Monday’s TV tips
Saving Ray is a brand new four-part TV3 special following 31 year old Dublin man Ray Adamson on an uplifting and emotional journey as he takes on a personal weight loss mission with one goal fixed in his mind, to see his boys grow into men.
Starting on a road of weight loss with a goal of losing four stone before his wedding, Ray must dramatically change his diet and that of his families in just 12 weeks.
At 28 stone, Ray must take on a gruelling exercise regime that will not only help shift his weight but also improve his overall fitness and health. But, before all of this he must address why a 31 year old man has allowed his body weight to reach the size of three normal men.
In this episode, we see Ray struggling. Whilst Tracey is away on her Hen’s weekend, Ray damages his knee upsetting both his training schedule and his plans to spend quality time with his two sons. Despite a few hectic training weeks, Ray discovers he has actually put on weight. Here we see Ray hit his lowest point since starting the programme, resulting in him seriously considering quitting his training plan, his diet and the show.
Darndale is a brand new three part, fly-on-the-wall series. Cameras spend a year filming in one of Ireland's most notorious housing estates, Darndale in North Dublin.
An unemployment, crime and drug blackspot, the residents of Darndale share their own unique stories.
In episode 2, Noel Darby, anxiously waits for word on a bed in an eighteen month residential drug treatment programme. Darndale Football Club is street sweeper's Tommy's real passion and the motivating force behind a Strictly Come Dancing charity fundraiser.
It's tense times for Christopher as he is under huge parental pressure to study for his Leaving Cert exams. Birthday comes a week early for Roseanne as friends and family chip in to sort out the piles of rubbish that have been piling up in the back garden.
Early school leaver Gemma herself is tired of being on the dole and wants a different kind of life for herself and baby son Alfie and has decided to look at college courses.
The dramatised account of entertainer Cilla Black’s life draws to a close this evening, and to begin with everything seems like it’s turning out peachy for the singer. She appears to have put that earlier botched audition well and truly behind her, and now she’s focusing on the future.
She’s not even letting those disappointing initial record sales get her down, as she finally strikes it big with Anyone Who Had a Heart, and before long her new single You’re My World becomes her second number one.
And yet, even as she has a firm grip on the UK chart, the US seems just outside her grasp. Her old mates The Beatles might have cracked America but she’s not enjoying the same success.
To make matters worse, her relationship with Bobby is becoming increasingly tumultuous, and her manager Brian Epstein’s private life begins to spiral out of control.
The makers of 24 Hours in A&E didn’t have to go very far to find inspiration for their latest new series – in fact, the next subject and the last one even share a phone number: 999.
Yes, they’re turning their attentions from the work of hospital staff to that of police officers, more specifically that of Bedfordshire Police, who they follow around the clock. Cameras capture everything from the goings-on in the cells at Luton to the operational heart of major investigations and interrogation rooms.
The first episode begins as a man is arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, in what appears to be a premeditated attack.
The victim was driving when someone crashed into him from behind, then, as he got out to assess the damage, he was approached from behind by a man with a sawn-off shotgun and shot in the legs.
However with a suspect in custody, they only have 24 hours to gather enough evidence to charge him before they have to let him go.
The series following the fortunes of couples living at home as they move in together for the first time returns for a welcome second series.
The first episode sees two pairs of lovebirds striking out and trying their hands at an independent lifestyle, only to inevitably find out it’s not as easy as they first thought...
First up are Ollie and Sophie from Cambourne, Cambridgeshire, who must learn how to look after themselves and balance their budgets – but first Sophie needs to work out how to keep her temper in check.
Next to sample the simple pleasures of cohabitation is south Wales body-building couple Lewis and Beth. They must be doing something right already, because they want to move their relationship on to the next level.
Radio 1 DJ and presenter Nick Grimshaw narrates the action. He’s the host of BBC3 show Sweat the Small Stuff, so he should be well used to minor grievances being blown out of proportion. Perfect!
Damo & Ivor is a comedy about identical twin brothers who having been separated at birth were reunited after 22 years.
Ivor was raised in affluence on the Southside of the city and Damo grew up on the mean streets of Dublin’s Northside.
Series one ended with a bang when Sarah Jane revealed she was pregnant and didn’t know which twin was the father.
This series Ivor must face up to possibly being a dad and Damo has to also grow up. Jam packed with laugh out loud moments this is another hilarious collision of class and culture.
Having hunted down Red October and proven his credentials as one of the CIA’s best agents, Jack Ryan finds a family trip to London anything but relaxing when he is called upon to save the Royal Family from an IRA assassination plot.
However his intervention puts him and his family in the path of a vengeful terrorist who swears to make Ryan pay.
There are very few similarities between the bookish Jack Ryan played by Alex Baldwin, and this all-action incarnation brought to life by Harrison Ford. But if you ignore the inconsistencies and don’t compare it to the novels, you’re in for a great ride.
Tense and atmospheric, it sustains the attention despite the odd cliche or two.
Harrison Ford, Sean Bean, James Earl Jones, Richard Harris, Anne Archer
Set six months after the initial outbreak of the deadly Rage virus, this sequel to 28 Days Later picks up the action as US soldiers nervously try to restore order to a ruined London.
One couple, Don and Alice, who escaped the horror, are holed up at a country location, but when the infection rises again, Don escapes by the skin of his teeth.
He’s overjoyed to be reunited with his children, little realising they will soon set in motion a chain of events that will result in a bloodbath.
Those who don’t have a strong stomach won’t appreciate the levels of gore, but that aside, this is one of those rare things – a sequel that threatens to be better than the original.
Robert Carlyle, Catherine McCormack, Rose Byrne, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton
