What to watch on TV this week
Dark Secrets Of The Lusitania
RTÉ One, 1.25pm
Repeat of the documentary following an expedition trying to uncover new facts about the sinking of the liner off the Old Head of Kinsale in 1915.
Valkyrie
RTÉ2, 9pm
Watchable war drama from 2008 starring Tom Cruise as Colonel von Stauffenberg, one of the leaders of a German plot to kill Hitler in 1944. Much of the film is based on factual accounts.
Junior Eurovision
TG4, 9.30pm
Did you know there was a Junior Eurovision song contest? The final in November in Bulgaria might even give Ireland a chance to do better than recent dismal showings in the grown-up version. Over the next five weeks, this series will search for Ireland’s representative and their original song in the Irish language.
Cogar: Jeremy agus Judi ar Bhruach na Siúire
TG4, 9.30pm
Jeremy Irons is one of the contributors to a documentary on the film Langrishe, Go Down, his first big break into films. Adapted by Harold Pinter from a novel by current Kinsale resident Aidan Higgins, it also starred a young Judi Dench and was filmed in Kilkenny and Dublin in 1978. Unfortunately, the nudity in the film fell foul of Ireland’s ridiculous censorship regime and it never made it to cinemas in this country, despite being partly financed by RTÉ.
BBC One, 10:30pm
Instead of enhancing his reputation since retirement, the former Manchester United manager seems to have spent much of it settling old scores.
At least this interview with Nick Robinson should serve as a reminder of what a great manager he was. Among those chipping in with tributes are Cristiano Ronaldo, Jose Mourinho and Harvard business professor Anita Elberse.
Vikings
RTÉ2, 9pm
Ragnar and his comrades return home but find bad news awaiting them. Not one to be knocked off his stride for long, the Viking leader goes on a mission to help Lagertha retain her title, and also tells his people about his big plans for Paris, a foray that will dominate the rest of the series. There are still a few things to be settled in England, however.
Apres Match Of The Day
RTÉ2, 9.55pm
A look back on that magnificent victory over a Netherlands side managed by Louis Van Gaal in 2001.
Roy Keane’s tackle, a Dutch side that couldn’t score despite having about 46 of the world’s top strikers on the pitch at the same time... and most of all, that moment of magic by Jason McAteer.
Harvest 2015
BBC Two, 8pm
Aunty Beeb has become quite adept at creative TV out of seasonal events we all just take for granted. After honing those skills on spring and the mass migrations around Monterey Bay, now it’s the turn of the harvest.
Over the next three nights, we’ll see Farmers reaching the climax of their season as they harvest sugarbeet crops, cereals and cider apples. Along the way we’ll see some of the cutting edge technologies being used by the industry.
RTÉ2, 10pm
Last week Dunphy took a personal perspective on pregnancy; this time around we hear about her experiences of kind of moving to London.
Not exactly 18 and digging ditches, the presenter was in her late 30s in 2004 when she took the very modern step of commuting between the Dublin and the English capital.
She became a ‘semigrant’. As well as telling her own tale, we hear from various other people who take advantage of affordable flights to spend time in both countries.
Karl Pilkington: The Moaning of Life 2
Sky 1, 10pm
Our unlikely world traveller is back for another series of journeys that you suspect will make no dent whatsoever on a persona that seems fairly comfortable in its own skin. Episode one is all about American art, but not quite the Edward Hoppers or Andy Warhols of the continent. He meets an artist creating sculptures out of dog poo, and another using his own vomit to create work. You can probably guess our hero’s reaction.
Rachel’s Coastal Cooking
RTÉ One, 7.30pm
Rachel Allen moves beyond Cork for a trip to Valentia Island in Co Kerry where members of the shellfish co-op bring her diving for scallops. She also tries local buttermilk and goes out to the Skelligs.
The Apprentice
BBC One, 9pm
Alan Sugar is introduced to another group of hopeful and sometimes hapless candidates looking for a £250,000 investment in a new start-up.
His sidekick Nick Hewer has been replaced by Claude Littner, whom you may have seen interviewing participants in previous series. Episode two follows on Thursday where the two groups must create a new brand of shampoo, and accompanying marketing strategy for it.
Imircigh Ban
TG4, 9.30pm
More tales from female emigrants who went to Britain in the decades after the Second World War. Some relate how they never made it back to Ireland, while others explain how the annual visit in the summer was the highlight of their year.
Brent Pope: Inside Out
RTÉ One, 10.15pm
He isn’t just a rugby pundit, y’know. Pope is also an aficionado of ‘outsider art’ — pieces that are created by people with no formal training. For this show, he meets people such as Ailbhe Barrett, a 41-year-old woman with Down’s syndrome from Shanakiel, Cork; and Alan Doyle, a 31-year-old painter from Bray.
Mad Men
RTÉ2, 12.40am
The final series in the advertising drama was quite a return to form for a show that’s been like one of its male leads in the way that it’s stumbled through the past few seasons. Though you’d have to suspect that RTÉ’s scheduling means that they don’t actually want anybody to watch it.
Gardener’s World
BBC Two, 9.30pm
As soon as the swallows depart you can be sure that Carol Klein and Monty Don will soon follow suit. The second-last episode of the current series has Klein getting into some more fascinating botany as she explains how plants turn the sun’s energy into food.
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