What"s on the box this week?

'The Road To Croker" (RTE 2, Friday) - The popular GAA programme returns with a new magazine-style format and new time slot at the beginning of every GAA weekend. For the remainder of the 2009 Championship, Friday evenings will be the day to tune in for star name interviews, nostalgia and grassroots issues, all filtered through a uniquely irreverent perspective. The first episode features comedian and TV presenter Patrick Kielty who, when he comes back to Dundrum in County Down, is still 'Paddy Kielty who played football for Dundrum, who goes to the pub and buys my round", despite his high-profile career and celebrity lifestyle. In this programme, he talks about how his first stand-up performances were about the GAA and claims the phrase 'who does yer man think he is" was coined by the Association. Kielty was pretty serious about his football, winning an All-Ireland medal for the Down minor team in 1987, and earlier this year, his club Dundrum named their pitch after his father, Jack Kielty, who was murdered by loyalist paramilitaries. Also in tonight"s programme, rival net minders, Waterford and Tipperary goalkeepers Clinton Hennessey and Brendan Cummins, explain the pressures on a hurling goalkeeper ahead of their clash in the Munster Hurling Final and how they came to be the guardians of the net. The programme also asks why it has been 10 years since a Leinster team won an All-Ireland. With Leinster football going through a serious drought, Dr Pat O"Neill diagnoses the problem while former Meath tough guy Colm Coyle prescribes the cure. ______________________________________________________________ 'The Culture Show" (BBC 2, Wednesday) - Tonight"s programme goes behind the scenes with artist Jeremy Deller, famous for recreating the Battle of Orgreave and for fusing acid house with brass-band culture who has been at work for months on a massive procession in Deansgate combining art, music and protest politics. There"s also a profile of the Young At Heart Choir, made up of singers in their 70s and 80s which made its name with a unique take on songs by The Clash and James Brown. Lauren Laverne talks to Guy Garvey whose band, Elbow, is working with the original Manchester band, the Halle Orchestra, at the Bridgewater Hall. There"s also a chance for viewers to see a rare TV interview with Ralf Hutter, founder member of reclusive German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk, and stars of a one-off concert at the Manchester Velodrome. ______________________________________________________________ 'Taking The Flak" (BBC 2, Wednesday) - A small African war suddenly ready to cover the conflict, as this new comedy drama starring Martin Jarvis begins. Local stringer Harry (Bruce Mackinnon) is hanging on to the bottom of the journalistic ladder and thinks the story will be his big break. But he finds himself 'bigfooted" when BBC News heavyweights, including senior foreign correspondent David Bradburn (Martin Jarvis), flanked by his production team, and Margaret Hollis (Joanna Brookes) from the World Service, arrive in town. Football-mad boy soldiers, corrupt car dealers, intestinal discomfort, unexploded landmines, old flames, impromptu hostage situations, YouTube viral videos and colossal egos all combust under the African sun. There is a story to be told in Karibu - but who will get to tell it? ______________________________________________________________ 'The iTunes Festival" (ITV, Thursday) - Presented by Fearne Cotton and Dave Berry, the iTunes Festival 2009 will give viewers exclusive backstage access to some of the hottest names in music today. The first show will feature performances from Snow Patrol and Flo Rida and the second show, Franz Ferdinand and Ironik. Upcoming shows will showcase Oasis, Kasabian, The Saturdays, Paulo Nutini, Placebo, Jack Peñate, Calvin Harris, Bat For Lashes and Bloc Party, and with more yet to be announced. Plus, Cotton and Berry will discover what really makes these bands tick as they intimately chat to the acts before they take to the stage. They"ll also get all the latest showbiz gossip from an array of celebrity guests who will be dropping by. ______________________________________________________________ 'The Oz Factor" (RTE 2, Sunday) - 'The Oz Factor" tells the story of controversial Aussie Rules agent Ricky Nixon"s quest to poach the GAA of their best and brightest players to the sunshine and dollars of the Australian Football League (AFL). From an initial list of 80, Nixon trawls through the best young Gaelic footballers in Ireland to see who could make it as a pro in Oz and, in the process, stirs up plenty of controversy amongst followers of Ireland"s national sport. Nixon was followed in his quest for over a year and, in this series, viewers find out who is prepared to leave the amateur sport they grew up with and who is good enough to take the chance to fulfil their dream of becoming a professional sportsman. With GAA legend Mickey Harte as the voice of Ireland"s national code and Nixon"s determination to take only the best from the sport, there is no shortage of fireworks. ______________________________________________________________ Movie Of The Week: 'The Marine" (RTE 2, Saturday) - John Cena is a heroic Marine who returns home after being discharged from the Iraq War. Stateside, he finds himself back in action when a group of diamond thieves on the run led by a merciless criminal kidnap his wife, forcing Cena on a chase through the South Carolinian wilderness to retrieve her. Macho stuff that"s got its moments.