Here's your TV wrap for the week ahead
SATURDAY
Take Me Out
A Glasgow banker and a holiday camp entertainer are among the lads trying to persuade the ladies to leave their lights on in a show that still offers the best value of the Saturday evening light entertainment offerings.
A decent, if not exactly cheery option on the film front tonight, as Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender are among the stars of a true tale of slavery that also took the best film Oscar in 2013.
Steve Carell and Toni Collette feature among the cast of in this comedy road movie that was one of the big successes of 2016. Made for about €8m, it went on to gross over €100m.
SUNDAY
This year’s awards are fairly lacking in Game of Thrones nominations, though the ‘Battle of the Bastards’ is a contendor for the Must See TV Moment. To win that, however, it must get past ‘Snakes vs Iguanas Chase’ from Planet Earth II, a show that will presumably reap several awards. The Crown is a good bet for best drama, while incredible refugee tale, Exodus: Our Journey To Europe, will surely get the nod for best factual series. As usual in recent years, Graham Norton is the best Irish hope of an award.
For the final two episodes, we see hunger has again proven to be the main issue for the castaways, and much of the fraught group dynamic has come from hungry people with short tempers. After the last of the regular shows, Bear Grylls leads a discussion of what went wrong, and how both groups also managed to do some things well.
MONDAY
Most of us have a vague notion that an asteroid strike wiped out the dinosaurs. But what actually happened? This documentary creates a more detailed picture of how that momentous event about 66 million years ago caused the extinction of the huge reptiles and paved the way for the march of the mammals.
TUESDAY
Martin Greenwood, 55, from Castlemaine, Co Kerry, goes for an ‘Over the Rainbow’ theme as designs a garden for the Crean family in Tralee.
The excellent Maxine Peake is among the stars of this new series about the recent grooming and sex trafficking case in the Rochdale area of the UK. Twelve men, mainly of British-Pakistani origin, were convicted in 2012 of various offences in relation to 47 girls over several years. The men involved used frightening expertise to get young teenagers involved in the sex ring, using methods from gifts and grooming to coercion and rape. As the name suggests, this drama focuses on three of the children, showing how they were drawn in to
the activities, and how the authorities ignored warning signs that, if acted on, could have brought the situation to a halt much earlier. The three-part series was made with the co-operation of victims and their families, with Peake playing one of the real-life social workers who had to battle for action to be taken.
Paul Weller is on the show to promote his 13th solo album, while Alt-J and Little Dragon are among the acts.
WEDNESDAY
What would you do if you were given months to live? This documentary meets 12 people who’ve faced that scenario after being diagnosed with terminal illnesses, and they’ve made the decision to make the most of the time they’ve left. It’s the sort of show many people would understably choose not to watch, but it does feature some inspiring people who will leave you thinking twice about those weather grumbles or silly grudges. Lisa, 49, is set on spending her short time left laughing and having fun.
The final episode looks at such issues as spotting signs that a dog is going to become aggressive.
THURSDAY
A new series of the show in which Conor Pope confronts companies who mistreat their customers, and also provides some useful consumer tips.
The final episode of the Black Power drama has the London cell struggling with personal and political tensions within the group.
The Irish duo finish their journey in Myanmar (formerly Burma) as a time when the country is still adjusting to democracy after 50 years of military rule. Among the people they encounter are a comedy group known as the Moustache Brothers, whom Ed Byrne had campaigned for when they were imprisoned in the bad old days.
FRIDAY
We see a former car-wrecker’s yard in east London that has been turned into a community garden, while fans of euphorbia will enjoy Carol Kline’s visit to the collection at Oxford Botanic Garden.
Two of the world’s most famous non-soccer star Geordies get together as the AC/DC singer chats to Sting about his life on the road with The Police, complete with a trip to the CBGB club in New York where they performed their first gig in the US.
Guests on tonight’s show include Nicole Kidman, Alan Cumming and Keith Urban.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
