This week: Percy French: Siúlach Scéalach
TV WEEK (Wednesday 28th to Tuesday 3rd)
TOP SPECIALS
Rob and Romesh vs Hollywood Stunts (Sky Max, Wednesday 28th, 9pm)
Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan are back in the first episode of series seven as they throw themselves into the world of Hollywood stuntmen. Flying out to LaLaLand itself, our heroes meet up with The Fall Guy stars Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt.
Wallander (BBC 4, Wednesday 28th 10pm)
Drama series starring Kenneth Branagh as Swedish detective Kurt Wallander, investigating a series of violent and terrifying murders in the beautiful setting of Skane, southern Sweden. Based on the bestselling novels by Henning Mankell, it also stars Tom Hiddleston.
Democracy On Trial (RTÉ 1, Thursday 29th, 11.20pm)
As the US election story gathers momentum toward voting day on November 5, Michael Kirk and his team examine the House January 6 committee’s evidence, the historic charges against former president, Donald Trump, the roots of his crimes and the threat to democracy.
Percy French: Siulach Scelach (TG4, Friday 8.15pm)
He is best known as a writer of humorous songs like Come Back Paddy Reilly To Ballyjamesduff, but Percy French was also a legendary entertainer, a talented author, poet, banjo player and an accomplished landscape painter who travelled the world performing.
WATCH OF THE WEEK
DI Ray (Virgin Media Player, Friday 30th, 9pm)
Detective Inspector Rachita Ray, played by Parminder Nagra, joins a homicide investigation into a murder classed as a ‘Culturally Specific Homicide’, for which she’s been chosen for her ethnicity rather than her ability. Doggedly she sticks to the case, delving deep into the dangerous world of organised crime, as well as calling out the obvious biases of her police colleagues.
BEST FILMS
Music and Lyrics (RTÉ 1, Wednesday 28th, 9.35pm)
Hugh Grant plays a former music superstar who is now reduced to playing nostalgia tours and county fairs. Asked by a pop diva to pen her a hit song, he turns to his local plant lady who has a knack for a well turned lyric, proposing they make beautiful music together.
Trust The Man (RTÉ 1, Friday 30th, 12am)
Julianne Moore, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Billy Crudup and David Duchovny play two New York couples trying to navigate through the ever-present pitfalls of love and marriage as they cope with work demands and infidelity on the long and winding road to real love and easy parking.
Madame Web (Sky Cinema Premiere, from Friday)
Suspense-driven thriller starring Dakota Johnson as Cassandra Webb, a paramedic in Manhattan who develops the power to see the future and forges a relationship with three young women bound for powerful destinies – if they can all survive a deadly present.
CLASSIC MOVIE
The Deer Hunter (RTÉ 2, Friday 30th, 10pm)
Set in 1968 this stars Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Savage as lifelong friends from a working-class Pennsylvania steel town, preparing to ship out overseas to Vietnam – a war where their dreams of military honour are quickly shattered by the inhumanities of brutal conflict. Meryl Streep in her first role adds further to a classic.
KIDS STUFF
Our Lives: The Seal Whisperer (BBC 1, Friday 30th, 7.30pm)
Ben Burville is a GP who has struck up a unique relationship with the country’s largest population of grey seals, and he takes us under the waves off the Farne Islands to share the secrets of these beautiful creatures. Ben has built a unique rapport with the seals and they trust him so much that some even shake hands (flippers), and others give him a cuddle.
Learning to Live Together: The Return of Mad Dogs and Englishmen (Sky Arts, Saturday 31st, 9pm)
In the spring of 1970, rocker Joe Cocker undertook what became the legendary 20th-century musical experiment – a travelling rock and roll commune/tour that crisscrossed the country on a private jet an developed a mythical status among music fans throughout the world. It was the beginning of a musical trend that other bands would follow, but Cocker was the mad magician who kicked it all off.
ON DEMAND
Wyatt Earp and the Cowboy War (Netflix)
The legendary feud between Wyatt Earp and Ike Clanton unfolds through vivid re-enactments exploring the gunfight that defined an era. Ed Harris narrates the six-part series: “Forget everything you know about Wild West history. The Gunfight at the OK Corral wasn’t the end of the story – it was just the beginning.”
Slow Horses (Apple TV)
Season four of this acclaimed series gets our attention immediately when a bomb explodes in London, leaving the Secret Service in a shambles, forcing a desperate liaison between Jackson Lamb’s Slough House and Diana Taverner’s MI5. Add in River Cartwright, now stuck in a dangerous situation opposite a menacing Frank Harkness and dealing with his grandfather’s deteriorating health. Gary Oldman, Kristin Scott-Thomas, Jack Lodren and Jonathan Pryce star.
Sven (Amazon Prime)
Documentary following Sven Goran-Eriksson, the first foreign manager of the England men’s team, intertwined with the moving reality of his terminal cancer diagnosis. David Beckham, Wayne Rooney, Roberto Mancini, Kasper Schmeichel, Nancy Dell’Olio and Faria Alam all contribute on the interesting life of a colourful individual.
Breathless (Netflix)
The series spans eight episodes focusing on the chaotic world of Joaquín Sorolla Hospital in Valencia, Spain. Populated by well known Spanish actors who portray a group of doctors and nurses who go through the complications of life where personal and professional challenges meet.
SPORTS CENTRE
Paris Paralympics 2024 (RTÉ 2,Wednesday 28th, 6.30pm)
The Paris Paralympics 2024 begins with the opening ceremony live from the iconic Champs-Elysées. Evanne Ní Chuilinn is joined by Michael McKillop, Niamh McCarthy and Peter Ryan for the ceremony from Paris, and there is additional commentary from John Kenny and James Scully. Coverage will run daily throughout the week, and the action starts at 8.30am on Thursday.
Mission to Burnley (Sky Documentaries, Sunday 1st, 9pm)
It’s the 2023/24 season and Burnley are back in the Premier League, with an ambition to stay there. Real optimism and hope abound as ‘the next big thing’ manager Vincent Kompany looks to build on his incredible season of success in the Championship with an array of new signings. However, the reality of life in the world’s most lucrative league soon bites.