What to watch on TV this week
Grace and Frankie
Netflix
You may remember Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda acting together in 9 To 5 alongside Dolly Parton way back in 1980. For this new comedy series, available in its entirety on the streaming network since yesterday, the duo play a couple of elderly rivals who are forced into an unlikely bond when they learn their husbands (played by Martin Sheen and Sam Waterson) have fallen in love with each other.
Country at the BBC
BBC Four, 10.45pm
This compilation of archive material from the BBC is essential viewing for fans of country music, featuriing performances from the likes of Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Tammy Wynette.
The British Academy Television Awards
BBC One, 8pm
Graham Norton is on presentation duties for the awards from the Theatre Royal in London, and has also been nominated in two categories. Chris O’Dowd, James Nesbitt and Brendan O’Carroll are the other Irish in with a chance of taking an award.
Hunters of the South Seas
BBC Two, 8pm
After a break last week because of the snooker, we now get to see the final episode in Will Millard’s look at changing lives in parts of the Pacific. He’s in the Trobriand Islands near Papua New Guinea where he witnesses the traditional practices of symbolic gift giving and how it feeds into a whole system of status and obligation.
Overall, the episodes probably feature too much of the presenter himself, but from sea gypsies to traditional whalers and tonight’s group, Millard has provided engaging viewing on a part of world most of us know little about.
Prometheus
Channel 4, 9pm
Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron are among the cast of Ridley Scott’s Alien prequel from 2012. Not of the same level as the original, it’s still a very watchable affair.
The Great Chelsea Garden Challenge
BBC Two, 8pm
With a slightly different format to the show currently running on RTÉ, this series features a number of would-be garden designers attempting to win a spot at Chelsea Flower Show. For the first challenge, the six contestants are given £1,500 to build cottage gardens at the Royal Horticultural Society’s facility.
Dáil on the Dole
TV3, 9pm
In the final episode of the series, Waterford independent TD John Halligan meets various men who lost jobs as the city’s manufacturing enterprises closed.
We see the mixed blessings of Community Employment Schemes, where some people enjoy the benefits of having something to do, albeit for an extremely low wage, and hear the men’s despondency at a situation that has little sign of improving.
Firefighters
RTÉ One, 7pm
We see the new recruits going through a tough day of training with breathing apparatus, and also see another side of firefighters’ work as they extricate a driver from a car crash.
Later Live — with Jools Holland
BBC Two, 10pm
Paul Weller is about to release his 12th solo album, which provides a fine excuse to get him playing live in the studio.
The other big name is Josh Tillman, aka Father John Misty, who’s been creating such a stir with his latest album, and is also on his way to Killarney in June. We’ll also hear music from Lianne La Havas and Curtis Harding.
Wild Ireland
UTV Ireland, 8pm
Christine Bleakley arrives in Kerry, and tries out the ever-popular pursuits of a kayak with Fungie and a visit to the slate quarry on Valentia.
The World’s Most Expensive Food
Channel 4, 8pm
London has more billionaires than any other city. Many don’t have quite the same eating habits as the rest of us, and this two-part series looks at the food suppliers who provide for these super-rich clients.
The Island With Bear Grylls
Channel 4, 9pm
There are just four episodes left in a series that has provided some of the most entertaining viewing so far this year.Tonight we visit the men’s island, where the recent bonhomie gives way to bitter infighting as hunger and exhaustion takes its toll.
In tomorrow’s episode from the women’s island, we see how their more unified and democratic approach also has its drawbacks.
Nashville
E4, 10pm
Season three of the music drama starring Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere.
The Session
TG4, 10.30pm
Jazz guitarist Louis Stewart is joined by American guitarist Mundell Lowe, and a crew of Irish musicians.
Ireland’s Paramedics
TV3, 9pm
Another episode in what has so far been a very enjoyable look at the work of the ambulance service in Cork and other places. In tonight’s show, a woman suffers an epileptic seizure in a pharmacy, and a collapsed man loses consciousness on the side of a road.
Living in a Coded Land
RTÉ One, 11.15pm
Film essay that uses archive material from RTÉ and the IFI that explores such themes in Ireland as emigration, the impact of colonialism, housing, etc.
Unreported World
Channel 4, 7.35pm
A feature on the Black Mambas, the name given to an all-female anti-poaching unit in South Africa who are protecting rhinos from poachers trying to get their hugely valuable horns for the Chinese medicine trade.
The Graham Norton Show
BBC One, 10.35pm (not NI)
Michael McIntyre and Simon Pegg are on the couch, while Brandon Flowers of The Killers performs his solo single.
