TV Highlights

'When Harvey Met Bob’ (RTE 1, Wednesday, 9.35pm) - A feature-length drama telling the story of the extraordinary relationship between Bob Geldof and promoter Harvey Goldsmith, as they brought about the historic Live Aid event 25 years ago. In October 1984, Bob Geldof arrived home to find his wife, Paula, watching the legendary BBC broadcast by Michael Buerk from the feeding camps in Eritrea province. Goldof takes his eyes from the screen only once to see Paula holding their baby and weeping. Deeply affected, he moves into action. First, he persuades a host of rock stars to give their name and talent for free to the Band Aid record - 'Do They Know It’s Christmas?’ - which sells millions of copies. But when he goes to Ethiopia to ensure the proceeds from the record will reach the starving people, he realises that so much more needs to be done. He needs to raise even more money to fulfil his promise that every penny from the record will get there. It is at this point that he conceives the idea of a global music event to feed the world. Enter Harvey Goldsmith, the famous and well-respected music promoter. This is the start of the roller-coaster ride that is the humorous, warm, tension-filled and ultimately deeply moving story of the relationship between the odd couple as they go from a madcap idea and a list of unconfirmed acts, to the biggest televised international charity event in history. _____________________________________________________________ 'The Only Way Is Essex’ (ITV, Wednesday, 10pm) - Welcome to the glamorous world of Essex, a brand new 10-part series, where viewers get a chance to delve into the real lives of some of the most gorgeous people around, in a truly innovative living soap. The characters who feature in this show are real people living their real lives. Viewers will see the tears, the tantrums and the triumphs just like a real soap opera. This is the place where nail bars, nightclubs and tanning salons are a big part of everybody’s lives. It’s all about expensive watches, designer clothing and champagne cocktails. The series is filmed just a few days before transmission, with the cast watching the show as it’s shot. _____________________________________________________________ 'Wonderland: Boy Cheerleaders’ (BBC 2, Wednesday, 9pm) - Nine-year-old Harvey is a budding Billy Elliot in the most unlikely of surroundings. On a south Leeds estate, in the heart of rugby league territory, Harvey is a member of the UK’s first all-boy cheerleading squad. 'Wonderland’ follows the DAZL Diamonds, as they are known, preparing for a competition that could change their lives for ever. Their coach, Ian, sees the National Cheerleading Championships as a great challenge for the young team: “They’re going to do a predominantly female sport, so I suppose they’ve got to get some balls, haven’t they?” It’s not plain sailing for the boys. Twelve-year-old Joe admits: “They used to call me 'camp’ and 'puff’ and all that. But then, when I’m on the rugby pitch, they go: 'Oh...you’re well rough!’” And, with many of the boys being brought up by single mothers, life is far from a fairytale. _____________________________________________________________ 'The First Men On The Moon’ (BBC 4, Tuesday, 9pm) - Mark Gatiss takes the lead role as Edwardian scientist Professor Cavor in his own adaptation of HG Wells’s science fiction classic, 'The First Men In The Moon’. It’s July 1969 and, as the world waits with bated breath for news of the Apollo 11 astronauts, a young boy meets 90-year-old Julius Bedford who tells an extraordinary story of two men’s journey to the moon in 1909. As a young man, Bedford chances to meet Professor Cavor, a somewhat unworldly scientist with an amazing invention called Cavorite. Anything to which it is applied becomes opaque to the force of gravity. Knowing a miracle when he sees one and with a keen eye on profit, Bedford encourages Cavor to think big. And so the two men construct a copper and cast-iron sphere which will fly them to the moon. But what terrors await them in the lunar interior? And will they ever succeed in returning to Earth? Mark Gatiss plays Professor Cavor and Rory Kinnear is Julius Bedford. _____________________________________________________________ Movie Of The Week: 'The Shining’ (RTE 1, Saturday, 1.05am) - Jack Nicholson stars and Stanley Kubrick directs this tale of a family who become the winter caretakers of an isolated hotel where Danny, the son, sees disturbing visions of the hotel’s past using a telepathic gift known as 'The Shining’. The father, Jack Torrance, is undertaking a writing project when he slowly slips into insanity as a result of cabin fever and the ghosts of former guests of the hotel. Stunning.