10 TV & streaming shows for September: The Penguin, Dermot Bannon, Perfect Couple...
Some of Des O'Driscoll's small-screen highlights for September
The celebrity architect eschews the renovation projects of his regular series and instead visits various impressive buildings and other spaces around Ireland. Episode one includes a little escape house perched on 57 stilts on a Connemara farm, and also has the presenter working out at the new International Rugby Experience in Limerick.
It mightn’t get the amount of viewers it deserves, but there are a hardcore of Irish fans eagerly awaiting the fourth series of Gary Oldman’s spy thriller. Kristin Scott Thomas is also in the cast, and if you are tempted to jump aboard at this stage, it’s worth going back to the very start, and bingeing the previous 18 episodes.
Nicole Kidman is backed up by Irish duo Eve Hewson and Jack Reynor in this six-part murder mystery.
The series set in that familiar milieu of a rich family in Nantucket. They’re preparing for a lavish wedding but plans go askew with the discovery of a body in the water.
Gripping documentary on the incredible tale of the spacecraft that nearly didn’t make it back to Earth. In 1970, three American astronauts were half way to the moon when their spacecraft was rocked by an explosion.
NASA had a just a small window of a few hours to avert disaster as the oxygen and power would soon run out. Peter Middleton uses original audio recordings and film footage, as well as interviews with the crew and Ground Control to explain what happened on that terrifying night.
Ireland seems to have an even bigger than usual interest in US politics at the moment, and there’s little doubt that the first of the US presidential debates between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will provide engaging viewing for those willing to stay up past 1.30am. And some scary insights.
The new series on historical interior restorations kicks off in Fota House, Co Cork.
A grandchild of the last resident of the Great Island pile recalls lovely memories of his stays there, and the restoration team work on such projects as dealing with dry rot and replacing the roof.
It’s the interview that keeps on giving. We’ve already had the film Scoop about Britain’s Prince Andrew’s infamous chat with Emily Matlis on BBC Newsnight in 2014.
Amazon are going for a three-part miniseries, with Michael Sheen as the royal denier, and Ruth Wilson as the skilled interviewer.
The second instalment of the true-crime series (Dahmer was the first) looks at the story of the brothers convicted of killing their parents in Beverly Hills in 1989. They claimed it was to protect themselves from violence and sexual abuse; the prosecution said the motive was to inherit their parents’ wealth. A decent cast includes Javier Bardem and Chloë Sevigny.
Colin Farrell is back for a series in which he reprises a role he played in The Batman movie in 2022.
Set soon after the events of that film, we watch the disfigured and disgruntled character’s rise to power in the Gotham City underworld.
As the war in Ukraine shows no sign of abating, many of the people who fled that beleaguered country face some difficult choices. This documentary focuses on a family in Ireland who’ve been trying to rebuild their lives, all the while torn between the safety of Cork, and the love of their homeland.
