Garden design challenge back for 16th series
TV WEEK (Wednesday 16th to Tuesday 22nd)
TOP SPECIALS
Gareth Malone’s Messiah (BBC 1, Good Friday 18th, 10.45pm)
For the day that’s in it, choirmaster Gareth Malone coaches eight people with no experience of classical choral music to sing Handel’s Messiah alongside a world-class orchestra and chorus. Handel’s legendary masterpiece dates back to Dublin in the 1700s, but can it be properly taught to a group of newbies with just a few weeks to perfect this challenging composition?
The Priests: Don’t Give Up The Day Job (RTÉ 1, Easter Sunday 20th, 6.30pm)
Three parish priests from Northern Ireland – Fathers Martin and Eugene O’Hagan and Father David Delargy – reveal the real story of how ‘The Priests’ were discovered and catapulted to fame on a three album recording contract with Sony Epic Records for £1.4 million. Their debut album sold more than 1.6 million records and entered the Guinness Book of Records for the fastest selling debut classical album of all time, a record they retain to this day.
The Handmaid’s Tale (RTÉ 2, Monday 21st, 9.35pm)
No longer safe in Canada, what comes next for June Osbourne as she continues her enduring struggle against Gilead, where women are used for their bodies and considered properties of the state. Part of a growing movement to fight back and reclaim autonomy, June is uncertain of what the future holds – but she will not stop.
Super Garden (RTÉ 1, Tuesday 22nd, 7pm)
The garden design challenge is back for its 16th series. The winner is given the chance to showcase their garden at Bord Bia Bloom, where more than 100,000 visitors will have the chance to see the design brought to life, joining the ranks of Ireland’s top garden designers. The designers are given three weeks and a budget of €15,000 to create their gardens.
WATCH OF THE WEEK
Hacks (Sky Max, Friday 18th, 9pm)
Hot on the heels of season three, this is billed as probably the last series of the hugely popular comedy/drama show. Tensions rise as Deborah and Ava try to get their late night show off the ground and make history doing it. Jean Smart as the ageing comedian and Hannah Einbinder as her youthful acolyte are the golden core of this acclaimed series. A gem.
BEST FILMS
Married Life (RTÉ 1, Friday 18th, 11.40pm)
Chris Cooper plays a happily married man who wants to poison his wife and live with a beautiful young widow – because death is kinder than the agony of divorce, he conveniently believes. Things get sticky when he confides his plans to bachelor buddy Pierce Brosnan – who falls in love with the doomed wife. Complicated.
Twisters (Sky Cinema Premiere, from Friday)
Daisy Edgar-Jones is a long way from Normal People in this action drama where she plays a former storm chaser who studies cyclonic patterns safely on computer screens – but who is lured back as storm season intensifies and terrifying phenomena never seen before are unleashed over Oklahoma in the fight of their lives.
The Parenting (Sky Cinema Premiere, from Saturday)
This ‘terrifying comedy’ follows young couple Rohan and Josh as they plan a perfect weekend getaway in the country to introduce their parents. As tensions begin to flare between the two families, things get even more hectic when they slowly realise their rental B&B is haunted by a 400-year-old poltergeist.
CLASSIC MOVIE
Glorious 39 (BBC 2, Friday 18th, 11.50pm)
In the summer of 1939, with Britain on the brink of war, the idyllic life of young a young woman is destabilised by her suspicion she has stumbled upon a sinister, high-level plot. Despite the reassurances of those closest to her, she persists, even as her sanity is questioned. Powerful period drama from writer and director Stephen Poliakoff, starring Romola Garai, Eddir Redmayne and Bill Nighy.
KIDS STUFF
Babe: Pig In The City (Film4, Friday 18th, 11am)
Babe, fresh from his victory in the sheep herding contest, returns to the familiar and safe surrounds of the farm. But after Farmer Hoggett is injured and unable to work, Babe has to go to the big city, New York, to save the farm.
Matilda (ITV 2, Friday 18th, 3.35pm)
From the quirky imagination of Roald Dahl comes this tale of a girl gifted with a keen intellect and psychic powers who uses both to get even with her callous family and free her kindly schoolteacher from the tyrannical grip of a sadistic headmistress. Danny DeVito and Mara Wilson star.
ON DEMAND
Behind The Curtain: Stranger Things The First Shadow (Netflix)
With special behind-the-scenes access, follow the cast and crew of ‘Stranger Things: The First Shadow’ as they race against time to prepare the ambitious, boundary-pushing stage show for its West End debut amid mounting fan and critic anticipation.
The Stolen Girl (Disney+)
In the heart of suburbia life is not quite as tranquil as it first seems. When Elisa and Fred Blix’s daughter, Lucia, goes missing after what appears to be a normal sleepover with a school friend, they enter a world of danger and fear. As the couple’s mundane existence spirals into chaos, Elisa embarks on a high-stakes cat-and-mouse chase across Europe to discover the shocking truth.
Ransom Canyon (Netflix)
Welcome to Ransom Canyon, where love, loss, and loyalty collide beneath the crimson mesas of Texas Hill Country. With three ranching family dynasties locked in a contest for control of the land, their lives and legacies are threatened by outside forces intent on destroying their way of life. At the centre of it all is stoic rancher Staten Kirkland, who is healing from heartbreaking loss and on a quest for vengeance.
iHostage (Netflix)
A gripping thriller inspired by the 2022 hostage crisis at Amsterdam’s Apple Store. The film follows a Bulgarian man caught in a life-threatening ordeal as an armed assailant holds the occupants of the building hostage. Through the eyes of the attacker, the hostages, and the first responders, iHostage delivers a tense tale of courage, survival, and the lasting impact of terror.
SPORTS CENTRE
Champions League Live (RTÉ 2, Wednesday 16th, 7.30pm)
Coverage of the quarter-final second-leg round as the teams contest a place in the last four. This is top-level football as Real Madrid v Arsenal at the Bernabeu and Inter Milan v Bayern Munich at the San Siro.