Monday's TV tips
This half-hour programme talks to the people who keep Ireland functioning during bad weather.
When everyone else is heading indoors to get away from the weather, they’re heading out into the rain and cold.
Who are these people, what exactly do they do, what is the most difficult part of their job, and what are their memories of winters past?
It features workers from Shannon Airport, North-West Mountain Rescue, ESB Networks, M50 Concession, Irish Coast Guard, and the AA.
If magic man Troy’s Sunday night trip to Barcelona has given you a taste for more sights from the Spanish city, then you’re in luck.
Amiable comedian, director and presenter Richard Ayoade takes a break from his duties as Channel 4’s purveyor of gadgets, and instead enjoys a ruthlessly efficient weekend away in Barcelona.
During his flying visit, he spotlights the famous art galleries, popular football stadiums, wild new culinary trends and long sandy beaches.
Booking a table at a posh ’clandestine’ restaurant, Richard and Kathy Burke sample liquid olives, potatoes coated with edible clay, and puddings that look like sausages.
And as Barcelona’s favourite drink is Cava, they also give that a try, before the session inevitably descends into mild chaos.
There’s also a guided tricycle tour of the city’s streets; and a trip to see the surrealist work of famous Catalan artist Joan Miro.
Any quiz using ’twisted flax’ or ’the eye of Horus’ icons sounds deliberately elitist, which Only Connect can be. At times it’s a rather smug, self-satisfied show aiming at the highest possible denominator.
However, given the amount of lowbrow series insulting the intelligence of so many out there, it’s often a pleasure to tune in and get at least a few questions right.
After six years on BBC Four, its perfect home, BBC Two bosses decided it was time the masses got a heavy dose of Victoria Coren Mitchell’s dry wit, while contestants wracked their brains for answers and connections.
But which of the clever clogs will emerge victorious from this, the final episode of the current series?
That remains to be seen, but we can tell you that one set of clues consists of Diarmuid Ua Duidbhne, White Death, Robin Hood and King Charles II.
When asked why he wanted to make a show like this, the titular broadcaster’s answer is simple.
“I never had an interest in the American mafia, I knew nothing about it and strangely enough, paradoxically, that’s why I wanted to do it,” he explains.
Of course for many of us, when we think of the Mafia, flashbacks to films like The Godfather spring to mind, so there’s no shortage of myths to dispel, and in this second offering, Trevor McDonald continues his quest to turn us into wiser guys... and girls.
This week he learns more about the lives the ex-mobsters have made for themselves since trying to leave the Mafia behind. Trekking across America, he also meets prolific mob member John Alite at his home.
He has recently been released from a decade-long prison sentence after making a deal with the FBI and now lives just outside New York in his son’s apartment.
Georgia Salpa is our Jen of The Week for this episode after Laura Whitmore and Vogue Williams.
Georgia returns to the programme to star in a sketch where Kevin McGahern attempts to launch himself as a UFC fighter. He can dress like the Notorious Conor McGregor, but will he last in the cage?
Georgia will also appear as a former Rose of Tralee. Which one?
A look at one of the most shocking cases in criminal history.
In February 1993, James Bulger was just two when he was abducted from a Liverpool shopping centre and murdered by two 10-year-old boys.
In the year he would have celebrated his eighteenth birthday, this programme tells the story of how his young mother was thrust into the spotlight and had to fight the justice system for nearly 15 years.
She reveals why she has decided to create a lasting memorial to James which will help other children.
Stylish thriller set in a world where vampires are the dominant species and humans are endangered and farmed as a food source.
The key protagonist is an undead scientist who tries to develop synthetic blood, but soon runs into a human revolutionary group whose members claim to have discovered a cure for vampirism.
A sleek visual style and a solid cast, including Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Sam Neill, make up for the often derivative story.
Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe, Sam Neill, Claudia Karvan, Michael Dorman
Michael Sullivan is a devoted husband and father who lives a secret life as a mob hitman in Depression-era Chicago.
When his son witnesses his involvement in a killing it results in a fellow gangster attempting to kill off Sullivan’s entire family – forcing him and his surviving son, Michael Jr, to go on the run.
His desire for revenge eventually leads him to cross the infamous mob boss Al Capone – with terrible repercussions.
Based on the graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, director Sam Mendes’ follow-up to American Beauty is a very different affair.
This dark period chase drama is meticulously constructed and boasts an incredible cast, most notably a suitably restrained Tom Hanks as Sullivan and the downright eerie Jude Law as assassin Harlen Maguire.
Tom Hanks, Paul Newman, Tyler Hoechlin, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Daniel Craig
This is such a great vehicle for Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer it’s a wonder they hadn’t made a sitcom years ago.
However, as with Happy Days and Gavin and Stacey, it’s often a case that the secondary characters end up stealing the show.
That’s been the case with Beef (Matt Berry), the licentious local who usually dominates every scene he’s in, and Julie (Morgana Robinson) who has stolen the entire series from under the noses of Reeves and Mortimer.
This week Sally Phillips guest stars as Vic’s ex-girlfriend Mary. The old flames plan a date, but when she has to cancel at the last minute, his friends hatch a plan to ensure he isn’t disappointed.
The liaison goes ahead, thanks to Julie’s disguise and Beef’s magical time-stopping whip. However, Vic’s reaction is not what anyone expected when the truth is eventually revealed.
The rest of the cast includes Dan Skinner, Daniel Simonsen and Ellie White.
Susan Sarandon stars as an American army nurse who is imprisoned in a PoW camp during the Second World War. During her internment, she endures a horrific ordeal at the hands of the Japanese soldiers who are running the camp.
After the conflict ends and she is freed, she faces a battle of a different kind as she fights army bosses in a hearing to have the bravery of her fellow medics officially recognised by the military.
While it’s not perfect – there are several historical inaccuracies, and it’s also suspicious how the female leads manage to look a million bucks despite the apparently torrid conditions in which they’re being kept – there’s still a strong enough story to make it worth your while to watch.
The fact that it has a very strong cast helps no end, of course.
Susan Sarandon, Kristy McNichol, Alberta Watson, Terry O’Quinn, Valerie Mahaffey
