10 TV shows for December: Squid Game, Gavin & Stacey, and more...
Season two of Squid Game, the final Gavin & Stacey, and Kiera Knightley in Black Doves feature among the December TV highlights.
Major new three-part drama-documentary series on the era in 16th-century Italy that proved to be one of the highpoints for human culture. Charles Dance stars as Michelangelo, while the lives of Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael will also be explored.
George Lucas’s universe gets even bigger with this new series starring Jude Law. Set in the same era as The Mandalorian, the British actor plays a man who really does feel the force. Watch out also for Tipperary actress Kerry Condon in a series that largely focuses on the adventures of four children trying to get back to their home planet.
Kiera Knightley plays a woman who juggles family commitments with her secret love life and her hidden existence as a spy for shadowy organisation, the Black Doves. When her lover is killed, she teams up with an assassin played by Ben Whishaw to find out who did it. We’ll get an initial six episodes, and season two has already been given the green light.
A nation breathed a collective sigh of relief last year when Patrick Kielty proved he was well able for the most important job in the universe. In theory, the second show should be plain sailing, but it’s still the type of show where anything could happen.
While exercise and changes to diet were once the route to losing weight, pharmaceutical advances have brought the tempting option of medicating yourself skinnier. These substances are supposed to be taken under strict medical supervision, but reporter Pamela Fraher and her team show how the injectable pens have made it onto the black market.
The year 1984 was probably the highpoint for seasonal songs with Wham’s ‘Last Christmas’ and Band Aid’s ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas’ battling out at the top of the charts. The charity single reigned supreme, but the creation of Andrew Ridgeley and George Michael has endured as a classic slice of pop. This is the story behind the song.
The Cork rascals return with a seasonal tale. In a story as old as time itself, mammy Mairéad is trying to teach her teenage son Conor to do some of the household chores. It all takes a dark turn, however, when the tidying process reveals a hidden gun. Jason Byrne joins the cast as a hammer-wielding criminal that even Billy Murphy is afraid of.
In 2019, the superb comedy-drama returned for a Christmas special but left us wondering if Smithy had said yes to Nessa’s proposal. We’re promised that all will be revealed in this “last ever episode”. They resume the story five years later and much has happened. While mostly set in Barry, we’ll also see what’s been going on for the Billericay branch of the Wales-England union.
Given that the original series became the streaming service’s biggest ever show, it isn’t surprising that the team has been reassembled for another season. Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), despite winning the deadly game in 2021, also has a taste for more, and is risking it all to play again.
Documentary on the Horgan brothers of Youghal. Shoemakers by trade, they developed an early interest in moving pictures, and began to film local scenes, including King Edward's visit to Ireland in 1904. As well as becoming pioneers of the cutting-edge technology, they also established a cinema in the East Cork town.
