TV picks: New documentary looks at the collapse of Ireland's birth rate

Plus David Attenborough returns to narrate Blue Planet III

Hudson Williams stars in YAGA, Saturday, Sky Atlantic, 9pm

Fri, 30 Oct, 2026 - 12:00

Aoife Barry

YAGA

Saturday, Sky Atlantic, 9pm

Canadian TV is getting a lot more attention these days thanks to Heated Rivalry, the queer hockey romance based on author Rachel Reid’s Gamechanger series.

This new show comes from the same streamer, Crave, and even stars Heated Rivalry’s Hudson Williams (aka Shane Hollander). But narratively it’s a different prospect, even if it does also include some steamy scenes. Williams plays two roles: Henry Park, a billionaire’s son who goes missing, and Park’s roommate, the shady Logan Casey. Searching for Park is a flirty private investigator named Charlie Rapp (Noah Reid of Schitt’s Creek), who is teamed up with sceptical local detective Carson (Clark Backo).

Amidst the suspects is an intriguing university professor Katherine (Carrie-Anne Moss of The Matrix).

This takes a little from the folk-horror elements of True Detective, but is otherwise a feminist tale inspired by the Baba Yaga from Slavic folklore.

While some parts of the 30-minute episodes don’t quite cohere, it’s a fun and bingeable ride.

Ireland’s Fittest Family

Sunday, RTÉ One, 6.30pm

Time for a brand new season of Ireland’s Fittest Family, aka the show that is guaranteed to make you feel lazy, out of shape, and in need of a personal trainer.

Returning for the 14th season are coaches Anna Geary, Donncha O’Callaghan, Davy Fitzgerald, Ellen Keane, Michael Darragh MacAuley and the reigning Fittest Family champ, Andrew Trimble.

This season the families will compete at different locations across the country, with the heats taking place at Haulbowline Navy Base. Meanwhile, the quarter-finals will be located at the bogs of Hell and Back in Co Wicklow; the semi-finals will have the dramatic background of Drogheda Port; and the grand final will see participants go head-to-head at the beautiful Avondale House.

Also back is the series host Laura Fox, who will oversee the competitive craic as the families battle it out to be named Ireland’s Fittest Family, and win the tasty €15,000 prize.

Blue Planet III

Sunday, BBC One, 8pm

Is there anything more soothing than hearing David Attenborough talk you through the wonders of the natural world? It’s been 25 years since the first series of the groundbreaking Blue Planet first aired, and things have certainly changed in terms of the environment and climate since.

In the first episode of this latest series, we are brought to the northern tip of Australia to meet tawny nurse sharks. Then it’s on to the Red Sea to encounter coral groupers, Maori wrasse and moray eels, onwards to Bali to meet tiny harlequin shrimp, before welcoming humpback whales who have migrated from Antarctica. Sure to be stunning and awe-inspiring.

The Entrepreneurs

Monday, RTÉ One, 8.30pm

Want to be inspired by people who set up their own successful businesses? It’s not an easy thing to do, and each episode of this series tells the stories of three different Irish businesses that have weathered storms and had success.

This week’s entrepreneurs include Oltian Dervishi, Jennifer Rock and Danny Buckley, and we’ll find out what inspired them to go it alone, how they deal with setbacks, and what the secrets to success are.

Each contributor to the show is a finalist in the 2026 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme, and they work across a range of sectors – from AI to wellness.

If you’re someone with dreams of setting up your own business, this is a good chance to learn from those who’ve been there, done that, and learned all the lessons.

Busted

Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm

This three-part series tells the tales of some of the world’s biggest drug busts, and crucially includes the input of the Defence Forces, Gardaí and Customs.

We’ll find out about high-profile and bizarre drug seizures – and yes, that includes the story of how 1.5 tonnes of cocaine was found floating in a Cork bay, an incident which inspired the movie The Young Offenders. In the first episode we learn about an Irish Irish Navy ship, LE William Butler Yeats, which dramatically took the container ship MV Matthew by force as it tried to head for international waters. In total, 2.2 tonnes of cocaine was seized during the incident, which had a value of €157 million – the largest such seizure in Irish history.

It’s sure to be a high-octane watch, and even includes voice notes and images from phones belonging to the drug smugglers.

