TV Picks: Dolly's 2014 Glastonbury performance for those of us missing the Queen of Country

Dolly Parton performing on the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival, at Worthy Farm in Somerset.

Dolly Parton at Glastonbury 2014

Saturday, BBC Two, 9.15pm

Ah, Dolly. It was truly sad news to hear that the country icon had died last month at the fine age of 80. If you’ve been missing the musical legend’s music and sprightly personality, take note that you can watch her set at Glastonbury 2014 from the Pyramid Stage this Saturday, followed on the same channel by Sisters in Country: Dolly, Linda, and Emmylou, a show about her friendship and collaborations with Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris. After that you can enjoy Dolly Parton at the BBC.

Ceol ón gCré

Sunday, TG4, 9pm

Singer and musician Nell Ní Chróinín is back for a second season of travelling through Ireland and exploring traditional music’s relationship with our lives. This season, the themes are: The woman, the child, emigration and work. Ní Chróinín will discuss these themes each week with the musicians, singers, dancers, craftspeople, and cultural commentators she meets on her travels. In this first episode celebrating the role of women within Irish traditional music, Nell meets with her mentor, sean-nós singer Máire Ní Chéilleachair, in Cork.

Donncha’s Away Games

Sunday, RTÉ One, 7.30pm

Donncha O’Callaghan is back dragging willing celebrities around the world to try some unusual sports. He kicks things off by heading to Iceland with champion boxer Kellie Harrington to try out Glima Wrestling. Later in the series he’ll head to the Wife Carrying World Championships in Finland, the Bathtub Regatta in Belgium, and the Highland Games in Scotland. Other participants will include Ireland Rugby 7s star Jordan Conroy, comedian Emma Doran, former Ireland rugby international Tommy Bowe, Young Offenders actor Hilary Rose, and Dancing with the Stars judge Oti Mabuse. As well as the unusual sports, those of us at home will learn about local culture and traditions to boot.

The Split Up

Sunday, BBC One, 9pm

If you enjoyed the great screenwriter Abi Morgan’s series The Split, which ran from 2018 - 2022, then check out this spin off. The original series focused on the Defoe family, who ran a legal firm specialising in divorce. In this latest series, created by Ursula Rani Sarma, we meet the Kishans, a Manchester-based British-Asian family of lawyers. They also deal with marriage break-ups, and daughter Aria is set to take over from her dad Dhruv and run the firm... until he starts questioning the decision. The cast includes Ritu Arya and Sanjeev Bhaskar, while guest stars include Lenny Henry and Jameela Jamil.

The Wargame

Monday, Sky One, 9pm

Michael Gove and Nicola Sturgeon are among the experts gathering for crisis simulation The Wargame

What does it take to get Michael Gove, Nicola Sturgeon, and Penny Mordaunt into a room together these days? A reality show based on a fake attack on the UK by Russia, apparently. They’re among the participants in this simulation of what could happen after a Russian attack takes place on UK soil.

The show is, somewhat alarmingly, set six months in the future and sees the team of politicians, military leaders and intelligence chiefs face an opposing team of Russian experts, led by Keir Giles. The Cabinet will gather in a crisis room to decide how to deal with the situation, and will have to deal with rolling news, social media updates, military and intelligence reports and unexpected happenings. It’ll be very interesting to see how they deal with what’s thrown at them. The Wargame airs daily from Monday to Thursday, September 24.

The Great British Bake Off

Tuesday, Channel 4, 8pm

The Great British Bake Off Season 17 features Paul Hollywood and Nigella Lawson Picture: Channel 4

Looking for a cosy evening watch? Well, you’ll be glad to hear that The Great British Bake Off is back. All the wholesome TV you could want on a Tuesday night. You probably already know that Prue Leith is no longer on the show, and has been replaced by Nigella Lawson. Paul Hollywood is still a judge, and Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond are still the presenters. You know the drill: Tonight, we’ll meet the hopeful bakers, but one of them will be given the heave-ho before the episode is done. And no, we are not allowing soggy bottom jokes this time around, sorry.

Aperitif

Wednesday, TG4, 9.30pm

TG4 is looking to appeal to a wider spread of younger viewers, and what better way to do that than with a dating show? After all, First Dates Ireland has been a humongous hit here. Enter TG4’s new dating show, Aperitif, which sees its sparkling presenters, Cúán de Búrca and Mairéad Ní Chuaig, gathering a gang of would-be love birds and sending them on dates with a twist. Aperitif’s contribution to the world of romance is to send three singletons to enjoy blind dates in a restaurant, but instead of eating with one person they get do it speed-dating style, and meet a new person at each course. At the end, they decide if any of the dates deserve a second date. What we’ve seen so far indicates that this will be a sweet watch, with very few bells and whistles and instead harnessing the cute awkwardness that’s natural when your date is being filmed for an audience. This is all as Gaeilge too of course. Iontach!

