TV Highlights

'Stolen Brides' (BBC 2, Wednesday, 7pm) - Reporter Lucy Ash travels to Chechnya to investigate the practice of bride-stealing, where young women are being kidnapped from the street and, within days, married to men they may never have met. Although officially disapproved of, this centuries-old tradition is flourishing. From the moment a young woman is snatched, to her wedding one week later, Ash follows the twists and turns as two families struggle to negotiate a compromise. Included in the documentary is the mullah whose job it is to arbitrate between the two families and prevent the incident spilling into bloodshed. After a week of tense negotiations, she finally attends the colourful wedding celebrations where it seems there are as many guns as guests. ____________________________________________________________ 'The Culture Show At The Edinburgh Festival' (BBC 2, Thursday, 7pm) - In the first of three hour-long specials from Edinburgh, 'The Culture Show' features the best in theatre, art, dance, books, comedy and cabaret from week one of Europe's biggest cultural festival. Presenter Sue Perkins invites today's comic stars to recall their debut on the Edinburgh Fringe, which sees The Assembly Rooms and The Gilded Balloon celebrate their 30th and 25th years, respectively, in 2010. Previewing the Edinburgh International Festival which launches on Friday 13th August, the show goes behind the scenes with the National Theatre of Scotland as they rehearse their latest production, 'Caledonia'. ____________________________________________________________ 'Oceans' (RTE 2, Friday, 7pm) - The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's major oceans, covering 28 million square miles, almost 15 per cent of the Earth's surface. Its remote corners contain some of the most pristine marine habitats in the world. But it is also surrounded by many of the world's populous nations, so the 'Oceans' team sets out to discover the pressures that are changing this ocean and its resources. ____________________________________________________________ 'Zero Hour: The Last Hour Of Flight 11' (RTE 2, Saturday, 5.10pm) - American Airlines Flight 11 was a scheduled US domestic passenger flight from Logan International Airport in Boston to Los Angeles International Airport. It was hijacked by five al-Qaeda terrorists and deliberately crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Centre in New York City as part of the September 11 2001 terrorist attacks. ____________________________________________________________ 'Place Of Execution' (RTE 1, Sunday, 11.30pm) - On a freezing December night in 1963, the worst kind of fear strikes the secluded Derbyshire hamlet of Scardale. Thirteen-year-old Alison Carter has vanished without a trace. Against all their instincts, the self-sufficient villagers are reluctantly forced to ask the outside world for help. For newly-promoted Detective Inspector George Bennett, it's the first chance to show his bosses what he's made of. This involving drama stars Lee Ingleby, Juliet Stevenson and Greg Wise. Part one of three. ____________________________________________________________ 'Real Crime: Death On Duty' (ITV, Monday, 9pm) - The gripping story of the national and international search for the gang members who shot dead PC Sharon Beshenivsky during a bungled robbery in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005. Constable Beshenivsky's husband, the officer who was with her when she was shot, and the detective who led the investigation, speak about the tragic murder and the quest to find her killers, one of whom was hiding in Somalia, and bring them to justice. Featuring CCTV and police interview footage, 'Real Crime', presented by Mark Austin, reveals how officers from West Yorkshire's elite homicide and major enquiry team tracked down the gang responsible using cutting edge investigative techniques. ____________________________________________________________ Movie Of The Week: 'The Field' (RTE 1, Friday, 9.30pm) - Richard Harris and an all-star cast bring to life the John B Keane classic directed by Jim Sheridan. For many years, rugged individualist Bull McCabe has been cultivating a small plot of rented land, nurturing it from barren rock into a fertile field. Now, however, the widow who owns the land plans to sell it at auction. The infuriated Bull shows up at the bidding, secure in his belief that none of his neighbours will dare bid against him. But Bull has not taken into consideration a wealthy Irish-American who intends to pave over the land and bring new industry to the area. A wonderful story about Ireland that's worn well since being made in 1990.