What to watch: Conservatory woes on Room to Improve, search for meaning in Jackie & Coco
The Davey’s main aim is to make their home more liveable, and to increase its energy efficiency.
SATURDAY
The Mitchells vs the Machines
RTÉ One, 6.35pm
A quirky family’s road trip is upended when they find themselves in the middle of a robot apocalypse. Animated comedy adventure, with the voices of Danny McBride and Olivia Colman.
Sport
GAA: O’Byrne Cup Final, 2.45pm; Women’s Football: Dublin v Kerry, 4.50pm (both TG4). Basketball: Men’s National Cup Basketball Final (7.45pm, TG4). Rugby: Champions Cup — Munster v Northampton Saints (ko 5.30pm RTÉ2). Premier League: Arsenal v Crystal Palace (ko 12.30pm TNT Sports).
SUNDAY
Sloinne
TG4, 8.45pm
Dingle Record Shop owner Mazz O’Flaherty goes in search of the history of the O’Flaherty surname. Her story takes her to Galway and onto the Aran Islands as she is interested in the fact that Oscar Wilde has Flaherty as part of his surname. She meets historian Adrian Martyn who shows her an O’Flaherty Crannóg in Caherlistrane in Galway, followed by Aghanure Castle where the O’Flahertys resided at the peak of their power.
Room to Improve
RTÉ One, 9.30pm
Sandra and Daniel Davey bought their dream home in Knocklyon, Dublin, more than four years ago. However, a conservatory added by its previous owners is leaking and as a result, the house is so cold that Sandra, Daniel, and their two young children, spend most of their time in the front room. The Davey’s main aim is to make their home more liveable, and to increase its energy efficiency.
Geantraí
TG4, 10.45pm
The traditional music programme where presenter Ciarán Ó Gealbháin visits traditional music pubs across Ireland. This week it’s Jim of the Mills, Upperchurch, Co Tipperary, with music from Cáit and Jim Ryan, Ned Kelly, Claire Quinn, Fergal O’Neill, JP Reynolds, Síofra Thornton, Stephen Kennedy, Orla O’Brien, Eileen O’Brien, Áine Gleeson, Aidan O’Donnell, William Holmes, and Ciarán Slattery.
Sport
GAA: Club Championship All Ireland Hurling final, 1pm; Club Championship All Ireland Football final, 3.10pm (both TG4). Basketball: Women’s National Cup Basketball Final (5.25pm, TG4). Premier League: AFC Bournemouth v Liverpool (ko 4.30pm Sky Sports).
MONDAY
Britain’s Crumbling Schools — Panorama
BBC One, 8.30pm
Last year, many schools in Britain were forced to close temporarily, or move pupils out of dangerous areas, when it was discovered that the concrete in the buildings was beginning to degenerate. However, the urgent repairs required to make them safe again are just the tip of a very large and concerning iceberg. In a special investigation, reporter Rahil Sheikh learns that the UK National Audit Office estimates around £11bn is needed to bring schools up to standard.
Born from the Same Stranger
UTV, 9pm
New four-part series with Davina McCall charting the efforts of people born as a result of sperm or egg donations who want to know more about their genetic makeup — and perhaps even meet blood relations they never previously knew about. In the opening episode, putting his DNA on two websites results in one chap finding four new half-siblings; while a woman asks her mother why she initially thought it best to keep her origins a secret.
Jackie & Coco
RTÉ One, 9.35pm
The extraordinary journey of an Irish mother to find meaning following the tragic suicide of her beloved daughter. Nicole (Coco), died from suicide after three years of online harassment. Jackie Fox has campaigned tirelessly to change Irish and EU law to make online bullying a crime, impacting the lives of 750m Europeans and potentially saving hundreds of lives.
TUESDAY
High Road Low Road
RTÉ One, 7pm
First Dates maitre d’ Mateo Saine and bartender Neil Kenna travel to historical Bratislava. One enjoys a mud spa and a speed boat tour while the other takes a bus tour and leans out over the river Danube from a hair-raising height on the UFO tower.
