TV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonight
Pick of the week Tall Tales & Murder Sunday, RTÉ One, 9.40pm There’s a stellar team behind this new series: it’s co-created by Stuart Carolan (creator of Love/Hate) and Chris Addison (of The Thick of It), adapted from Caimh McDonnell’s novels and its directors include Addison and Neasa Hardiman. Plus it stars a heap of Irish talent, from stalwarts such as Aidan Gillen and Philippa Dunne to relative newcomers such as Ella Lily Hyland. The juicy story centres on a patient (played by Gillen) at a Dublin nursing home who wakes from a long coma only to claim he’s a gangster who knows where treasure is literally buried. Handily enough, there to hear the news are his quirky nurse, Bridget, and a vulnerable young employee named Paul who’s in debt to a crime boss. Both Bridget and Paul have their own reasons for wanting to get their hands on the treasure, and hopefully it’ll be a thrill watching them try. Highlights Home Truths: Crisis in the Classroom with Eric Roberts Monday, Virgin Media One, 9pm Home Truths is a new four-part documentary strand from Virgin Media that sees some of its familiar TV faces look at issues that have affected their own lives. The first, Crisis in the Classroom with Eric Roberts, looks specifically at special education support in Ireland. While demand is rising, many families are struggling to access the services and school places their children need. Ireland AM presenter and former special needs assistant Eric Roberts examines the issue by speaking to families, principals and SNAs across the country. Among them are Alison Field, who has applied to 19 schools in order to find a place for her son James, but is still waiting for him to be able to start his education. A timely documentary about a pressing issue for many families across the State. Jamie’s 20 Minute Meals Monday, Channel 4, 8pm There’s an interesting concept for the latest Jamie Oliver cookery show. As the name suggests, it’s dedicated to showing us how to whip up an easy and nutritious meal in 20-minutes flat. And to prove that it’s possible, each of the eight episodes is filmed in real time, in one continuous shot. So there will be no editing to gloss over how long the process actually takes. In the first show we will learn how to make Camembert and onion rice served with crunchy croutons, followed by crispy golden breadcrumbed chicken, accompanied by charred broccoli on a bed of garlic creamy beans. At the very least, it’ll get your mouth watering. Michael Palin in the Philippines Monday, 5, 9pm Ex-Monty Python star and traveller extraordinaire Michael Palin could totally take a rest and no one would complain about it – he is 83, after all. But he’s showing us that age is no barrier to adventure, and has filmed a new series where he heads off to the Philippines in southeast Asia to do some exploring. His journey begins in the country’s capital, Manila, where he witnesses a protest march. Then he spends time with some locals before heading off to a remote island on a traditional bangka boat. You can always bet on him to bring us fascinating stories, and perhaps inspire your next holiday. Blue Lights Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm Blue Lights is back for a fourth series, and if by now you haven’t become a fan of this excellent cop show, it’s a chance to get stuck into the action. It’s set in Belfast and brings us the experiences of fictional PSNI officers as they deal with small and large (mostly large) threats to their lives and the force. It’s now three years since Grace Ellis (Siân Brooke), Stevie Neil (Martin McCann) and Annie Conlon (Katherine Devlin) began working as response officers, and things have not got an iota easier. In this series they face a new threat on the streets of Belfast. Meanwhile, a murder trial exposes a dangerous secret that will have ramifications for police and criminals. The show also tackles many contemporary issues: tonight’s episode involves tensions provoked by opposition to the opening of a new Migrant Resource Centre. The Case I Can’t Forget Wednesday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm In the first episode of this new series, gardaí recall the investigation into the murder of 36-year-old childcare worker Elaine O’Hara, who disappeared in 2012. In September 2013 the discovery of human remains on Killakee Mountain revealed that she had not, as believed, taken her own life. Keys and phones later recovered at Vartry Reservoir proved vital to the case. Many will remember the terrible and upsetting details about Elaine’s death as revealed in the subsequent murder trial of her killer, Graham Dwyer . Det Sgt Grace O’Boyle was among those who worked on the case, using CCTV footage, phone data, witness statements and online activity to shape a timeline helping to explain how Elaine’s body had ended up on the mountain. We also meet Det Sgt Kevin Duggan, who reconstructed Elaine’s final movements, and senior crime analyst Sarah Skedd, who examined crucial phone records and text messages. O’Boyle, Duggan, Skedd and the wider team detail their work on the case, and the search for justice for Elaine. The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In Thursday, RTÉ 2, 10.10pm Yes, the 2 Johnnies – that would be Johnny Smacks and Johnny B, to the uninitiated – are back for a fourth series of their popular show, which is set in a packed pub. There’ll be the usual mix of live music, celebrity chats, comedy moments, games and encounters with fans. In this first episode, the boys will be joined by broadcaster Jennifer Zamparelli and comedians Paddy McDonnell (Paddy the Dagger) and Jarlath Regan. The Celebrity Traitors Thursday, BBC One, 8pm Yes, Traitors fans, you have yet another show to enjoy: the return of Celebrity Traitors. Its first run was a huge success for the BBC (15 million viewers watched the final), and no doubt celebrities were lining up in their droves to star in round two. Who can we expect? Only the best in British celebs, including Bella Ramsey, Jerry Hall, Miranda Hart, Michael Sheen, Richard E Grant, Ross Kemp, Rob Beckett and Romesh Ranganathan. But who will host Claudia Winkleman choose to be Traitors this time around? We’ll find out in this first episode. Streaming East of Eden From Thursday, October 1st, Netflix John Steinbeck’s epic 1952 novel was made into a Hollywood blockbuster starring James Dean, and directed by Elia Kazan. It tells the story of the Trask family as they build themselves a new life in California’s Salinas Valley in the years leading up to the first World War, with biblical themes abounding, including the stories of Jezebel and Cain and Abel. Now Kazan’s granddaughter, Zoe Kazan, has turned her lifelong passion for Steinbeck’s magnum opus into a wide-ranging drama series for Netflix, starring Florence Pugh as the novel’s amoral antihero Cathy Ames. She arrives into the lives of Adam and Charles Trask like a storm, driving a wedge between the two brothers and casting a shadow that will reach into the next generation. Adam thinks she’s an angel sent from heaven; Charles believes she’s the devil’s daughter. Soon Adam and Cathy are wed, but Adam’s dream of a perfect family turns to dust when Cathy abandons him and their twin sons, Caleb and Aaron. The boys grow up thinking their mother has died, but the shocking truth will open a chasm between the two brothers and bring past demons back to the surface. Kevin Courtney Kill Jackie From Friday, October 2nd, Prime Video Jackie Price is living the high life as an international art dealer, jet-setting around the world and enjoying all the trappings of wealth while taking full advantage of every tax loophole available. Only one problem: she has to keep a low profile, due to her past life as a big-time cocaine dealer, during which she made a lorra lorra enemies. She’s getting a bit bored being under the radar, but when she discovers that a group of ruthless hitmen known as The Seven Demons have been hired to bump her off the second she puts her head above the parapet, she decides it’s time to do an Uma Thurman and hunt down her would-be assassins one by one. Catherine Zeta-Jones – now well known to younger viewers as Morticia Addams in Tim Burton’s Wednesday – stars in this Tarantino-meets-Guy Richie style thriller series, along with Daniel Ings and Sidse Babett Knudsen. The series also features something we haven’t heard since The Darling Buds of May back in the 1980s: Zeta-Jones reactivating the Welsh accent she left behind when Hollywood beckoned. KC