Ceol le Chéile

Friday, RTÉ One, 8pm

Liam Ó Maonlaí is joined by Pooja Sethi Khanna and her band Mehfil on Ceol le Chéile, Friday, RTÉ One, 8pm

It’s a veritable smorgasbord of music programming on the small screen this week, and another to add to the schedule is Ceol le Chéile, a four-part music series exploring the evolving worlds of collaboration, identity, and Irish culture. Presenter and musician Liam Ó Maonlaí (he of the Hothouse Flowers), as well as musicians Aoife Ní Bhriain and Cormac de Barra, perform each episode alongside artists from migrant communities. Music, after all, transcends all borders. Tonight Ó Maonlaí is joined by Indian singer Pooja Sethi Khanna and her band Mehfil for a performance at Lismore Castle.

The Graham Norton Show

Friday, BBC One, 10.40pm

A new season of The Graham Norton Show kicks off Friday on BBC One at 10.40pm Picture: BBC/So Television/The Graham Norton Show/Christopher Baines

Another stalwart returns: Graham Norton is back to host his regular chat show. He’s a dab hand at hooking in the A-list stars, and this new series opens with one of the biggest in Hollywood: Tom Cruise.

The smiley actor will be there to chat about his latest film Digger, which sees him transformed with the aid of prosthetics into the oil tycoon Digger Rockwell. Also on Norton’s couch will be actor Florence Pugh to chat about the new series East of Eden (based on John Steinbeck’s novel), Lolly Adefope to tell us about the wonderfully absurd play Oh, Mary!, and John Bishop to talk about his entertainment quiz, Wisdom of the Crowd. Emeli Sande will perform live.

MobLand

Streaming now, Paramount+

Helen Mirren as Maeve Harrigan in MobLand, season 2. Picture: Luke Varley/Paramount

The Harrigan crime family are back for more madness and mayhem in the second series of Guy Ritchie’s explosive series, but are their fortunes about to take a downturn? Pierce Brosnan and Helen Mirren return as Conrad and Maeve Harrigan, the ruthless bosses of London’s most powerful criminal clan, with Tom Hardy as their fixer Harry de Souza, tasked with making sure no one threatens the family’s top dog spot.

But Harry has some bad news for Conrad and Maeve: Their enemies are getting more powerful and more ambitious, and if they don’t do something drastic, their whole empire could soon crumble around their greying temples.

The only thing for it is to hit back hard, but it’s not long before Harry’s loyalty to the Harrigans is sorely tested.

Joining in the carnage for this second series are Paddy Considine, Emmett J Scanlan, Johnny Flynn, Janet McTeer, and Toby Jones.

Brothers

From Wednesday, Apple TV

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in Brothers

Woody and Matthew are lifelong friends with such an unshakeable bond they could well be brothers. But when Matthew’s mom accidently lets it slip that the two may actually be brothers, the two men face an identity crisis that upends their lives and forces them to reassess who they really are.

To add to the confusion, the pair are also two of Hollywood’s most recognisable faces — Woody Harrelson and Matthew McConaughey, playing fictionalised versions of themselves.

It all begins when Woody brings the family to visit Matthew’s ranch in Austin, Texas, following his daughter’s disastrous wedding ceremony.

Then Matthew’s mom, Ma Mac, drops the bro bomb, prompting Woody to rifle through the ranch in search of proof. Meanwhile, Matthew is eyeing up a run for Texas governor, and doesn’t need all this unexpected sibling shit.

The show was inspired by the real-life rumour that the two A-listers were actually brothers.

Our Pick

Aistear an Amhráin

Saturday, RTÉ One, 8.20pm

Aistear an Amhráin looks at the story of The Auld Triangle, Saturday, RTÉ One, 8.20pm

Aistear an Amhráin returns to RTÉ for a third season as it continues to share the fascinating stories behind some of Ireland’s best-loved songs.

The series uses family testimony, archive footage, and live performances to tell the backstories of six different songs.

The first two episodes of this season look at the iconic tune that is The Auld Triangle, which has been sung and celebrated for over 70 years.

While it’s typically associated with writer Brendan Behan, he claimed he wasn’t the songwriter.

So Aistear an Amhráin asks: who really wrote The Auld Triangle? Presenters Sinéad Ní Churnáin and Garry Mac Donncha introduce us to family members of both Behan and songwriter Dick Shannon, exploring their roles in crafting the musical tale of the execution of a convict at Mountjoy Prison.