging head of the McCandle clan, leads the search for his kidnapped grandson with no intention of handing over any ransom without a fight.
Afraid (Sky Cinema Premiere, from Saturday)
Curtis (John Cho) and his family are selected to test a revolutionary new home device: a digital family assistant called AIA that takes the smart home to the next level. She learns the family’s behaviours and can make sure nothing – and no one – gets in her way.
Skincare (Sky Cinema Premiere, from Sunday)
Famed aesthetician Hope Goldman (Elizabeth Banks) is about to take her career to the next level by launching her own skincare line – only for rival facialist to open a new skincare boutique directly across from her store. She suspects someone is trying to sabotage her business, and embarks on a mission to unravel the mystery.
CLASSIC MOVIE
A Hidden Life (RTÉ 2, Friday 14th, 10.15pm)
Director Terrence Malick tackles the true story an Austrian farmer, Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl), who refuses to take part in the gradual Nazification of his village. Refusing to swear an oath of allegiance to Adolf Hitler and the Third Reich, he becomes ostracised by long-time friends and neighbours.
KIDS STUFF
Picture This (Amazon Prime)
This decent rom-com sees struggling photographer Simone Ashley receiving a prediction that true love and career success await her in the next five dates she goes on. With her sister’s wedding looming and the family playing matchmaker, her ex, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, reappears, throwing her love and professional lives into chaos.
Miss Scarlet And The Duke (Sky/Now)
When her father dies, Eliza Scarlet faces a difficult future as an unmarried Victorian woman without a husband to provide for her. Then she takes on the challenge of running the family detective agency – in partnership with the unconventional Detective Inspector William Wellington of Scotland Yard, known as ‘The Duke’.
ON DEMAND
The Electric State (Netflix)
From the directors of Avengers: Endgame comes this alternate version of the 1990s with Millie Bobby Brown as an orphaned teenager navigating life in a society where robots that once served peacefully among humans now live in exile following a failed uprising. Along with Chris Pratt, she ventures into the Exclusion Zone where robots rule.
Dope Thief (Apple TV)
Two lifelong friends pose as Drug Enforcement Agency operatives to make a criminal side hustle by robbing a rural house. Unfortunately for them, their small-time petty crime lands them in a life-and-death enterprise as they unwittingly reveal a huge hidden narcotics corridor on the Eastern Seaboard.
Fear (Amazon Prime)
Thriller series stars Martin Compston and Anjli Mohindra as upwardly mobile parents who move their family from London to a new home in Glasgow. Settling in to their new house, they meet their downstairs neighbour Jan (Solly McLeod), who at first seems warm and welcoming, but who soon turns their dream home into a nightmare.
Caught (Netflix)
In Argentinian Patagonia’s city of Bariloche, journalist Ema Garay rises to prominence in digital media by exposing criminals who manage to evade the law. Her life takes an unexpected turn when she meets Leo Mercer, the prime suspect into the disappearance of a 16-year-old girl. As she searches for the truth, Ema is forced to confront her own demons.
SPORTS CENTRE
Six Nations Greatest Moments (BBC 1, Friday 14th, 7pm)
In the final episode of the series, Gabby Logan is joined by iconic rugby legends from all the Six Nations countries, as well as famous fans, to look back and celebrate Wales’s Grand Slam victory in 2005 and Ireland’s Grand Slam victory in 2009, along with Mike Phillips’ controversial try in 2011.
Under-20 Six Nations 2025 (RTÉ 2, Friday 14th, 7.35pm)
Daire O’Brien is joined by Darren Cave and Hannah Tyrrell for Italy v Ireland from Stadio Comunale Monigo, Treviso. Commentary from Connor Morris and Fiona Coghlan. KO 7.45pm.