10 new TV shows for October: Creedon, Disclaimer, The Franchise, and more... 

There's a decent mix of documentary and fiction among the TV and streaming highlights for October 
10 new TV shows for October: Creedon, Disclaimer, The Franchise, and more... 

L-R: John Creedon writes a Musical Atlas of Ireland, Cate Blanchett in Disclaimer

Creedon’s Musical Atlas of Ireland RTÉ One, Sunday, Oct 6:  Cork broadcaster John Creedon presents one of the best music shows on Irish radio, so it isn’t surprising that his latest series combines his love of all things musical with the road trips that have become his oeuvre in recent years. Along the way, he’ll talk to singers, historians and various other cultural experts to look at the place of music in Ireland’s culture and identity.

Michael Smurfit: Succession RTÉ One, Oct 7: 

When someone is being interviewed onboard their 50-foot super yacht in Monaco, you’d have to suspect they’ve made quite an amount of dosh. This documentary looks at the life of Merseyside-born multi-millionaire who left school at 16 to work at his father’s packaging company, and helped build a huge business empire. 

Michael Smurfit: Succession
Michael Smurfit: Succession

Talking heads on the show include Denis O’Brien, Prince Albert II of Monaco, and Matt Cooper.

The Menendez Brothers, Oct 7, Netflix The story of convicted parent-killers Lyle and Erik Menendez is currently being dramatised as part of the streaming service’s Monsters series. This documentary acts as a sort of companion piece, laying out the facts around the Beverly Hills murders in 1989, and the trial of the sons accused of coveting their parents’ fortune.

Bombing Brighton: The Plot To Kill Thatcher, BBC Two, October 8 October 12 marks 40 years since the Brighton bombing which killed five people in the southern England town, despite missing its main target. This film includes accounts from IRA bomber Patrick Magee, members of the security forces, and John Gummer, the former Conservative Party Chairman who was with Mrs Thatcher at the moment the bomb went off.

Iarsmaí,  TG4, Oct 9:  We can get a bit sniffy about our British neighbours and their stockpiles of colonial-era loot, but most people probably don’t realise that several Irish institutions also have similarly controversial material. This documentary tells of stolen skulls in Trinity, Benin Bronzes in the National Museum in Dublin, and Aboriginal material in the Ulster Museum. We’ll see how maintaining these collections can raise all sorts of ethical questions.

Disclaimer,  Apple TV+, Oct 11: Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline and Sacha Baron Cohen star in a seven-part adaptation of the novel by Renée Knight. She’s the high-profile journalist who discovers, to her horror, that a book has been written featuring an episode in her life that she’d prefer to keep secret. What is she willing to do to keep it under wraps? Writer/director Alfonso Cuarón has impressed before on such films as Children of Men and Gravity, so we’re expecting this to be essential viewing.

The Franchise, Sky Atlantic/NOW, Oct 21

The Franchise
The Franchise

The rather talented individuals Armando Iannucci (The Thick of It, Alan Partridge) and Sam Mendes (1917, Skyfall) are among the backroom team up for this comedy series about a film crew making a superhero film. Himesh Patel and Richard E Grant feature in the cast.

Escape at Dannemora Netflix, Oct 22:  Too many people missed this excellent series during its original run on Sky Atlantic in 2019. In a tale based on real life happenings, Benicio Del Toro and Paul Dano play the two convicts trying to manipulate the emotions of an impressionable prison guard (Patricia Arquette, superb as ever) to help them escape the jail in New York state.

Hector Caribbean TG4, Oct 24

Hector Ó hEochagáin is off to the storied sea between the US and South America for his latest series. We tend to associate the Caribbean with the azure waters of touristy areas, but the Navan man will of course dig deeper with all sorts of interesting characters in the fascinating region. 

Hector Ó hEochagáin
Hector Ó hEochagáin

Episode one features a visit to Cuba, and over seven episodes he’ll travel to various other islands before finishing up in Trinidad & Tobago.

Simone Biles Rising, Netflix, Oct 25:  If you enjoyed the first two episodes about the gymnastics superstar and the difficult time she had at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, the latest two instalments brings the story up to her triumphant return at Paris earlier this year.

More in this section