TV Picks: PJ Gallagher asks the nation — Could you pass your drivers test all over again?

Plus: Saturday Night Live UK, Patrick Kielty returns to the Late Late Show, and a documentary looks at the remaining questions behind Jeffery Epstein's sex abuse scandal

PJ Gallagher puts drivers to the test in The Random Driving Test, Thursday, RTÉ One at 7pm

Fri, 11 Sep, 2026 - 12:00

Aoife Barry

Saturday Night Live UK

Saturday, Sky One, 10pm

There was some scepticism when it was announced earlier this year that the legendary long-running Saturday Night Live show on NBC was going to have a British version on Sky.

Critics wondered if the humour would be sub-par, and if the gang of young comedians would really stoke up enough laughs. Well, the show ended up being a surprising success, and the buzzy comics demonstrated that they certainly have the chops to create something very interesting on the fly each week. Now they’re back for a second series, with a new weekly guest host, live sketches, and a musical performance. Hosting tonight is Jeff Goldblum, and the musical guest is our own queen Cmat.

Pablo Next Level

Monday, RTÉ Kids, 1.50pm

Children’s programming these days is all about ensuring every child watching feels seen. So hurrah for Pablo Next Level, a Belfast-made animated series with an autistic child called Pablo as its star. Today is its second episode after its debut last week on RTÉ Kids and CBBC. The show is aimed at five- to eight-year-olds, and focuses on Pablo’s experiences and adventures in primary school. With a nifty comic streak, this explores the perspective of an autistic child while introducing young children to his world. The 40 episodes are written and acted by young autistic talent, including 10 year-old Alexander Myles from Ballycastle (Pablo), while comedians Aoife Dooley from Dublin and Carol Walsh from Co Kildare helped write the show.

Epstein: Money, Power, and Abuse

Monday, BBC One, 8pm

Jeffrey Epstein's New York State Sex Offender Registry photograph from March 28, 2017.

There are still many questions remaining about the horrifying Jeffrey Epstein sex abuse scandal after his death awaiting trial for sex trafficking. In this Panorama special, journalist Darragh MacIntyre looks at some of these questions, including how Epstein became so powerful, how he befriended such powerful people, and where the money came from that facilitated his abuse of girls and women. MacIntyre picks apart the money trail to find out the answers.

Forever Home

Monday, Channel 5, 9pm

How does Graham Norton do it — present the hugely popular Graham Norton Show and write five bestselling novels? If he’d share his time-management tips with us, that would be great...

At least he can presumably have a bit of a breather when his books are being adapted for telly, and the latest (after ITV’s 2022 adaptation of Holding) is Forever Home. The 2022 novel has been turned into a six-part drama for 5. Its story is focused on divorced teacher Carol Crottie (Amy Nuttall), who falls for older man Robert (Douglas Henshall), but the pair face an early-onset Alzheimer’s diagnosis that leads Carol to wonder how much she really knows about her new partner.

70 Up

Tuesday, ITV1, 9pm

There’s something so poignant about following the story of real people throughout their lives, as this series has been doing since 1964. Back then it was aired by ITV’s World in Action strand and called Seven Up!, and aimed to look at whether the class a child was born into determined their future. That turned into a long-running series where the documentary team checked in with the children at seven-year intervals. 70 Up is — sniff — its final season, and sees the award-winning filmmaker Asif Kapadia (who was behind acclaimed documentaries like Senna and Amy) take over from the original director Michael Apted.

Kapadia directs a two-part finale with the surviving participants, including Charles, who had initially dropped out. We can also expect tear-jerking moments like a tribute to participant Lynn, who died in 2013, and a final interview with Nicholas, who died in 2023.

The Random Driving Test

Thursday, RTÉ One, 7pm

If you had to sit your driving test again tomorrow, would you pass it? Oh, and would you give it a go if it meant the chance to win up to €1,000 cash? That’s the conceit behind this new show, which sees host PJ Gallagher ask drivers across the country if they’re willing to redo their driving test for the sake of our entertainment … I mean, to put their road knowledge skills to the test.

Gallagher visits 12 different driving test routes around Ireland, while the man ensuring the participants are getting a proper test is former senior RSA tester Brian Harnett. Each driver starts with €1,000 and for every fault, they lose €100. After nine faults, they fail and leave with nothing.

