TV not to miss: Piers Morgan’s Life Stories
The Saturday Night Show
RTÉ One, 9.50pm
Cork presenter Brendan O’Connor can split opinions among viewers, but a fourth series of the chat show indicates that he must be doing something right.
The Jonathan Ross Show
UTV, 10.35pm
Guests tonight include comedian Jack Dee, magician Dynamo and Harry Potter star Emma Watson. Music comes from No Doubt, the American band who’ve reformed with Gwen Stefani.
Andrew Marr’s History Of The World
BBC One, 9pm
In the second episode, Andrew Marr looks at the various empires that have sprung up through human history. From Alexander the Great to the Phoenicians, early conquerors killed and looted, but were also responsible for the spread of knowledge and culture. We also see how the emergence of the belief in just one god also had a profound effect on human history, as Buddhism began to spread from India.
Perfect Heart
RTÉ One, 9.30pm
John Healy will be familiar to many people as the Maitre D in The Restaurant series. He also suffers from severe heart problems and is on the waiting list for a transplant following damage to the vital organ from two heart attacks. In this film by Anna Nolan — the former Big Brother contestant who has also cooked on The Restaurant — we follow Healy through a year on the heart transplant list, witnessing many of the highs and lows of that difficult existence. We also see the other side of the transplant situation when Nolan turns the cameras on the family of Eamonn Goggin, who donated his organs after his death in a car accident. Eamonn’s mother Martina describes the process that led to the decision about her only son’s organs.
Cogar: Hataí
TG4, 9.30pm
Documentary on the centuries-old relationship Irish women have had with hats.
Pump Up My Dance
RTÉ Two, 5pm
New talent show in which young Irish dancers strut their stuff in front of a ‘dance master’. In each episode 20 contestants perform a particular style, with the five best going forward to perform at a show in Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin. The first judge is hip-hop dancer and choreographer John Graham, a Dubliner who has worked with the likes of Beyonce and Justin Bieber.
Scannal
RTÉ One, 7.30pm
Looks back at the killings of three IRA members by the British army in Gibraltar in 1988. Presumably, Mairead Farrell and her companions were planning an attack at the time, but all three were unarmed when shot. Their deaths also set up a sequence of events that would lead to further killings and strife. Loyalist gunman Michael Stone attacked their funeral, and at the funeral of one of the three men he shot, two British soldiers were killed when they drove into the cortege. Among those interviewed in the show is Carmen Proetta, above right, the Gibraltar resident who witnessed the killings of the IRA operatives, and said that Farrell and Dan McCann had their hands in the air when they were shot without warning by the SAS. After she gave her account on the Death on the Rock documentary, The Sunday Times and The Sun were among the newspapers that took part in a campaign to smear Proetta, with the latter’s headline ‘The tart of Gib’ being cited in a libel case which saw her being awarded substantial damages.
Entrepreneur Of The Year 2012
RTÉ One, 8.30pm
Pádraig Ó Céidigh returns with a new five-part series looking at various business figures before the eventual award is presented in October.
Britain & Ireland’s Next Top Model
Sky Living, 9pm
Cork contestant Lisa Madden didn’t make it past last week’s semi-final, so tonight’s finale will definitely feature a British winner.
Double Your House For Half The Money
Channel 4, 8pm
Sarah Beeney tries to help a family turn their house into a dream home, and also assists on the renovation of a windmill.
Soul Power
Sky Arts, 10pm
Magnificent documentary on the musical side of the Rumble in the Jungle, the 1974 fight in Zaire between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman. Behind the scenes footage and performances from the likes of James Brown and BB King.
Later Live — with Jools Holland
BBC Two, 10pm
The second episode has another impressive line-up, including Mumford & Sons, Neil Sedaka and Lisa Marie Presley.
Best Possible Taste: The Kenny Everett Story
BBC Four, 9pm
Drama about the late entertainer who, as well as hosting one of the funniest TV shows ever made, also lived a fascinating life. This show is built around his relationship with Lee Middleton, the woman he was married to for over a decade before he publicly acknowledged his homosexuality.
2013 GAA Championship Draw
RTÉ Two, 7.30pm
This dust from the current season will barely have settled when the draw is made for the first round of the football and hurling next year.
Hunted
BBC One, 9pm
New eight-part series from Frank Spotnitz, one of the main writers on The X-Files. If follows elite spy Sam Hunter (Alex Kent) as she keeps one eye out for whoever is trying to kill her while she carries out tasks set by Byzantium, the shady organisation she works for.
The Works
RTÉ One, 10.45pm
Among the items on tonight’s show is a feature on What Richard Did, the new film from Lenny Abrahamson (Adam & Paul, Garage).
Movie Talk
RTÉ One, 11.20pm
Jim Sheridan contrasts his life as a hugely successful international filmmaker with his childhood in poverty-stricken Dublin.
Modern Family
Sky 1, 8pm
Series four of the popular US comedy begins despite an ongoing dispute between ABC and some of the actors. The show has been such a phenomenal success the cast members are reportedly looking for a renegotiation of their contracts so they’ll earn $200,000 per episode.
Piers Morgan’s Life Stories
UTV, 9pm
Ronan Keating of Boyzone chats to the former News Of The World editor about his life and career. From his boyband’s rise to fame to his marriage breakup and the deaths of his mother Marie, and Stephen Gately.