Crá

Tuesday, TG4, 9.30pm

The Irish-language crime drama Crá returns this week, and if you’re impatient to watch it you’ll be happy to hear that all six episodes will be available on the TG4 player TG4+ that same night. The show’s been a breakout success for the station, selling to 68 territories under the international title Boglands.

In series two we return to the town of Gaoth Dobhair and are promised a “darker, more ambitious story” centred on the character Garda Conall Ó Súilleabháin, played by Dónall Ó Héalaí. When we return to his world, Conall is a trainee detective who is trying to navigate new cases while dealing with the consequences of his past. Sounds like a nightmare for him, but a compelling time for us viewers.

Among the cast are Alex Murphy from The Young Offenders as Barry, and Hannah Brady from the horror film Soulm8te as Ciara Kate.

A Ring and a Prayer

Friday, RTÉ One, 8pm

If you need a bit of a boost at the end of the week, A Ring and a Prayer returns to celebrate multicultural love in Ireland. This is the second season of the six-part show, which follows 12 couples – representing nine different nationalities – who are preparing for their wedding day.

There are a variety of different approaches here, from devoutly religious to non-theistic, and the show looks at how people from different cultures or faith traditions combine their values into their wedding. In episode one, Ciarán from Kilkenny and Yinka from Carlow plan a wedding that will include a traditional Yoruba marriage ritual, while Vladimir from Latvia and Inna from Ukraine tie the knot by combining elements from both of their home countries.

Plus there are couples on hand to offer advice based on their experiences.

The Greatest

From Wednesday, Prime Video

No need to ask who’s the subject of this new eight-part biographical drama series. Only one man still retains the title ‘The Greatest’, and it’s not Hulk Hogan. Jaalen Best stars as aspiring, idealistic young boxer Cassius Clay as he makes his name in the sporting world, and metamorphoses into Muhammad Ali, the undisputed GOAT. The series is also a chronicle of a changing America, as the civil rights movement takes root, and Ali fights moral and political battles outside the ring, including the notorious court case over his refusal to be drafted to fight in the Vietnam war. This scripted series following the life and career of Ali, who died in 2016 aged 74, has been given the blessing of the fighter’s family, with his fourth wife, Yolanda “Lonnie” Ali, acting as executive producer. Starring alongside Best are Omari Hardwick as Clay’s dad, Cassius Clay snr, Dana Gourrier as his mother, Odessa “Bird” Clay, Amin Joseph as Sonny Liston and Giovanni Ribisi as Angelo Dundee, the boxing trainer who was Ali’s cornerman through most of his career.

Black Doves

From Thursday, Netflix

Keira Knightley electrified the first series of this spy caper with wit and energy, helped by co-stars Ben Whishaw, Sarah Lancashire and Andrew Buchan, and the quartet is back in action for a second series of the thriller, featuring more danger, more intrigue, and more targets getting bumped off at long range.

Knightley is Helen Webb, a stay-at-home mum married to ambitious conservative politician Wallace Webb. But behind the mumsy facade is a deadly assassin working for a top secret organisation known as the Black Doves. As series two opens, Helen’s husband is preparing to become prime minister, while Helen continues to pass sensitive government information on to her organisation.

But when Helen’s handler Mrs Reed mysteriously disappears, Helen is left alone in the field and has to reconnect with her best friend Sam (Whishaw), one of the Black Doves’ top triggermen. Can Helen keep Sam out of the Soho dives long enough to survive this new threat? New additions to the cast for series two include Ambika Mod, Babou Seesay, Sam Riley and Neve Campbell.

Our Pick: Ireland’s Population Crash

Wednesday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm

There was a time when Ireland was synonymous with large families, but that’s an era far in the past.

So, this new series sees Miriam O’Callaghan looks at Ireland’s birth rate and the reasons why it’s currently the lowest since records began. With this country having the fastest aging population in Europe, she looks at what’s behind the lowering birth rates and what that means for generations to come.

In the first episode, O’Callaghan heads to South Korea, which has the lowest birth rate in the world, to find out more about a movement called 4B. Its members are women who have chosen not to marry, have children or date.

Hopefully this show will go beyond sensationalist headlines and look at the multiplicity of reasons why people are choosing not to have children, and what this might mean for Ireland.

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