In the first episode, Pilates instructor Prajakta in Wicklow Town and hairdresser Jason in Naas put their driving skills to the test.

The Late Late Show

Friday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm

There had been some speculation earlier this year that Patrick Kielty wasn’t going to be returning to the presenter’s seat for the next season of The Late Late Show. But he confirmed in July that he’d signed a new three-year contract, which allows for up to 30 shows a season.

The Co Down comedian is well settled into his role after three years, but can we expect something new added into the mix, to bring a frisson of excitement to a staple of the RTÉ schedule? We shall wait and see — all the broadcaster is divulging right now is we can expect celebrity guests, a live studio audience, and “the stories that have Ireland talking”.

RTÉ Culture Night Live 2026

Friday, RTÉ One, 8pm

If you can’t head out of the house to enjoy Culture Night, let RTÉ bring it to you. Culture Night Live, supported by the Arts Council, will bring viewers at home a selection of live performances from across the country.

Presenters for this year’s bilingual show will be Carla O’Brien and Doireann Ní Ghlacáin live from Kilkenny and Katja Mia live from Killarney.

There will be performances from musician and composer Jamie Duffy, Galway five-piece trad band Clada, 2FM rising artist Jessica Doolan, Mick Flannery and Susan O’Neill, and Cork Mezzo soprano Niamh O’Sullivan accompanied by concert pianist Gary Beecher.

Then actress and podcaster Norma Sheahan will visit the delightful Butter Museum in Cork, and presenter Brendan Courtney, alongside architectural historian Emma Gilleece, will pop into the Office of the Attorney General, which is open for the first time to the public for Culture Night.

Oh, and there’ll be giant puppets, fire dancers and poetry.

Talk about a jam-packed night.

Slow Horses

From Wednesday, Apple TV

The acclaimed espionage drama returns for a sixth season, and slovenly spymaster Jackson Lamb still hasn’t bothered to darn his socks — or perhaps even wash them. The air may be getting more stale in Slough House, MI5’s dumping ground for agents who have screwed up their assignments, but the Slow Horses have more to deal with than their boss’s stinky socks and cantankerous personality. Someone is targeting agents who have passed through Slough House, and Lamb and his team will have to find a safe house and find out who’s behind the attacks. Lamb orders his agents to “go dark”, i.e. no mobile phones — good luck with that. Kristen Scott Thomas returns as MI5 director general Diana Taverner alongside Jack Lowden as agent River Cartwright, plus Saskia Reeves, Jonathan Pryce, Hugo Weaving, and Olivia Cooke.

Neagley

From Wednesday, Prime Video

Fans of Jack Reacher will know that Frances Neagley is the clever and resourceful private investigator who has helped Reacher crack many a case.

A former protegee of Reacher in the Army’s 110th Special Investigations Unit, Neagley has some very specific skills, and while she may lack the sheer lumbering brawn of her mentor, she has no shortage of brains and tech savvy to burn. This Reacher spinoff series starring Maria Sten begins right after the fourth series of Reacher ends, and don’t worry — the big guy himself, played by Alan Ritchson, will be making a few guest appearances (you’ll spot him easily — he’ll completely block out everything else on the screen, like a walking total eclipse). Mostly though, Neagley will have to fend for herself as she investigates the murder of an old friend, but will soon need to gather a crack team together as she comes face to face with an evil cult leader.

Our Pick

Trasna na dTonnta

Monday, TG4, 8.30pm

Extraordinary stories are told in this four-part documentary about the lives people who have come from other countries to make Ireland’s offshore islands their home. In this first episode, for example, we meet Ukrainian refugees Krystyna and Diana, who speak about finding sanctuary on Tory Island. Across 12 months, from January 2025 to January 2026, the filmmakers met immigrants from Ukraine, South Africa, Nigeria, France, Scotland and Germany and followed as they built new lives on Arranmore and Tory Island in County Donegal and Sherkin, Bere and Dursey Islands in County Cork. Remarkably, some participants had never even been on a boat before moving to these remote locations. We’ll discover many perspectives on migration, identity and belonging in this new series, which should hopefully help to encourage empathy for the many people who have chosen Ireland as their new home.

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