Thursday’s TV tips
TV3 bring you live coverage from the RWC as New Zealand play Namibia.
Culinary crusaders Gregg Wallace and Chris Bavin swing into action to help another family, this time visiting Clare and Richard in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, who are so busy with work and looking after their two young children that they have found themselves stuck in a rather unusual rut: seven years ago they devised a simple weekly meal plan – Monday is pizza, Wednesday is spaghetti bolognese and so on – and it hasn’t changed since.
Not only this, but they always tend to buy big brands and premium supermarket ranges, which is an expensive way to shop for what has become a boring way to eat.
Gregg and Chris are determined to help them – but breaking the family’s habits isn’t going to be easy.
When series 16 kicked off on August 27, US reality TV stars Austin Armacost and Farrah Abraham, comedian Bobby Davro, presenter Gail Porter and James Hill (ex The Apprentice) entered the house.
They were joined by author Janice Dickinson, ex-porn star Jenna Jameson, singer Natasha Hamilton, music promoter Scoop, actress Sherrie Hewson, X Factor veterans Stevi and Chloe-Jasmine, and actors Chris Ellison and Daniel Baldwin.
Then there was model Tila Tequila, who lasted just a few hours inside before she was shown the door for her controversial statements on social media.
But now we’re down to the final few, so it’s time to finally find out who will follow in the footsteps of previous winners Jack Dee, Ulrika Jonsson and Katie Price.
Continuing the series in which 14 people are given fugitive status and go on the run, taking extreme measures to avoid detection.
Ricky Allen has escaped capture for 15 days now and the hunters are getting frustrated at their lack of progress, so a media campaign is launched to flush him out of hiding.
Now spooked, he flees south on a train as the hunters close in. Meanwhile, old school friends Emily Dredge and Lauren English are 12 days into their escape but fractures are beginning to appear in their relationship – leaving them both vulnerable.
Both father and son are struggling with some big decisions in the latest episode of Danny Baker’s comedy, as the thought of paying for daughter Sharon’s dream wedding is giving Fred many a sleepless night, while Danny is facing a personal dilemma.
Should he grab the chance to play for sporting glory as the captain of West Greenwich’s football team – or further develop his blossoming interest in photography, inspired by the tutoring of sexy teacher Miss Blondel with her French accent and enticing dark room?
As Alan Titchmarsh continues his ambitious re-creation of one of Capability Brown’s gardens at Belvoir Castle in Leicester, he realises that the budget may not cover everything he has planned, while the Duchess of Rutland wonders if she has bitten off more than she can chew.
Alan gains special access to the archives of Longleat, which have given wild animals the run of the Brown parkland, and also visits the relatively unknown and rarely filmed lakes of Wotton House, a landscape designed by Brown.
The opening of a new bar in the neighbourhood prompts the friends to set out on a Valentine’s Day pub crawl.
Planning to have a spectacular night on the town, they band together to ensure the event remains upbeat to help Nick cope with his break-up.
But it’s not long before matters take a turn for the worse when Ryan asks Jess an important question – but she pretends not to hear him in an effort to avoid a potentially awkward conversation.
Meanwhile, Coach repeatedly bumps into a mysterious woman and Schmidt tries to find his place in the political world.
(2006) In 1960s Detroit, girl group The Dreamettes – Effie (Jennifer Hudson), Deena (Beyonce Knowles) and Lorell (Anika Noni Rose) – are groomed by car salesman-turned-manager Curtis (Jamie Foxx) as back-up singers for showman James “Thunder” Early (Eddie Murphy).
The trio is promoted to headline act and re-christened The Dreams.
Tensions flare when Deena replaces Effie as lead vocalist. Effie eventually quits and turns to old manager Marty Madison (Danny Glover) and talented songwriter Clarence Conrad White (Keith Robinson) for her shot at fame.
Fuelled by eye-popping production design and electrifying performances from the cast, Dreamgirls is a classic rags to riches fairy-tale adapted almost note-for-note from the Broadway stage musical.
Born Addicted looks at the use and impact of methadone during pregnancy telling, in an open and non-judgmental way, the stories of the mothers and babies affected and the medics who treat them.
With 130 babies born in Ireland chronically addicted to heroin and methadone every year, this hard-hitting Reality Bites documentary explores the issue from all angles.
Hosted by ‘Off The Ball’s’ Joe Molloy and top comedian Andrew Maxwell, The Sin Bin will be the cheeky, topical entertainment show to catch during the Rugby World Cup.
Joining Andrew and Joe in the studio will be some of the biggest names in world rugby, as well as comedians and actors… basically anybody who wants to join Ireland’s World Cup party!
(2007) Brilliant engineer Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) learns that his beautiful wife Jennifer (Embeth Davidtz) is having an affair. So he plots to kill her, shooting Jennifer at point blank range in their home.
Confessing to murder, Ted is hurried into court, where the evidence appears damning.
Assistant district attorney Willy Beachum (Ryan Gosling) is assigned the open and shut case of prosecuting Crawford.
Courtroom proceedings quickly turn into a debacle as Crawford – representing himself – sensationally has key evidence thrown out of court.
Suddenly, Willy’s new job, working as a junior under Nikki Gardner (Rosamund Pike) at a top law firm, is in jeopardy. Fracture is a taut and involving courtroom thriller, and casting Hopkins as the murderous spouse ensures lots of verbal fireworks.
The Works Presents is a new 10-part series in which John Kelly meets key figures from the worlds of film and TV, books, music, theatre and the visual arts.
In the first programme, John goes to London to talk to Irish playwright Enda Walsh, whose opera The Last Hotel, co-written with Donnacha Dennehy, is about to open at this year’s Dublin Theatre Festival.
Walsh talks about growing up in north Dublin in the 1970s and 80s, about being taught by Roddy Doyle, and about the highlights of his stage career from his first hit, Disco Pigs, in 1996, which gave a young Cillian Murphy his first major acting role, to the most recent, Ballyturk, which starred Murphy, Stephen Rea and Mikel Murfi.
We all think we know the story of the conflict in Northern Ireland – we think we’ve heard all the stories. But for the first time, this series documents the personal testimony of the people most directly affected.
The people who went to school every day while bullets whizzed over their heads, the people who went to their jobs everyday with a warped sense of reality. But, this was their reality.
Throughout this series we get a sense of what people on every side faced, how they coped and more importantly how it impacted on how they think now. From the outside what seemed like a chaotic time in history was in fact someone’s life.
