Best on TV
The Bachelor King
Sky 1, 7.30pm
Written and presented by David Attenborough, this documentary on king penguins was filmed on South Georgia over five months. The veteran presenter follows the tale of a particular male penguin who went to sea as a youngster three years ago and has now returned for an act of mating that will confirm his status as an adult.
Mrs Brown’s Boys
BBC One, 10.20pm
It’s the show that a lot of people love to hate, but many more just love. Brendan O’Carroll’s series has been a phenomenal success and this repeat will show you why.
Celebrity Mastermind
TV3, 8.30pm
Nell McCafferty heads up the celebs on this second-last heat, with specialised subjects including the Irish Grand National, Woody Allen and the band Nirvana.
Thelma’s Gypsy Girls
Channel 4, 9pm
Part dressmaker and part construction engineer, Thelma Madine may be familiar to you from Big Fat Gypsy Weddings. Based in Liverpool, she’s built a thriving business from catering for the sartorial tastes of some Traveller brides. This new six-part series is billed as Madine giving something back to that community by employing 10 new trainees at her firm. Tonight’s opener shows the recruitment process.
Cogar: Níor Chéasta go Pósta
TG4, 9.30pm
Repeat of the documentary on the marriage ban which forced female teachers to retire as soon as they were married. A number of women from the profession talk about the effect the rule had on them until it was revoked in 1958.
Volcano Live
BBC Two, 8pm
Over the next four nights, Kate Humble and Professor Iain Stewart will introduce shows live from the active Hawaiian volcano Kilauea. Along the way, they’ll switch back to the UK where Irish comedian Ed Byrne talks to academics about the different way various volcanoes erupt.
Double Cross: The True Story of the D-Day Spies
BBC Two, 9pm
Ben Macintyre turns his book about a major espionage triumph into a documentary. He shows how a motley crew of double agents convinced the Germans that an impending invasion was going to happen at Norway rather than Normandy. The Allies’ secret unit included a dashing Serbian playboy, a Polish fighter-pilot and a bisexual Peruvian party girl.
Who Do You Think You Are?
RTÉ One, 10.35pm
This episode of the American version of the show features Martin Sheen, an actor with strong Irish connections. He spends much of the show following the tale of his mother’s brother Michael Phelan, a man he had presumed fought on the Free State side in the Civil War, but discovers he was actually with the republicans. Sheen also travels to Spain to discover the Galician side of his heritage.
London Calling
RTÉ One, 10.35pm
Among those featured in tonight’s show include Orla Barry, a 22-year-old discus thrower from Ladysbridge, Co Cork, who hopes to win a medal at the London Paralympics. Born without kneecaps and lower legbone, Barry had her legs amputated above the knee when she was just 11 months old.
We’ll also see runner Ciarán Ó Lionáird on a trip back to his family’s farm in West Cork, where his mother talks about her mixed feelings about his athletics career and how it ensures he’s off in the United States for so much of the year.
True Blood
TG4, 11.35pm
Season four begins, complete with a guest star appearance from Irish actress Fiona Shaw, right. She plays a Wiccan practitioner who gets deeper into witchcraft than she had planned. As ever, Sookie is embroiled in a tug-of-love between Eric and Bill.
Plandáil
TG4, 10.15pm
The plantation of Ulster brought thousands of Scottish Protestants to the north of Ireland in the 17th century as part of a process of colonisation that still has huge repercussions for life on the island today. The three-part documentary series looks at the plantation from the perspective of those Scots who crossed the Irish Sea to take up new opportunities.
Guts: The Strange And Mysterious World Of The Human Stomach
BBC Four, 9pm
Who needs science fiction when you’ve programmes like this showing us the wonders of the human body? Michael Mosley. right, boldly goes where no other presenters have ventured before as he swallows a small pill camera to film his innards as he digests food. The complexity of the digestive process is underlined by the ‘second brain’ he shows in the intestines — millions of neurones that control the absorption of nutrients.
The Passions of Vaughan Williams
BBC Four, 7:30pm
Friday is probably the worst night on TV this week, but fans of music or quality biography may be interested in John Bridcut’s documentary on British composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. As well as the music he made, it also delves into a complicated love live that involved two wives and several lovers.
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