This week's TV: from Other Voices to the URC

TV WEEK (Wednesday 26th to Tuesday 4th)

TOP SPECIALS

Eva Pau’s Asian Kitchen (RTÉ 1, Wednesday 26th, 8.30pm)

Eva Pau takes viewers on a delicious journey through the vibrant world of Asian cuisine in her new cooking series, exploring the ingredients and traditions that make Asian cooking unique. Along the way, she recreates Chinese takeaway classics with a personal twist in the shape of dumplings and bao buns.

Surgeons: At The Edge Of Life (BBC 2, Wednesday 26th, 9pm)

Filmed at Scotland’s Royal Infirmary, this series has unprecedented access to surgeons, anaesthetists, theatre staff and patients as consultant surgeon Rajan Ravindran takes on complex procedures involving the liver, pancreas, and gallbladder of 21-year-old Sania, whose acute pancreatitis means she has been living in pain for 10 years.

No Time Wasters (Virgin Media 1, Wednesday 26th, 11pm)

Filmmaker Tara O’Callaghan is known for her unflinching approach to challenging, often taboo subjects and underrepresented voices. With No Time Wasters, she explores the harsh realities of sex-for-rent exploitation – a widespread and deeply troubling issue in Ireland that continues to be overlooked and unaddressed.

Other Voices (RTÉ 1, Thursday 27th, 11.05pm)

A new six-part series shines the spotlight on emerging and established artists from Ireland and beyond. This special episode honours Laura Marling, and her captivating December performance at St James’s Church, as she discusses artistic expression, music, and motherhood.

The 97th Academy Awards (RTÉ 1, Monday 3rd, 12am

The 97th Oscars take place at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. Hosted by Conan O’Brien, the ceremony will broadcast live on RTÉ One this year, starting at midnight on Monday – and even if we don’t have the expectation of Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer, like last year, it is still a night of drama and glamour worth staying up for.

WATCH OF THE WEEK

Small Town, Big Story (Sky Atlantic, Thursday 27th, 9pm)

From the mind of Chris O’Dowd, this dramatic comedy starring Christina Hendricks and Paddy Considine is set in Drumbán, a rural village on the border of Ireland and another world, where the story unfolds as a Hollywood TV production rolls into town and shines a spotlight on secrets hidden since the eve of the millennium.

BEST FILMS

Bite The Bullet (TG4, Friday 28th, 9.50pm)

Gene Hackman and Candice Bergen star in this tale about a group of individuals who enter a horse race through 700 miles of the Wild West to win a large cash prize. The contestants include two ex-Rough Riders, an ageing cowboy, an inexperienced youth, a Mexican, an Englishman and a woman (Candice Bergen) – all chasing the same prize.

Fight or Flight (Sky Cinema Premiere, from Friday)

It’s described as ’Die Hard on a plane’ as Josh Hartnett’s mercenary takes on the task of eliminating a high value target on a flight, but when an onslaught of rival assassins descend upon them both, they have to team up in order to survive.

MaXXXine (Sky Cinema Premiere, from Saturday)

In 1980s Hollywood, adult film star and aspiring actress Maxine Minx finally gets her big break, but as a mysterious killer stalks the starlets of Los Angeles, a trail of blood threatens to reveal her sinister past. Starring Mia Goth, Elizabeth Debicki and Michelle Monaghan.

National Theatre Live: Frankenstein (Sky Arts, Tuesday 4th, 9pm)

Director Danny Boyle’s 2011 stage adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic chiller has Jonny Lee Miller and Benedict Cumberbatch trading roles between Victor Frankenstein and his horrific creation. Naomie Harris also stars as Frankenstein’s betrothed, Elizabeth.

CLASSIC MOVIE

The Mission (Film4, Thursday 27th, 9pm)

Jeremy Irons plays a Jesuit priest in South America aiming to convert the natives to Christianity. Building a mission with the help of a reformed slave trader, Robert De Niro, the unlikely pair find themselves fighting a brutal government determined to keep the peasants as slaves. The score by Ennio Morricone is a timeless musical jewel.

KIDS STUFF

Marty’s Big Picture Show (RTÉ 1, Friday 28th, 8.30pm)

Rose Comiskey captured life in Dublin at times of great change in the 1950s and 1960s. Dublin was expanding, the tenements were being demolished, people were moving out to the suburbs. Her images reveal a new, confident Ireland emerging, one no longer willing to accept the status quo. Armed with her camera, she photographed the many protests that took place in Dublin at the time.

Loch Ness: They Created A Monster (BBC 2, Friday 28th, 9pm)

A fresh take on Scotland’s most famous story of the search for the Loch Ness Monster. Rumours and sightings of a dinosaur-like creature had persisted at the Loch for decades, and the 1970s saw a frenzy of ‘Monster Hunting’ from Japan, the US, World War II veterans and mad scientists – all drawn to a remote lake in the highlands of Scotland competing in a search for what they passionately believed would be the natural history discovery of the century.

ON DEMAND

Reacher 3 (Amazon Prime)

In the dangerous backwoods of Maine, Reacher witnesses the attempted kidnapping of college student, Richard Beck, and intervenes. After accepting a job offer from Beck’s grateful father, Reacher finds himself in a complicated world filled with criminals, DEA agents and a foe from his past.

A Thousand Blows (Disney+)

In the brutal East End of London in the 1880s, Jamaican emigrants Hezekiah and Alec are thrust into the criminal underbelly of the city’s bare-knuckle boxing scene – and attract the attention of the infamous Queen of the Forty Elephants, arch criminal Mary Carr, who sets about exploiting their talents to further her criminal enterprise.

Running Point (Netflix)

When a scandal forces her brother to resign, Isla Gordon (Kate Hudson) is appointed president of the Los Angeles Waves, one of the most storied professional basketball franchises. Ambitious and often overlooked, Isla will have to prove to her sceptical brothers, the board, and the larger sports community that she was the right choice for the job.

SPORTS CENTRE

URC – Munster v Edinburgh (TG4, Friday 28th, 7.20pm)

This match between the Munster and Edinburgh squads will be played at Virgin Media Park as of round 12 of United Rugby Championship. Before kick-off Munster was in fifth position and Edinburgh ninth – and a great deal is riding on the outcome for both clubs.