TV not to miss
The Graham Norton Show
TV3, 10.40pm
A strong Irish flavour with Johnny Depp, Ricky Gervais, Ed Byrne and Snow Patrol appearing on a show that was also broadcast last night on BBC.
Monty Hall’s Great Irish Escape
RTÉ Two, 6pm
The British traveller continues his foray on the west coast of Ireland with an attempt to track down some basking sharks for tagging purposes.
Stephen Fry Meets Bill Wyman
Sky Arts, 8pm
This series pairs up a number of prominent entertainment figures for frank discussions about their lives. First up are Bill Wyman and Stephen Fry, who share tales of very different childhoods — the Rolling Stones bassist remembers the Blitz in London, while the educated Norfolkman had a more pampered time of it — and other periods of their high-profile lives.
Misfits
E4, 10pm
Curtis is to the forefront of tonight’s show, using his new gender-swapping power to get around his ban from athletics. Along the way lust gets the better of him, and his female self is also on the receiving end of some unwanted attention.
Ó Bhéal Go Béal
RTE One, 7.30pm
Looks back at the project by the Irish Folklore Commission in 1937 in which schoolchildren were encouraged to collect folklore and local history. About 100,000 kids took part and the visionary project left the country with a rich local history archive.
Pitch Perfect
TG4, 7.30pm
New collaboration with the GAA which follows singers from a number of clubs and parishes who are brought together and moulded into a choir for All-Ireland football final day. Mentors are Niamh Murray and Colm Ó Foghlú, while the progress of the championship rumbles away in the background.
Temple Street Children’s Hospital
TV3, 8pm
Second series of the moving documentary from inside the Dublin hospital. In the first episode, 12-year-old Caolan continues the treatment he’s been receiving for 11 years since swallowing corrosive acid as an infant. Michael, 9, receives treatment on his brittle bones, while newborn identical twins Ben and Cian are in for a hernia operation.
Hippo: Nature’s Wild Feast
Channel 4, 9pm
As we’ve seen from the recent David Attenborough outings, advances in technology have breathed new life into natural history shows. For this new show from the Luangwa Valley in Zambia, the body of a hippo was filmed over two weeks as it was consumed and used by all sorts of creatures. It was all streamed live on the network’s website, but this programme takes the best bits and uses experts to describe what is happening in terms of decomposition, animal behaviour, etc.
Shankill Butchers
BBC Four, 9pm
Of all the horrible things that happened in the North during the Troubles, the actions of the Shankill Butchers still stand out as being among the most savage. Over a number of years in the 1970s, this group of loyalists committed at least 30 murders, some of them of Protestants, but mostly of random Catholics who were often tortured before death. This repeat of Stephen Nolan’s excellent documentary on the events has the reporter returning to his home town to examine many aspects of the case. Victims’ families speak about the horrors they went through, Shankill residents talk about the stain it has left on the name of their area, and former CID chief Jimmy Nesbitt defends the RUC from the common belief held on the nationalist side of town that the police wasn’t doing all it could to catch the perpetrators. Twelve members of the gang were eventually convicted of their crimes, though most were later released from prison. Gang leader Lenny Murphy was killed by the IRA after he avoided sentences for his part in it all. Also featured is Robert ‘Basher’ Bates, above right. One of the most heartbreaking testimonies in the documentary comes from a victim’s daughter who, years later, had to sit silently in her car when it was delayed by a hero’s funeral being afforded one of the Butchers.
Luther
RTE Two, 12.10am
Anyone who has seen this first series of the crime drama with Idris Elba will know that it just about stays on the right side of the line between tension-filled and ridiculous. Elba’s character is a maverick cop with an uncanny ability to get inside the mind of some fiendish villains. In the first case of the show, however, it seems that he’s also met his match in a young woman whose parents have been brutally murdered.
About The House
RTÉ One, 8.30pm
With soaring energy bills, insulation is going to be of increased importance this year, and the first episode of Duncan Stewart’s new run deals with the topical subject. Joe and Michelle Dempsey are renovating a 1970s-built house and seek Stewart’s help in maximising its energy-efficiency. Vanessa McInnes also goes on a furniture salvaging mission.
Poitín
TG4, 9.35pm
The Bob Quinn season continues with his 1979 feature, the first such film to be made entirely in Irish. Starring the likes of Dónal McCann, Cyril Cusack and Mick Lally, it tells the tale of a small-time moonshiner battling with some local ruffians.
My Transsexual Summer
Channel 4, 10pm
New four-part documentary series following seven men and women who gather to discuss their experiences with trying to change their gender. The talk about everything from the prejudices and family traumas to the medical procedure.
Local Heroes — A Town Fights Back
RTE One, 8.30pm
New series has Feargal Quinn and a team of professional marketers and other business bods help people in Drogheda to generate some jobs in their town.
Diarmuidín
TG4, 9.30pm
A documentary to mark the 20th anniversary of the death of singer and broadcaster Diarmuid Ó Súilleabháin, right, a favourite son of the Múscraí Gaeltacht in Co Cork, who was killed in a car accident in 1991. Contributors include the likes of Paddy Glackin, Peadar Ó Riada and Páidí Ó Sé.
Bulletin TV
RTE Two, 8pm
It’s all about speed in this series as Aidan Power and Daniella Moyles try to keep pace with the attention span of young people nowadays. Irish music acts collide with extreme sports in a high octane environment.
The Big Interview With Mike Murphy
RTE One, 10.15pm
Barry McGuigan has always been a great interviewee, but it’s difficult to escape the feeling that we’ve heard it all before. Still, young Murphy has done quite well on his return to the small screen and perhaps will eke something original from the last episode of the series.
Unreported World
Channel 4, 7.30pm
Incredible tale of the Palestinian Paralympic team as they struggle to prepare for London 2012 in the beleaguered territory of Gaza, amidst the constant threat of attacks from the Israelis and indifference from their own people.
Nigel Slater’s Simple Cooking
BBC One, 7.30pm
Among the tasty innovations the British chef is working on tonight is replacing the sausage in a sausage roll with some black pudding instead.
Pearl Jam Twenty
BBC Four, 9pm
Documentary on the monster American band, complete with the members’ own footage and stories.
* Get daily TV news, reviews and previews on Twitter via @examinertv
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
