What to watch on TV this week...
Martin Scorsese was in Ireland and the UK recently, and during his trip to London, film critic Nick James recorded this interview about him.
It covers some of the director’s great themes that were explored in such films as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas. Hopefully nobody mentions his recent turkey, Silence.
The interview will be followed by a showing of his 1973 classic Mean Streets (10.30pm), set in the New York area known as Little Italy.
Chris Evans has departed, so the new series returns with Matt LeBlanc, Chris Harris, and Rory Reid.
Among their first jobs is to test the new Ferrari FXX K at Daytona, and the trio also drive three well-used cars across Kazakhstan.
Can they recapture the TV magic of their predecessors? Unlikely. Can they produce a fairly decent motoring show? Very possibly.
Ah those Germans weren’t all bad. In tonight’s episode, one even plots with the resistance to try and free the English king from imprisonment.
It’s difficult to believe that the 1970s really were 40 years ago. For architects like Dermot Bannon, it means that a lot of homes built in that decade are due a revamp around now, especially if they change hands.
He gets all radical this evening with a house in Templeogue, Dublin, creating a steep-roofed extension that has the neighbours worried about over-shadowing.
As compromise is reached on that aspect of the build, quantity surveyor Lisa O’Brien is doing her best to find savings elsewhere in what is one of Bannon’s more complex designs.
A further complication arises when the owner Keith wants a porch that hadn’t been planned for. Unfortunately, it’s the last episode in a series that has provided decent viewing over the past few weeks, though we will see one more instalment later in the year.
A special report on children’s sleep patterns is called Sleepless Britain, but you can be sure many of the issues are also relevant in this country.
We see how the use of electronic gadgets and more relaxed parenting means that some children aren’t getting enough sleep, which can in turn contribute to everything from obesity to education problems.
While most of us are at least vaguely aware of the rebellion on the HMS Bounty in 1789 that resulted in Captain Bligh being cast adrift, in many ways it was what happened next that is more interesting.
The much-maligned seafarer and his loyalists sailed to safety over 4,000 miles in a 23ft open launch in an amazing journey that took about six weeks.
In this five-part documentary, a group of British sailors try to recreate Bligh’s voyage in a replica boat, using similar rations and quantities of water. Episode two follows on Tuesday, and ironically, the hardships they endure almost lead to a mutiny.
The final episode of the current run of the relationship assessment show includes Killarney-based couple Mags Harty and Bernard Costello, who’ve been together for three-and-a-half years.
They end up facing some big questions on the show.
The second episode of series three has our dynamic duo continuing their investigation of the sex attack by tracking down the men who knew the victim who were in the area at the time.
Daniel and Majella’s B&B Road Trip
RTÉ One, 8.30pm
Daniel O’Donnell and his wife Majella, pictured on right zorbing in Tralee, are back on the road for visits to various B&Bs around Ireland.
First up is the the Lee Farmhouse near Tralee, and then they’re off to Gallán Mór B&B on Sheep’s Head in West Cork.
If episode one piqued your curiosity, the second episode of the three-part psychological thriller will really draw you in.
Last week’s opener ended with a major event, and we pick up the action as Ellen, who has had her baby, becomes fixated on the woman who is filling in for her at the architect’s practice. Morven Christie and Vicky McClure are superb.
Anybody who suffers from a hipster phobia may be aware of how that bearded subculture has a breakfast ritual that involves sourdough toast, avocado, scrambled egg, and smoked salmon.
Philip Boucher-Hayes checks it out to see if it’s better than our traditional early-morning fare. Eggs, porridge, and Greek yoghurt also feature.
The strange workings of the brain are shown through some of the more extreme cases Gabriel Weston has come across. We hear about a man who hit his head in the swimming pool, only to find he could now play the piano.
One researcher says this rare case of acquired savant syndrome shows the potential we all might have. We also see a woman who can smell Parkinson’s disease, and a man who can’t feel any pain.
There are three homes in Dublin on show tonight. First up is an an aluminium clad contemporary end of terrace home that also has a workshop for its owner’s love of restoring vintage bicycles.
Next is a period home with a big emphasis on comfort, with plenty of cosy chairs to curl up on.
Finally, a mid-terraced house shows off a couple’s taste for industrial design, with a metal staircase and a table made from old scaffolding planks.
Documentary on the Royal Irish Academy’s project to honour 12 of its female members that have shone in the fields of science or the humanities. The dozen selected women featured in portraits hanging in the academic organisation’s headquarters in Dublin.
Spring is in the air, so it’s time for Monty Don and co to emerge from hibernation to present the 50th series of the gardening show.
There’s a feast of music shows on the channel tonight, including this fan-based take on the years 1997-2010, with dedicated followers of such acts as Radiohead and Amy Winehouse.
The Classic Albums show at 10pm features Screamadelica by Primal Scream, the Andy Weatherall-produced record that gave us such dancefloor anthems as ‘Loaded’, ‘Movin’ On Up’ and ‘Come Together’.
And then, Unfinished: The Making Of Massive Attack (11pm) tracks the rise of the hugely influential Bristol band.
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