What to watch on TV this week
They’re leaving the confines of their island to find new dragons and end the war between their people and the much-maligned reptiles.
Insomnia
RTÉ2, 9.15pm
With Al Pacino and Robin Williams starring in a film directed by Christopher Nolan, this film came with rather high expectations in 2002. It wouldn’t rank among any of the trio’s finest work, but it does make for for fairly decent viewing with its tale of two LA homicide detectives trying to solve a murder in an Alaskan town.
BBC Music at Glastonbury 2015
BBC, various
The final night of music from the major British festival includes performances from Lionel Richie, Charli XCX and our own Hozier.
Top Gear
BBC Two, 8pm
Oi Clarkson, what you doing on the BBC? Apparently, the footage for this last hurrah was filmed before that infamous spot of bother. We first follow the three musketeers in “affordable” classics: a Fiat 124 Spyder, a Peugeot 304 Cabriolet and an MGB GT. Then they’re limited to budgets of £250 to buy old SUVs for a series of challenges. Will you miss them?
Amazing Space Shed of the Year
Channel 4, 9pm
Last year, one of the most interesting categories in this series was the tree-houses, so we’re anxious to see what this season’s arboreal dwellings look like. One is 16-metres high, while another is built to a traditional Japanese design.
Arena: Nicolas Roeg
BBC Four, 10pm
A rare profile of Nicolas Roeg in which the 86-year-old director actually contributes. He talks about such films as Walkabout and The Man Who Fell To Earth.
A David Attenborough Special
BBC One, 10.30pm
The 89-year-old broadcaster talks about his career in television, including his recent dive on the Great Barrier Reef.
Dispatches
Channel 4, 8pm
We’ve heard an awful lot about sugar in recent times, but this investigation shows how high levels of salt are still present in many processed foods, with all sorts of implications for our health.
Panorama
BBC One, 8.30pm
More than a year after members of Boko Haram kidnapped 276 girls in Chibok, Nigeria, most of them are still missing. This report on the ongoing event speaks to some of the girls who managed to escape from their captors. They describe their time in captivity, and explain how some of the girls have ended up joining the jihadists.
Kevin McCloud’s Escape to the Wild
Channel 4, 9pm
The presenter reaches the end of his series with a trip to northern Sweden where a family haven’t followed the traditional route of escape to the tropics and instead are living without electricity or running water in an area where temperatures can drop to minus-30C. At least Richard and Claire Rees don’t have children with them, and can just focus on themselves in what can be a tough but fulfilling life.
True Detective
Sky Atlantic, 9pm
The first episode of the new series left many people who expected the brilliance of the opening season feeling a mite underwhelmed. Tonight could be a make or break show. It looks slick and has a decent cast, but can it rise above the level of decent cop show?
Jean Kennedy Smith
RTÉ One, 10.35pm
Jean Kennedy Smith talks about her childhood in the famed Irish-American family and the loss of her two brothers to assassin’s bullets.
Not Safe for Work
Channel 4, 10pm
We haven’t seen previews, but this new comedy series is still a welcome addition to summer schedule that’s already scaling down. It follows the life of a civil servant who’s reluctantly relocated from London to Northampton.
The Good Wife
RTÉ One, 11.35pm
Cary’s trial for heroin trafficking begins at last, and he faces that difficult choice of whether to take a plea bargain and spend reduced time in jail for pleading guilty, or going through the full process and perhaps being found innocent.
Etihad GAA World Games 2015
TG4, 8.10pm
The growth of the GAA overseas has been one of the silver linings of modern emigration, and this show back looks at the international gathering of 28 teams in Abu Dhabi for the Etihad GAA World Games.
Banksy Does New York
Sky Arts, 9pm
A documentary on the street artists’s month in New York in 2013, when he created numerous pieces all over the city.
Mad Like Me?
Channel 4, 11pm
A group of young adults are gathered together in an online forum to discuss their mental health issues, from self-harm and suicide to hallucinations and hearing voices.
Catching History’s Criminals: The Forensics Story
Channel 4, 9pm
One of the reasons arsenic was such a popular choice with murderers in the 19th century was that it was untraceable.
The final episode of this history of forensics shows how a simple test changed all that. Presenter Gabriel Weston also looks at the future of the profession, from the 3-D laser scans which can help decipher the chain of events at the scene of a shooting, and a test on a strand of hair which can tell where a person has been in the world.
Rock ’n’ Roll America: Sweet Little Sixteen
BBC Four, 9pm
New documentary series on the history of rock’n’roll. Begins in the 1950s with Fats Domino and Little Richard, and early white stars such as Bill Haley, Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis.
Artsnight
BBC Two, 11.30pm
Lily Cole is eight months pregnant, and in this show explores whether having children can enhance an artist’s creativity, or sink it?
