TV Highlights

'Off The Rails' (RTE 1, Wednesday, 8pm) - The veteran fashion series is back for its 14th season with its usual heady mix of up to-the-minute fashion reports, features, makeovers, and style advice that fans of the show have come to love. Kylie Minogue and Beyonce's fave designer Mark Fast gives exclusive backstage access to his show, where viewers learn to get the make-up looks hot off the catwalk. Meet makeover candidate Fiona McCann who has just lost a whopping six stone - but with her 'grown-up debs' fast approaching, will she get to go to the ball in style? _____________________________________________________________ 'The Frozen Planet' (BBC 1, Wednesday, 9pm) - David Attenborough takes an extraordinary journey across the magical ice worlds of the Arctic and Antarctic, the greatest and least-known wildernesses inhabited by the most bizarre and hardy creatures on Earth. The journey begins at the North Pole - one of the few places he has never visited. After six months of darkness ends with the return of the sun, a pair of courting polar bears reveal a surprisingly tender side. At Greenland's great ice cap, waterfalls plunge into the heart of the ice, and a colossal iceberg caves into the sea. Humpback whales join the largest gathering of seabirds on Earth to feast in rich Alaskan waters, and in the Taiga Forest, a pack of the world's largest wolves take on formidable bison prey. Below the ice, the cameras discover prehistoric giants - terrifying sea spiders and massive woodlice. Above ground, crystal caverns ring the summit of Mount Erebus, the most southerly volcano in the world. _____________________________________________________________ 'The Women Of Brukman' (RTE 1, Wednesday, 12 midnight) - In the midst of Argentina's financial crisis, a group of women (and a few men) took over their suit factory after it was closed down and abandoned by its owners. The film chronicles their struggle to revitalise the business, how they won over the government and, in the end, how the former owners tried to take the factory back after the workers had ensured its survival. A touching, human adventure showing that, even against seemingly insurmountable odds, hope and determination can prevail. _____________________________________________________________ 'An Audience With Barry Manilow' (ITV, Friday, 9pm) - The multi-award winning music legend, who has sold more than 80 million records worldwide, brings his extraordinary talents to the small screen, headlining this special one-off show in front of a star-studded audience. Barry Manilow's career has spanned more than four decades, and his songs have become part of the soundtrack to our lives, including 'Mandy', 'Could It Be Magic' and 'Copacabana'. The audience will be invited to ask questions about Manilow's amazing life and music career, making it a must-see for fans. _____________________________________________________________ 'Strictly Come Dancing' (BBC 1, Saturday, 6pm) - In a dark ballroom on a dark night, Sir Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly unleash a truly bewitching bonanza in the 'Strictly Come Dancing 2011' Halloween spectacular. Tonight, all 11 remaining couples don their most ghoulish and ghostly costumes, and take to the dance floor with an array of devilishly spectacular ballroom and Latin routines. They aim to cast a spell on the judges and to win valuable votes from the viewing public. The fearsome foursome - Len Goodman, Alesha Dixon, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood - are on hand to deliver their withering verdicts on each routine, and award a score out of 10. _____________________________________________________________ 'The Commute' (RTE 1, Monday, 9.30pm) - How far would you travel to get work in the recession and what lengths would you go to provide your family with a stable income? Over 300,000 people are currently unemployed in Ireland, with more than 3,000 emigrating each month. But hidden behind those stats is a new transient community growing in numbers, known as 'extreme commuters'. They are people willing to travel daily, weekly or monthly for paid work, beyond their home place, despite strains on their personal, family, and community life. People prepared to go the distance to secure jobs in the recession, journeying across Ireland, the UK and beyond. In this documentary, five different people who have been forced to make extreme commutes in the recession tell their tales. _____________________________________________________________ Film Of The Week: 'The Full Monty' (RTE 2, Friday, 11pm) - Robert Carlyle and Mark Addy lead an all-star British cast in this relentlessly feelgood movie about of group of unemployed guys who discover a novel way to regain their dignity and funny bones. Set in the British steel town of Sheffield, a group of out-of-work metal heads are organised by the fun-loving, slightly irresponsible Gaz into a Chippendale-style dance troupe that takes the region by storm. A laugh that still works all these years later.