Best of the Week’s TV (May 3-9)
Storyville
BBC Four, 9pm
Killer whales in the wild don’t attack humans, but this documentary shows how an orca named Tilikum has killed three people at SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida. Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s film draws on testimony from animal experts and people who worked at SeaWorld to underline the psychological damage that captivity can cause in these intelligent and social creatures.
The Shining
RTÉ One, 12.20am
Stanley Kubrick’s horror from 1980 still
impresses, not least due to the performances of Jack Nicholson and Shelley Duvall.
Sport
Everton v Man City (Sky Sports 2, ko 5.30pm) is probably the most significant of today’s Premier League games, but there is also plenty to be decided in West Ham v Tottenham (BT Sport 1, ko 12.45pm) and Man Utd v Sunderland (Setanta 1, ko 3pm). In rugby action, Edinburgh v Munster (TG4, ko 5pm) will have the Irish side trying to get their season back on track in the Rabodirect Pro12 after last week’s exit from the Heineken Cup.
Sport
The hurling league final from Semple Stadium features Tipperary v Kilkenny (TG4, throw-in 3.30pm). In soccer, the high drama of the last few rounds of the Premier League continues with Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion (Sky Sports 1, ko 1.30pm) and Chelsea v Norwich (Sky Sports 1, ko 4pm).
Secrets & Lies
RTÉ Two, 9.30pm
The final episode of the Australian murder thriller exposes the real killer.
Other Voices
RTÉ Two, 10.30pm
Artistes on the final episode of the current series include Mogwai, Walking on Cars and Lulu James.
The Meaning Of Life With Gay Byrne
RTÉ One, 10.35pm
Majella O’Donnell — wife of singer Daniel O’Donnell — is the first guest on the new series of the show. She talks about her battle with breast cancer, and her previous encounters with depression. Majella also answers questions from Byrne about life with Daniel, and her previous marriage.
Crystal Palace v Liverpool
Sky Sports 1, ko 8pm
It remains to be seen whether the Monday kick-off in the second-last game of the season will give title-chasing Liverpool the advantage of knowing exactly what they need to do, or if it’ll just add to their nerves following last week’s wobble.
The Island With Bear Grylls
Channel 4, 9pm
This new five-part series has the professional adventurer abandoning 13 British men on an uninhabited Pacific island for a month. They are left to their own devices, and a few basic tools, to eke out a living, filming themselves along the way.
The Savage Eye
RTÉ One, 10pm
After a two-year absence, David McSavage and his talented crew make a welcome return with a new series. The President for Life and Garda trainees are back, and other aspects of Irish society will get a typically jaundiced skewering. Childhood is the theme for this first episode.
Ireland by Night
TV3, 8pm
New fly-on-the-wall series showing what night-shift workers do when the rest of us are asleep or socialising. The opening episode follows a group of security men on their shift, and the owner of a flower stall in Smithfield Market who gets up at 3am to prepare for the day ahead. We also meet a creature most people associate with morning time — a milkman.
Fíorscéal
TG4, 10.25pm
Joseph Stiglitz and Bill Clinton are among those contributing to Fire in the Blood, a film on the Western pharmaceutical companies and governments who blocked access to low-cost AIDS drugs for developing countries in the 1990s.
The Supervet
Channel 4, 8pm
New documentary series following Noel Fitzpatrick, the Irish vet who runs one of the most advanced practices in Britain. Previously seen as the ‘Bionic Vet’ on BBC, Fitzpatrick spent millions on a high-tech facility in Surrey where he carries out procedures that are more often seen in a human hospital. He even does hip and knee replacements for animals, and has an implant design business, OrthoFitz. It’s all a long way from his first orthopaedic operation, when he used some old wire to splint a dog’s broken femur on a farmer’s kitchen table in West Cork.
MasterChef Ireland
RTÉ One, 8.30pm
Diana Dodog, Niamh Mannion and Edel Lynch have made it to the final, and after cooking a three-course meal for the judges on Tuesday, they complete their final tasks before the eventual winner is chosen.
Bingo Nights
TV3, 9pm
The second episode of the series visits The George pub in Dublin where drag queen Shirley Temple Bar calls the numbers. We also seepay a visit to the weekly bingo night in the Fowler Pub in Gorey, Co Wexford, and hear punters’ opinions about the traditional game versus the electronic forms.
24: Live Another Day
Sky 1, 9pm
Jack is back, and kicks off the new series with a double-bill of episodes. Those of you who remember four years ago will know that Kiefer Sutherland’s character dropped off the radar after attempting to assassinate the president. He comes out of retirement in London to face off with the vengeful wife of a terrorist, played by Irish actress Michelle Fairley, last seen having her throat cut in Game of Thrones. Stephen Fry also pops up as the prime minister.
Eurovision Song Contest
RTÉ Two, 8pm
The second of the qualifying events for the final features Kasey Smith and Can-Linn performing Ireland’s entry, ‘Heartbeat’, in ninth place of tonight’s 15 countries. Viewers have 15 minutes to vote after the last song, and the top 10 nations in each semi-final qualify for Saturday’s main event.
The Good Wife
More4, 9pm
We won’t give away what happens in tonight’s episode, so suffice to say it’s a must-see for fans of the show, and caused consternation in the US when it was broadcast in March. The series begins on RTÉ later in the season.
Unreported World
Channel 4, 7.35pm
Many cultures have superstitions about twins, but few still attach such taboos to twin babies as the remote area of Madagascar visited in tonight’s show. We hear how children are abandoned and their mothers can become outcasts.
Gardeners’ World
BBC Two, 8.30pm
The RHS Malvern Spring Festival is one of the big gardening events on the British calendar, and a great place to get ideas for your own outdoor plans. Monty Don and Carol Klein are there checking out the displays, plants and floral marquee.
Paul Blart: Mall Cop
TV3, 9pm
Kevin James is in the title role of a comedy that was roundly panned by critics on its cinema release back in 2009. Luckily for its makers, cinema-goers ignored the advice of the media (ouch!) and it became quite a hit. Judge for yourself.
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