TV not to miss
Our Favourites From The North
BBC Two, 8.15pm
It’d be easy to dismiss this greatest hits of TV moments from the north of England as a show that’s only going to be of interest to our neighbours across the water. But then you realise that these marvellous scenes are also part of our TV culture. Exhibit A: Mrs Merton asking Debbie McGee: “What first attracted you to the millionaire Paul Daniels?” Exhibit B: Gene Hunt introducing himself in Life On Mars: “It’s 1973. Almost dinner time and I’m ‘aving hoops.” Golden moments.
Tony Robinson’s Gods And Monsters
Channel 4, 8.15pm
Tony Robinson dips into the pre-Christian beliefs of his homeland in a new five-part series. First up is the subject of death and the widely-held belief that dead bodies still retained a power that could be malevolent. As well as tales of plague-breathing zombies, we also hear about English monarchs who ate the bodies of their subjects. Did anybody notice the way Elizabeth II was eyeing the slabs of meat during her visit to the English Market in Cork?
The Omen
Film 4, 9pm
Richard Donner’s classic original from 1976 in which the son of decent, hardworking parents disappoints somewhat by turning out to be the Anti-Christ. A familiar tale? Interestingly, it was the great Gregory Peck’s most lucrative film. Having cut his fee to a mere $250,000 to act in it, he then made a fortune on his deal of 10% of the box office takings on a movie that grossed more than $60 million in the US alone.
Love/Hate
RTÉ One, 9.30pm
Somewhere inside Love/Hate is a top-class TV show waiting to burst out.
We might not see it in the current series, but this season has been a big improvement on the first one, and there’s an engaging atmosphere of tension and menace as the gang warfare escalates over Christmas. The excellent Ruth Negga makes one of her sporadic appearances, but this usually means a cringe-inducing heart-to-heart scene with Darren (Robert Sheehan). Will they/won’t they get back together?
Scannal
RTÉ One, 7.30pm
Tonight’s programme looks back on the case when Padraig Nally killed John ‘Frog’ Ward on his farm in Mayo in 2004. In the first trial, the court heard how Nally had twice shot Ward, a Traveller, and beaten him with a stick when he entered his farm without permission. Nally was convicted of manslaughter, but this was overturned in 2006 and he walked free. Both decisions caused outrage for the respective sides of the argument, and subsequently led to legislation on a home defence bill which has yet to be enacted.
Digging The Great Escape
Channel 4, 9pm
Looking back on the real story behind the Hollywood war film, we see how the RAF officers in Stalag Luft III took a year to dig the 100-metre tunnel that was to take 76 of them out of the ‘escape-proof’ POW camp in 1944. The programme combines an explanation of the amazing feat with personal accounts of some of those who took part.
Money — Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
BBC Two, 9pm
New three-part series on money opens with Vanessa Engle exploring our desire to accumulate wealth, an attitude that has led to the rise of financial gurus. She examines the teachings of the likes of Robert Kiyosaki and T Harv Eker and checks out some of the people who attend their seminars.
The Only Viking In The Village
RTÉ One, 10.15pm
New two-part series in which Neil Delamere examines both his Viking and Norman ancestry.
It mixes historical fact with the comedian’s off-the-cuff observations as he gets kitted out with the horned helmet that he later reveals was never worn by those early invaders.
Romanzo Criminale
RTÉ Two, 11.40pm
This Italian film from 2005 that spawned the popular crime series currently running on Sky Arts is loosely based on the true story of the Magliana gang’s rise to power in the criminal underworld of Rome in the 1970s, up until their downfall in 1992.
Rachel Allen: Easy Meals
RTÉ One, 8.30pm
Rachel Allen gets spicy with a range of simple Indian dishes. Tarka dahl and chicken biryani are on the menu, and she also checks out the spice and curry stall at Mahon Point market in Cork.
America in Pictures
BBC Four, 9pm
John Rankin Waddell looks at the work of LIFE magazine in the US. Established in 1936, it provided an outlet for spectacular photography and is credited with having a major influence on how Americans viewed the world. Rankin explores how its photographers pioneered new forms of photojournalism like embedding — living with their subjects for weeks — and the photo essay, enabling them to reveal intimate aspects of ordinary American life.
Living With The Amish
Channel 4, 9pm
Second of the documentary series in which a group of British teenagers live with Amish families in Ohio and Pennsylvania. We saw in the previous series when the Americans visited inner city London how those involved really come from separate worlds. The hard work, division of genders and big constraints on their freedom produces a mixed reaction from the British kids.
Gráinne Seoige’s Modern Life
RTÉ Two, 9.30pm
Tonight, Gráinne Seoige turns her attention to online dating. A haven for weirdoes or a useful means of meeting members of the opposite sex? Seoige finds out how it’s a diverse and thriving area of Irish life, from dating sites for people interested in golf or hill walking to sites for swingers and women looking for wealthy men.
Hello Baby, Bye Bye Body
RTÉ Two, 10pm
Mairead Farrell looks at how women’s bodies — and more importantly, their body image — changes after the birth of a baby. She gives a personal take on how her own body looked after the birth of her baby boy, and also looks at other women’s experiences. These include a woman who suffered from ‘pregorexia’ and remained dangerously underweight through her pregnancy. Farrell also enrolls in a ‘mummy bootcamp’, and hears from a woman who didn’t let pregnancy affect her very active sex life. This show is part of a new Reality Bites strand of documentaries from RTÉ which also includes shows featuring the likes of Paul Gavin, Gráinne Seoige and the recent Brian and Pippa wedding programme.
SOS Save Our Shops
TV3, 8pm
Lisa Fitzpatrick is cast in the role of retail guru as she travels to Youghal, Co Cork, to try and help revive the Nu Shuzz shop run by friends Avril Sheridan and Catriona Hennessy.
Small World
RTÉ One, 8.30pm
New travel series showing foreign links to Ireland. In the first episode Kathriona Deveraux (second from right, above) travels to Brazil to meet the community who returned there from Gort. We see how the returned emigrants have used the money they earned in Ireland to open businesses, buy farms and build houses and create new lives.
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