Ben Fogle: New Lives in the Wild
Channel 5, 9pm
Ben’s latest trip takes him to south-east Asia to meet entrepreneur Niall from Ireland, who turned his back on a high-flying career as a globetrotting chef to help Thailand’s street dogs. The presenter gets stuck in helping out at Niall’s self-built canine sanctuary on the island of Koh Samui, where the daily chores include preparing food for 800 dogs and making beds from oil drums. However, while Niall may be working hard to protect the pooches (with help from some local animal lovers), he explains to Ben that he also feels like the dogs have rescued him.
Selling Ireland’s Dream Homes
RTÉ One, 9.30pm
A sneak peek into the world of high-end property sales — this week one of the houses featured is Horsehead House in Passage West, Co Cork — a Tudor revival villa where highlights include a music room with mahogany parquet floor and ornate bay windows overlooking Cork Harbour.
Sport
England League Cup: Chelsea v Middlesbrough, (ko 8pm Sky Sports).
WEDNESDAY
Tithe Cois Uisce
TG4, 8.30pm
Síle visits some more unconventional homes that have made interesting use of space. From surfer Kealan’s camper van, to PJ’s barge, and JP and Katie’s ‘modular home’.
Inis na nIontas
TG4, 9.30pm
In the final episode, Ardal O’Hanlon is in the south where he discovers beautiful Garinish Island, home to lush gardens and the rare white-tailed eagle. Continuing his journey by sea, Ardal meets a playful pod of common dolphins around Sherkin Island, once ruled by pirates. His final stop is Cape Clear, Ireland’s southernmost island, where he is taken on a tour in one of the island’s electric buses.
THURSDAY
Laochra Gael
TG4, 9.30pm
The series features eight GAA laochra with genuine star quality and reveals deeper, fresh, and sometimes unexpected insights into the lives of these icons.
First Dates Ireland
RTÉ 2, 9.30pm
Primary school teacher Alannah (21) from Dublin meets smiley social care worker Vlad (22) from Tipperary. Anna (22) from Kildare dines with Ailish (21) from Louth. And Emma (32) from Dundalk is paired with archaeologist Byron Jones (33) from Wexford.
FRIDAY
The Graham Norton Show
BBC One, 10.50pm
Guests this week include Bradley Cooper and Carey Mulligan. Also appearing are Breaking Bad’s Bryan Cranston and Jurassic World’s Bryce Dallas Howard, who are promoting their new spy caper Argyll. Plus, Oscar-winning Brit Daniel Kaluuya promotes dystopian sci-fi drama The Kitchen which he co-directed, and comedian Kevin Bridges chats about his new stand-up show, The Overdue Catch-Up.
STREAMING
Never Let Him Go
Disney+, from Wednesday
Two-part documentary. In December 1988, Californian university student Scott Johnson was found dead at the foot of cliffs near Manly in Sydney. Police initially ruled his death as a suicide. Scott’s brother Steve’s decades-long quest for justice is charted — we see him fight for the case to be reopened. Along the way, he learns the truth about a 1980’s spate of homophobic killings along the New South Wales coast that may have resulted in 80 deaths.
Griselda
Netflix, from Thursday
Exposed to Colombia’s criminal underworld at a young age, Griselda Blanco (played by Sofia Vergara) is said to have become a kidnapper at 11 and a pickpocket before she was a teen. It’s also been suggested she worked as a prostitute to support herself after leaving home at 19, and before finding her most lucrative role — as a drug lord. Her extraordinary life is the inspiration for this fictionalised drama from the makers of Narcos.
Expats
Prime, from Friday
Six-part drama based on Janice YK Lee’s 2016 novel The Expatriates. The story takes place within an international community based in Hong Kong, with Nicole Kidman playing Margaret, who has moved her entire family to the city. Among her friends are career-driven Hilary and Mercy, a college graduate from New York whose carefree approach to life is about to be turned on its head by a tragedy that will bind the group’s members together forever.
