What to watch on TV this week
Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs 2
RTÉ One, 6.40pm
Decent animated feature from 2013 that pushes many of the same buttons as the original.
The Getaway Car
BBC One, 6.50pm
The search for the Saturday night entertainment format goes on. This time around, Dermot O’Leary combines the Stig from ‘Top Gear’ with participating couples who will be taking on a series of driving and quizzing challenges. Bring back the ‘Generation Game’!
Star Trek
RTÉ2, 9pm
JJ Abrams helmed this first reboot of the classic sci-fi brand from 2009, and gave us one of the strongest film versions in the franchise.
At Your Service
RTÉ One, 8.30pm
John Brennan makes a brief return to the show this week when his brother Francis calls on his glamping expertise to help a caravan park owner in Curraghchase Forest Park, Co Limerick.
Port
TG4, 10pm
The ongoing music series presented by Julie Fowlis and Muireann NicAmhlaoibh is in Cork where they meet traditional singers, Eoini Maidhici Ó Suilleabháin and Nell Ní Chróinín, as well as accordion genius, Jackie Daly.
The Meaning Of Life, With Gay Byrne
RTÉ One, 10.35pm
Anna May McHugh may not have the profile as some of the other guests on this series, but as the main force behind the National Ploughing Championships, she’s one of the most powerful women in the nation.
Ar Son Na Poblachta
RTÉ One, 7.30pm
Another 1916-related show, this time telling the little-known tale of Arthur Shields, who went on to become a Hollywood actor in the years after his exploits during the Rising.
Rare Breed: A Farming Year
UTV Ireland, 8pm
A second season of the fly-on-the-wall documentary series looking at the daily lives of various farming families.
iZombie
RTÉ2, 8.05pm
The pilot episode of series that had a successful debut in the US last year. Just when you thought there was nothing left to be done in the zombie genre, just like the creatures themselves, it splutters back to life. Liv Moore is a medic who switches her residency to the city morgue after she gets turned into a zombie. She keeps her condition secret, and feasts on the brains that allow her hang on to the last vestiges of her humanity. Unfortunately, eating those brains also gives her visions of aspects of the original owners’ lives. Cue a very novel way into the murder investigation genre.
Adoption Stories: What Happened Next
TV3, 8.30pm
We again meet Dan, adopted to Ireland from poverty-stricken parents in Romania when he was three. In this episode, the sister that he eventually found in southern Italy, where she had also been adopted, visits him in Ireland with her adoptive parents.
Nature’s Wonderlands: Islands Of Evolution
BBC Four, 9pm
This three-part series gets a bit more scientific than your average natural history show as Professor Richard Fortey looks at how islands become natural laboratories of evolution. He’s in Hawaii for the first episode, showing how life colonises a newly-created island. Not very quickly in some cases, with the remote Pacific state only getting one new species every 35,000 years.
Grey’s Anatomy
RTÉ2, 9pm
At certain times of the year, Tuesday is one of the strongest nights for the schedules. Not at the moment. Perhaps ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ will provide some diversion before you reach for the online offerings.
Leicester City v Tottenham Hotspur
BBC One, ko 7.45pm
With both teams still in the running for Champions League spots, neither would have wanted this FA Cup third round replay. However, the competiton could still be their only real chance of silverware this season. At the time of writing, there were no plans to televise tonight’s Liverpool v Exeter game.
The Town That Took on the Taxman
BBC Two, 9pm
An interesting documentary on how a small town in south Wales used some of the techniques of big multinational companies to set up a complicated tax avoidance scheme. We see traders in the town exploring the different avenues to legally avoid paying too much tax.
Doctor Foster
RTÉ One, 10.15pm
The first episode in a run of the decent drama broadcast last year on the BBC. A web of intrigue and deceit unfolds after a doctor discovers a blonde hair on her husband’s scarf. Suranne Jones, familiar as Karen McDonald in Coronation Street, is in the title role.
Getaways
RTÉ One, 7pm
Greece’s touristic brand has probably taken a hammering in recent years with the economic collapse of the country, and its association with the awful plight of refugees fleeing the Middle East.
This episode provides a reminder of the beauty and holiday possibilities of the country, particularly the Ionian island of Zante. There’s also a focus on Waterford as a destination for a short break.
The Story of China
BBC Two, 9pm
Despite ongoing economic wobbles, China really is a major player on the world stage. This new six-part series looks at the country’s fascinating history over the past 4,000 years. The importance of ancestry in Chinese culture is examined in the first episode, including a trip with a 300-strong family as they carry out rituals for an ancestor who died in 1049.
Britain’s Trillion Pound Paradise — Inside Cayman
BBC Two, 9pm
Most people know one thing about the Cayman Islands — it’s a tax haven. What many probably don’t realise is that it’s ruled by Britain, with the governor appointed by Whitehall. This documentary spends time with the flocks of financial services staff and others who actually live in a territory with twice as many registered companies as people.
The Graham Norton Show
BBC One, 10.35pm (NI 11.05pm )
Ice Cube talks about his days in NWA, as well as his subsequent incarnation as a successful actor. He’ll be joined by Kevin Hart, his fellow star in ‘Ride Along 2’.
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