35 for February: TV & streaming shows, new books, upcoming gigs
Catherine Kirwan, Vikings Valhalla, Simply Red.
Two-hour documentary on the real-life conman who conned a number of women he met on via the dating app. We see what happens when one victim decided to track down other women he had fooled.
Much-hyped drama series based around the sex tape scandal that erupted when a sex tape was stolen from their home in 1995. The first three episodes drop on Wednesday, followed by a weekly release for the remaining five parts. Familiar faces in the cast include Lily James and Seth Rogen.
Based on the memoir of Dr Adam Kay, this is a must-watch for anyone who has ever worked in the medical profession. Mixing comedy and grim reality, Ben Whishaw plays the sleep-deprived junior doctor struggling to stay on track while making huge decisions about patients' care.
We've been hearing how domestic vioence cases have increased during the pandemic. This special investigation delves into the reality behind the frightening statistics, speaking to victims, and also those trying to help them in refuges and other services that are hugely under-resourced.
Will Smith stays behind the scenes in this reboot of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It follows the same story as the original, with the young lad moving from his tough neighbourhood to the home of his wealthy aunt and uncle, but apparently has a grittier feel this time around.
Kanye West never seems to be far from generating new headlines, but this three-part documentary series reminds us that, away from all the celebrity guff, he's also a hugely talented artist.
There's serious star power involved in this six-part thriller, with Ben Stiller directing, and cast that includes Patricia Arquette, John Turturro and Christopher Walken. Those actors will play characters connected to Lumon Industries, where employees undergo a surgical procedure to separate their work lives from the rest of their being.
Season 11 really does have the feel of a limping zombie as it shuffles towards its end with a three-section final run. Much of this middle tranche of eight episodes will presumably be taken up with what's going on at the Colony, a seemingly stable civilization some of the regulars have ended up at.
This series has been around since 2016, and is well worth a look if you haven't seen it. A true story told over four parts, James Nesbitt stars as Colin Howell, the deeply-religious Co Down dentist who killed his wife, and the husband of his lover, in 1991.
Largely filmed in Co Wicklow, this new drama series is set about 100 years after the previous Vikings series, it follows the lives of other Norse explorers, including Leif Eriksson and his sister, Freydis Eriksdotter.
This new edition from researcher Terence Killeen features a new preface by Colm Tóibín and has been republished to celebrate the centenary of Joyce’s novel’s first publication in February 1922.
Finn Fitzpatrick is back, and in this novel Finn gets drawn in after fellow lawyer Mandy Breslin is found murdered in a derelict house in Cork. Who can Finn turn to when there's no left to trust?
Once Cork-based YouTuber Jonathan Joly’s childhood memoir gives hope and community for all those who have ever felt 'other', and proves how vital it is to provide children with the safe space to be themselves.
Moving between west of Ireland and Boston,this heartbreaking novel details a mother's love, a baby girl, a courageous voyage, and a forgotten story that binds two families separated by an ocean.
Antoine Leiris’ son is now five and in this wry and honest book, Antoine talks about how they have both fared since he lost his wife, Hélène, in a terrorist attack in Paris when their son was a baby 6. Buried Angels Patricia Gibney, Feb 3 When Faye Baker discovers a fragile child's skull behind the walls of her new home, Detective Lottie Parker is called to investigate. Can Lottie find the answers before another precious life is taken?
Since her spell in rehab in her 20s, Rachel Walsh has come a long way on the road to recovery. Now in her 50s, Keyes’ beloved heroine of Rachel’s Holiday returns in Again, Rachel.
Set in Dublin, We Were Young is a clever and enjoyable novel from Sunday Times Short Story Award-Winning author Niamh Campbell and comes after her acclaimed debut This Happy.
In her honest and tender memoir, Döring, a psychotherapist specialising in sexual trauma, excavates her difficult history as she sets about integrating her past with her present-day life.
Belfast writer Erskine made an impact with her debut, Sweet Home, in 2018, and her new collection of short stories is highly anticipated by readers.
Mick Hucknall and his soul-pop crew are back on the road on a rescheduled tour, and playing the hits, including ‘Stars’, ‘Holding Back The Years’, and ‘Money’s Too Tight To Mention’, as well as roadtesting new material.
Northern Ireland-based singer-songwriter Naomi Hamilton has been garnering adoring glances from international press, including NPR and The Line of Best Fit, and for good reason - using folk as a base, she weaves threads of different genres together in a unique and versatile voice.
Foggy Notions has rustled alt-pop outfit Soda Blonde, still floating after a 2021 that saw them make the best of the situation with their Choice-nominated debut album ‘Small Talk’, into a weekend Whelan’s residency. Saturday and Sunday are sold out, so don’t sleep on the extra Friday date.
A main-stage gig at the Caroline Street venue, rescheduled from Quiet Lights festival last November, ought to serve as a reminder of why the Limerick singer-songwriter is considered in a jewel in Ireland’s current folk scene.
Scottish pop mainstays Texas stop at the Opera House on a belated 30th-anniversary tour for debut album ‘Southside’ - and are also playing the hits, including ‘90s chart-topper ‘Say What You Want’.
A retrospective tour of an altogether darker shade, Liverpool trailblazers Echo and the Bunnymen celebrate over forty years (give or take a mid-nineties breakup) of post-punk bijoux, including tracks from early LPs ‘Crocodile’ and ‘Heaven Up Here’.
A rare Dublin excursion for the Cork-based, poncho-clad prog collective sees them pack their folk-inflected, longform jams into the Cellar’s intimate surrounds. Support from debuting Limerick shoegazers Sulking, whose stated interests include ‘rocking out’, and ‘having a good time’.
From videogames YouTuber and Sideman, to boxer, to mainstream hip-hop sensation, Olajide Olayinka Williams "JJ" Olatunji, better known to his 34 million subscribers as KSI, is a modern-day renaissance man - and having launched his second album ‘All Over the Place’ last year, he’s set to make up for lost stage time.
Drawing equally from Dublin city’s dance-music culture and Ireland’s burgeoning hip-hop scene, duo Mango and Mathman have pulled no punches on their way up from raves, to Dublin’s NCH and London’s Barbican Theatre.
A Limerick gig at the main stage of Dolan’s from a Choice Prize-nominated collaboration between two veteran independent Irish artists: Bell X1 frontman Paul Noonan, and electronic producer Daithí.
The National Symphony Orchestra and David Brophy perform two symphonies by Philip Glass inspired by seminal albums by David Bowie and Brian Eno that took popular music into new realms. Broadcasting live on RTÉ Lyric FM.
Long-standing Limerick alternative outfit finally get to launch their latest album, ‘Focus on the Past 5’, with a gig at their spiritual home of Dolan’s. Support from Limerick singer-songwriter Laura Duff and Hey Rusty.
Think traditional South American folk music, through the staccato-picked filter of surf-rock, with a slightly dreamy shimmer - even that whole mouthful feels slightly tenuous as far as what this London four-piece are at!
Looking for a confident, charismatic and articulate voice that brings out the very best of creation and the world’s worth of identity? Anseo. Limerick rapper and spoken-word artist takes to the Olympia for her biggest gig to date.
While new album Motorheart doesn’t exactly represent a new beginning for the UK’s barely-ironic glam-rock representatives, it dials into their bawdy humour, from weepy ballads to tunes about… intimate robot companions. A round of their chart-topping 2000s singles is likely, too.
