TV not to miss

Saturday

The Pacific — Part One

Sky Atlantic, 9pm

While this series didn’t quite have the impact of its predecessor Band Of Brothers, the 10-part account of the US campaign against the Japanese in 1945 is a must-see for fans of war drama. With Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks involved in the background, a budget of $200 million was thrown at recreating the chaos of battle from the semi-factual viewpoint of three young US Marines. This first episode has new recruit Robert Leckie (James Badge Dale) encountering his first taste of the horrors of war on Guadalcanal, the small island in the Solomons, where about 40,000 were killed. Meanwhile, back in Alabama, enthusiastic young teenager Eugene Sledge (Joseph Mazzello) is finally allowed by his parents to sign up for the fight.

Sunday

Spin

TG4, 10pm

The Furey’s & Davey Arthur feature in this fourth episode of Philip King’s trawl through his record collection. In tonight’s episode he talks to the members of the enduring Ballyfermot trad group about The Green Fields of France, the 1979 release that remains one of the best selling albums ever in Ireland. Among the subjects covered is the title track, written by Australian songwriter Eric Bogle.

Cogar: Foireann Peile Arainn

TG4, 9.30pm

Documentary following the Aran Islands Football team through their 2010 season. Like so many GAA clubs, the team — drawn from three islands — has helped to forge a feeling of community among the local populace and we see the commitment from both players and supporters as they undertake long journeys to matches by road and sea.

John Connolly: Of Blood And Lost Things

RTÉ One, 11.30pm

Repeat of the superb documentary on the Irish writer who bases so much of his work in Maine. This film follows him in the US state as he talks about his early days as a journalist in Dublin and his climb in the crime-writing world which saw him collect an advance of £1.3m in 1998, the largest ever advance for an Irish author. We also see how he researches his grisly novels, as he chats to retired cops and visits a state prison.

Monday

Charlie Bird On The Trail Of Tom Crean

RTÉ One, 9.35pm

The second and final episode of the RTÉ reporter’s adventures in the Antarctic as he follows in the footsteps of the Kerry explorer. Tonight’s show focuses on the incredible rescue journey Crean undertook for the crew of the Endurance. The producers of the programme may have over-estimated viewers’ interest in Bird himself, and the roving reporter can irritate at times, but it would still be almost impossible for Crean’s amazing story not to shine through.

Help! My House Is Infested

Channel 4, 8pm

The wonderful Sarah Beeny, above right, rides to the rescue of a whole new set of homeowners in this series. While previous shows dealt with structural and building issues, in this programme the ever-pregnant presenter turns her attention to rats, moths and bedbugs. As well as the case studies, we get helpful tips on how to detect vermin and, most importantly, how to get rid of them.

Don’t Tell The Bride

RTE One, 9.55pm

New series in which six grooms will attempt to organise their weddings with no input from their fiancées. Each of them will be given €10,000 and a time limit of three weeks to sort everything. First up is Finbar from Dublin, doing his best to organise a dream day for his beloved Suzanne. All with the help of his buddies Paddy and Anto. Oh the stress.

Spartacus: Gods Of The Arena

Sky 1, 10pm

The usual lashings of sex and violence in this second-last episode of the series. Batiatus (John Hannah) is under severe pressure from his disapproving dad. “Dissolve your marriage or call me father no more,” he is told. Meanwhile, the gladiators take part in a contest, climaxing in a face-off between the alpha fighters Gannicus and Crixus.

Tuesday

Filthy Cities — Industrial New York

BBC Two, 9pm

Historian Dan Snow gets his hands dirty in the Big Apple, a city that was rotten to the core in the 19th century. When the American city was undergoing its major expansion 150 years ago, up to 1,000 migrants a day were arriving on ships from Ireland and other parts of Europe. We hear about the squalid conditions awaiting them, and see how the development of sewage treatment plants and the discovery of electricity helped New York take its place on the world stage.

The Baby Born In A Concentration Camp

BBC One, 10.35pm

The incredible true story of Anka, below, a pregnant young woman who jumped aboard a train to follow her husband after he had been deported ‘east’ by the Germans from a Jewish ghetto in 1944. Unfortunately, the train was heading to Auschwitz. Hiding her pregnancy to avoid selection for the gas chambers, she ended up giving birth to her baby while lying on a cart surrounded by typhoid sufferers. Both survived after being liberated by American soldiers a few days later. Ninety-three-year-old Anka and her daughter Eva, 65, tell their amazing tale.

If Walls Could Talk

BBC Four, 9pm

The second episode of this excellent history of the evolution of the home focuses on the bathroom. We very much take this essential room for granted now, but it’s barely a generation ago that many people wouldn’t even have had one in their houses. Changing attitudes to privacy, class, cleanliness and technology are all examined, as is the legend of whether Thomas Crapper did invent the toilet.

Wednesday

Burn After Reading

RTÉ One, 10.35pm

The Coen brothers roll out an impressive cast led by George Clooney, Frances McDormand, above right, and Brad Pitt in the comedy crime drama about how a disk containing the memoirs of a CIA agent end up in the hands of two unscrupulous gym employees. By no means their finest moment, it was written on alternate days to their masterpiece, No Country For Old Men.

Thursday

Misbehaving Mums To Be

BBC Three, 9pm

You know all that advice about the right things to eat for you and your baby’s health during pregnancy? Well, this show deals with the women who go the opposite way. Featuring in this second episode are teenager Natalie, who is six months pregnant and drastically underweight due to her diet of toast and supplement pills as she is obsessed with keeping her weight down. Kimberly lives off a diet of junk food, and 19-year-old Charlie is unaware that her 20 cigarettes a day could harm her baby. The show’s team of midwives attempt to get all three back on the right track.

Friday

Head Chef

TV3, 9pm

Conrad Gallagher puts the remaining seven chefs through their paces before another young hopeful gets eliminated. Fresh squid, fillet of beef and a chocolate fondant are all on the menu as the contestants battle it out for a €10,000 prize and a month-long training course in one of the chef’s restaurants.

Treme

Sky Atlantic, 10.15pm

Even if David Simon parted the Red Sea and turned Lazarus into wine, Treme’s creator would still get inferior comparisons to what he did on his breakthrough show The Wire. This final episode of season one ends a 10-week run that has been solid, if unspectacular.