TV – Your guide to the best of what's on the box this weekend
Gardening Together With Diarmuid Gavin (RTÉ 1, Friday 8pm)
What better way to pass these summer days than with Diarmuid (main photo), as he invites us in to his garden, encouraging everyone across the country, taking calls, answering questions and offering dozens of practical tips. He also gets a bit of help from plant legend, Helen Dillon.
The Best of the Late Late Show Country Special (RTÉ 1, Friday 9.35pm)
Ryan Turbidy celebrates country music specials from the past five years, with music and more from the biggest names, including Big Tom, Daniel O’Donnell, Philomena Begley, Charlie Pride, Cliona Hagan, Mike Denver and many more.
The Plot Against America (Sky Atlantic, continues Tuesday 9pm)
Winona Ryder and John Turturro star in this timely alternate-history drama based on the Philip Roth novel of the same name. Told from the perspective of the Levins, a working class New Jersey Jewish family, as the anti-Semitic aviator-hero Charles Lindbergh ascends to the presidency.
MOVIES OF THE WEEK
The Proposal (RTÉ 1, Friday 11.10pm)
This comedy drama sees Sandra Bullock get close and personal with Ryan Reynolds when she forces her young assistant to marry her in order to keep her visa status in the US and avoid deportation to Canada.
Bad Education (Sky Cinema, from Wednesday)
Hugh Jackman and Alison Janney star in this true life tale set around the beloved superintendent of New York’s Roslyn school district - and how he became the prime suspect in the largest public school embezzlement scandal in American history.
KIDS STUFF
Sky Cinema Animation (Sky Cinema, launching Thursday July 23rd)
A brand new permanent channel bursting with the latest and greatest family-friendly animated movies. It’s home to the biggest animated blockbusters including Angry Birds 2, The Secret Life of Pets 2 and How to Train Your Dragon 3 as well as fantastic movies families may not have discovered yet like Wonder Park, Spy Cat and Astro Kid.
Wild Tales from the Farm (Sky Nature, Sunday 8pm)
As the leaves change, wild urges grip the animals. Rams Roger and Hamish battle for dominance, while Sally the hen flies the coop for a tour of the farm.
ON DEMAND
Greyhound (Apple TV)
Tom Hanks scripted and stars in this wartime epic set in the early days of WWII, when a convoy of 37 Allied ships led by an inexperienced captain crosses the treacherous North Atlantic hotly pursued by wolf packs of Nazi U-boats.
13th (Netflix)
The title of director Ava DuVernay’s Oscar nominated documentary refers to the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, which reads ‘Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall exist within the United States.’ It examines the horrors of the sprawling American prison industry - within which 1 in 3 African-Americans will be jailed.
Flesh and Bone (Amazon Prime)
Sarah Hay plays a troubled young dancer who lands a job with a prestigious ballet company in New York City, where she deals with a mercurial artistic director with whom she has a history. Brutal dance drama with quick feet.
Stateless (Netflix)
Cate Blanchett created and stars in this drama inspired by true events set in an immigrant detention centre. A woman escaping a cult, a refugee fleeing with his family, a father trapped in a dead-end job, and a bureaucrat on the verge of a national scandal - all find their lives intertwined.
Homemade (Netflix)
A collection of short films created by celebrated filmmakers around the world. Confined at home as a consequence of the Covid-19 outbreak, filmmakers created personal, moving stories that capture our shared experience of life in quarantine
TOP SUMMER PODCASTS
Dolly Parton’s America
We all know Dolly Parton is much more than her obvious physical charms, and host Jad Abumrad reaches deep inside the Dollyverse to examine how her genius as a songwriter and musician has transformed her into a brand loved the world over.
Call Your Girlfriend
New York Times journalist Ann Friedman and businesswoman Aminatou Sow are based on opposite sides of the US - but phone each other weekly to share irreverent and incisive takes on pop culture and politics, including the twitterisms of the ‘Cheeto in Chief.’