TV WEEK (Wednesday 17th to Tuesday 23rd)
WATCH OF THE WEEK
GAA In The Joy (RTÉ 1, Wednesday 9.35pm)
Three-part documentary series that follows Dublin star Philly McMahon and comedian Rory O’Connor as they run a unique educational and sports programme in Mountjoy Prison. Their goal is take a group of prisoners currently servicing sentences in the prison’s Progression Unit and try to turn them into a competitive football team using leadership and the value of hard work.
TOP SPECIALS
Brian Cox: How The Other Half Live (One, Wednesday 18th, 9pm)
Brian Cox tells his story, from growing up in poverty to becoming Hollywood actor, and examines the wealth divide of two Miami women whose lives have turned out very differently. Senada used to work for Donald Trump and makes millions selling luxury houses, while Elsa is being evicted.
11 Minutes: America’s Deadliest Shooting (BBC 2, Wednesday 17th, 9pm)
Through first-hand accounts and archival footage, this series recounts the largest mass shootings in US history, beginning with the 2017 Las Vegas Harvest music festival where 22,000 fans celebrating country music were caught in the sights of a maniac killer on a deadly rampage.
Rolf Harris: Hiding In Plain Sight (ITVX, Thursday 18th, 9pm)
Harris was loved and trusted as ‘the nation’s favourite uncle’ but behind closed doors he had been betraying his family and the public by sexually assaulting children and young women for years. More than a decade on from his arrest, Harris’s victims tell the story of how they finally came forward to testify against him in court.
Last King of the Cross (Sky Max, Thursday 18th, 9pm)
Inspired by John Ibrahim’s best-selling autobiography, the series is an operatic story of two brothers who organise the street – but lose each other in their ascent to power. The drama tracks John Ibrahim’s rise from a poverty-stricken immigrant with no education to Australia’s most infamous nightclub mogul in Sydney’s Kings Cross.
Juan Carlos: Downfall of the King (Sky Documentaries, Sunday 21st, 9pm)
For many years, King Juan Carlos I was a Spanish hero, reforming Spain with his modern and democratic values – until scandal surrounding his financial arrangements led to his abdication in 2014. This four-part series sheds a new light on the former King’s personal life including affairs, allegations of corruption, and alleged abuse of power.
A Spy Among Friends (RTÉ 1, Tuesday 23rd, 11.20pm)
Damien Lewis and Guy Pearce star in adaptation of the best-selling book dramatising the true story of Nicholas Elliott and Kim Philby, two British spies and lifelong friends. Philby went on to become the most notorious British defector and Soviet double agent in history.
BEST FILMS
Flight (Film4, Wednesday 17th, 9pm)
Denzel Washington is a commercial airline pilot with a drugs and alcohol problem he’s managed to keep under control. But when an engine malfunction forced him to make a heroic crash landing, his addiction is revealed to public view.
Richard Jewell (RTÉ 2, Friday 19th, 9.30pm)
One of director Clint Eastwood’s lesser known films, this true story set during the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, when security guard Richard Jewell helps save dozens of lives from a terrorist bomb. But later this humble hero becomes the FBI’s prime suspect.
Halloween Ends (Sky Cinema, from Friday)
After 45 years, the most acclaimed horror franchise in film history reaches its terrifying conclusion as Laurie Strode faces off for the last time against the embodiment of evil, Michael Myers, where only one will survive.
CLASSIC MOVIE
The Great Gatsby (RTÉ 1, Friday 19th, 11.40pm)
Set in New York 1922, this classic F Scott Fitzgerald novel gets its most recent adaptation with Leo DiCaprio in the title role as the mysterious millionaire who captivates Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan in a world of never-ending parties, stunning wealth and hidden secrets as the Roaring Twenties hit their stride.
KIDS STUFF
Tina Times Two (RTÉ Player)
Lonely young girl Tina is delighted when her wish comes true and she discovers a magical friend who is an exact double of herself! But the dream soon turns to a nightmare when her double wants to take on a life of her own. Starring Robyn Dempsey, Gus McDonagh, Noni Stapleton and Eilish O’Carroll.
Keep It Up (RTÉ Player)
Coach Emer O’Neill brings together a group of nine teenage girls who have either dropped out of sport or never played. They talk about body image, fun, fears and feelings as we prepare to rewrite the script and find out why girls quit sports in their teenage years.
ON DEMAND
Air (Amazon Prime)
Ben Affleck and Matt Damon are goodwill hunting again in this true-life story on the game-changing partnership between rookie hoop genius Michael Jordan and Nike’s fledgling basketball division, which revolutionised the world of sports and contemporary culture with the Air Jordan brand.
Platonic (Apple TV)
The central plot of this 10-part comedy-drama series follows a pair of former childhood friends – Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne – who lost contact in their teens and went their separate adult ways. Approaching midlife they reconnect – but they are dealing with very different problems.
Last Light (Amazon Prime)
Based on the best-selling novel, this action packed dystopian thriller centres on one family trying to survive in a completely changed world after oil supplies get contaminated by an infectious agent – causing a global disaster. Matthew Fox and Joanne Froggatt lead a major cast in a saga that spans several continents.
Crater (Disney+)
From the producers of Stranger Things comes a sci-fi story set around five precocious kids growing up in a domed mining colony on the Moon in the year 2257. They steal a lunar rover and embark on an adventure to investigate a massive remote crater – only to find a life form buried deep within.
SPORTS CENTRE
US PGA Championship (Sky Sports, from Thursday 18th, 1pm)
We’re on to the second Major of the year as we head to the Southern Hills Country Club in Tulsa, Oklahoma for the US PGA Championship. Last year, Justin Thomas came from seven shots behind to defeat Will Zalatoris in one of the biggest comebacks in PGA Championship history.
All-Ireland Football: Kerry v Mayo (GAA GO, Saturday 20th, 3pm)
It’s getting serious now, the gloves are off for a showdown that’s bound to be a mighty contest. The All-Ireland champions versus the League champions – what more could you ask of a sporting Saturday.
All-Ireland Football: Galway v Tyrone (GAA GO, Saturday 20th, 5.15pm)
A contest of different styles but similar outlook – no quarter asked or given – as two definite contenders for the ultimate prize test each other’s mettle.