TV Highlights
by John Daly Updated: Wednesday, 4th January, 2012 4:53pm
Liam Cunningham (right) meets ex-special forces soldier Paul Butler who runs a successful private security company on the French Riviera (RTE 1, Monday).
'Hostile Environment' (RTE 1, Monday, 9.35pm) - Liam Cunningham enters the world of ex-special forces soldier Paul Butler, a journey which begins amongst the super-wealthy of the French Riviera and onto the diamond mines of poverty-stricken Liberia.
The modern private security industry is one of the fastest growing in the world, and today generates over $100 billion dollars annually - and it's a global industry dominated by Irish operators. Paul Butler is an ex-Irish Ranger who runs a successful private security company in the south of France who provides protection to high net worth clients and celebrities who spend their summers holidaying in the exclusive French resort.
Cunningham finds out about Butler's background and his formative years in Cork and his path to becoming part of one of the most respected military elite forces in the world. From the luxury of Cannes, Butler's next assignment takes him to west Africa where he has secured a government-approved diamond licence.
Butler's job is to provide verification of the product, protection to clients on the ground and to oversee the safe transportation of the purchased gems out of this hostile environment. With all diamond transactions conducted in cash, it's high risks for high returns.
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'A Little Bit TV' (RTE 1, Thursday, 7pm) - To mark the TV50 year, RTE launches a series of eight profiles of well-known and much-loved Irish television presenters.
In the 50 years since RTE TV began, television in Ireland has undergone huge changes: the burgeoning of new platforms, new stations and new media, not to mention new faces. Ireland's on-screen talent have experienced those changes first hand.
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In 'A Little Bit TV', Grainne Seoige, Bill O'Herlihy, Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh, Bunny Carr, Seán Duignan, Mark Cagney, Derek Davis and Theresa Lowe share personal and professional memories while reflecting on the changing nature of television presentation and production down through the years. In the first programme, RTÉ veteran Bill O'Herlihy looks back on his varied, almost 50 year career, in television from his beginnings with the Cork Examiner newspaper to a TV career where he interviewed everybody from the very upfront Jayne Mansfield to a man who wanted to be buried alive.
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'Hustle' (BBC 1, Friday, 9pm) - Mickey Bricks and his team of highly skilled conmen return for the last-ever series as they target London's rich and greedy and, with their grifting skills better than ever, they're ready to push themselves to the limit in the search for riches.
Kicking the series off, the first episode sees the grifters take on gold dealer Dexter Gold, famous for parting the elderly from their precious treasures in return for a pittance and trading stolen gold at profitable prices. The gang is eager to give this fraudster a taste of his own medicine.
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'Sherlock: Hounds Of Baskerville' (BBC 1, Sunday, 8.30pm) - A terrified young man. Sherlock's most famous case. But is a monster really stalking Dartmoor?
Something terrible has happened to Henry Knight and Sherlock and John investigate the truth about the monstrous creature which apparently killed their client's father. But what seems like fantasy in Baker Street is a very different prospect in the ultra-secret army base that looms over Dartmoor...
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'At Your Service' (RTE 1, Sunday, 8.30pm) - Hoteliers John and Francis Brennan are back to help eight more hotels, guesthouses and B&Bs bring new life to their businesses.
It's a tough time for the hospitality industry and it's more important than ever that the Brennan brothers come up with solutions. In the current climate every possible avenue needs to be exploited, forcing the Brennans to look at websites, signage, receptions, lounges, bedrooms, kitchens, service arrangements, menus, target markets and even family politics.
This year's series covers a wide range of properties - from an equestrian centre gutted by fire, to a guesthouse with ambitions not only to update itself but also to regenerate the whole town.
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'Inside Out: Dry December' (BBC 1, Monday, 7.30pm) - Radio presenters Scott Mills and Mike Dilger from the 'One Show', along with nine other presenters, embark on a medical experiment to give up drinking for the whole of the festive period.
Many of us indulge in too much booze, but how easily could we rise to the challenge of giving up for a month - especially during the hectic, pressured and highly sociable month of December?
It's a time when the alcohol consumption rockets and emergency services are stretched to the limit dealing with alcohol-fuelled incidents. For 'Inside Out: Dry December', each presenter will give up drinking for a period of 31 days. Each film combines the emotional highs and lows of giving up drink, with disturbing snapshots of the huge toll alcohol abuse is taking on towns and cities.
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Movie Of The Week: 'PS, I Love You' (RTE 1, Wednesday, 9.35pm) - A heartwarming romance to start the first week of the New Year starring Hilary Swank and Gerard Butler in the adaptation of Cecelia Ahern's novel about a grieving widow who finds her husband's warmth radiating from the afterlife when she discovers that he left her a series of tasks to be revealed in 10 monthly messages designed to help her overcome her sorrow while gradually making the transition into a new life.
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