Summer Best of Today
Sunday-Friday, RTÉ One, 4.45pm
In a special week of nostalgia, RTÉ looks back at the quaint old daytime TV shows of the past, with their recipes, make-up and hair advice, and cosy afternoon banter. Apparently, Today was one of the most popular shows – almost as big as Calor Kosangas Housewife of the Year – and featured affable hosts Dáithí Ó Sé, Maura Derrane and Sinéad Kennedy beaming into the cottages and shebeens of Ireland back in the days of single-channel TV. RTÉ will trawl through the archives of this telly relic to pull out entertaining highlights from season nine of the show (yes, it ran and ran!), including tips on how to wear colour and how to make a birdbox. There will also be interviews with Chris de Burgh, a big pop singer at the time, and a fella named Dermot Bannon, who apparently was a big name in home improvement. One thing puzzles me: the press release says this series originally aired in spring 2021; surely they must mean 1971.
How to Save a Grand in 24 Hours
Monday, Channel 4, 8pm
Anna Richardson and her team of money-saving experts are back with a second run of this thrifty series, in which families try to splash less unnecessary cash and save it for something really special. It begins with the Barton-Wilkinsons in Blackburn, whose credit card debt ballooned to £9,000. Chef Gary Usher helps slash their £1,300 monthly food bill; Peachy Clean teaches a few budget-busting, deep cleaning hacks; and DIY expert Eve Humphreys creates a set of simple rustic scaffolding shelves on a shoestring.
Only Connect
Monday, BBC2, 8pm
Did you know this entertaining and brain-stretching quiz has been on the box since 2008? If you've never had the chance to test your patience and ability to do the whole lateral thinking thing, now's the perfect chance. Presenter Victoria Coren Mitchell will be asking the questions as the first round of the tournament-style show continues, with three space enthusiasts taking on a trio of music lovers as they compete to draw together the connections between things which, at first glance, seem utterly random.
University Challenge
Monday, BBC2, 8.30pm
It is a truth (almost) universally acknowledged that a question beginning with the word "If" in this long-running student quiz will be rock hard and probably about maths or science. Still, which of us doesn't experience a thrill and maybe even punch the air when they get, well, any of the questions right? Jeremy Paxman is again in the presenter's seat and chivvying along the first round participants as a team representing London Business School battles it out with Hertford College, Oxford.
Five Bedrooms
Tuesday, RTÉ2, 9.30pm
You know when you go to a wedding and discover the bride has stuck all her single friends on the one table in the furthest corner of the hall, just in case they infect anyone else with their single-ness. This is where Ben, Ainsley, Harry, Liz and Heather find themselves at the start of this Aussie comedy drama. None of them have met before, but it only takes a few drinks and soon everyone is such best mates: they’ve decided to buy a house together and live in perfect singleton harmony. It all sounds idyllic – until it turns out the house is not quite the des res they thought it was, and everyone arrives with far more baggage than expected. The series opens with a double bill as the unusual social experiment kicks off, and so does the housewarming party.
Bake Off: The Professionals – The Final
Tuesday, Channel 4, 8pm
After weeks of gruelling (and delicious-looking) competition, Liam Charles and Tom Allen raise the curtain on the grand final, as the last three teams standing face two epic challenges from fiendish judges Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden. They must pour all of their patisserie passion, prowess and precision into the first marathon task: producing hats fit for Tinseltown itself, constructed entirely from chocolate and modelled by the teams themselves, alongside 24 filled chocolates and 24 confections, all in just four hours. After having a well-earned lie down, they then face the final seven-hour challenge in which they must create a banquet, fit for the awards ceremony of their choosing, to feed 60 people.
Holby City
Tuesday, BBC1, 9.20pm
Davood Ghadami, better known to EastEnders fans as Kush, joins the cast of this long-running medical drama as Darwin Clinical lead Eli Ebrahimi. He arrives at Holby at the same time as AAU nurse Madge Britton (Clare Burt) and it’s not long before they ruffle feathers. Among them is Ange, who is keen to prove she runs a tight AAU ship, despite dealing with some personal news. Meanwhile, Dom pulls out all the stops to find ways to treat Carole, but what she really wants is for him to be her son, not her doctor.
India's Rape Scandal
Tuesday, Channel 4, 10pm
Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India, with an average of 88 incidents per day, according to a 2019 report from the National Crime Records Bureau. Attacks on women made global headlines almost every year between 2012 and and 2018, with victims ranging from a 71-year-old nun to an eight-year-old girl. Currently, eight Indian politicians are facing rape charges, and correspondent Ramita Navai investigates two cases that have drawn police, politicians and even the prime minister into the controversy, prompting claims of a cover-up. Navai reveals how victims and their families have faced intimidation, violence and murder, while institutions that are meant to help have done anything but.
Chris Packham: The Walk that Made Me
Wednesday, BBC2, 8pm
It’s easy to be a little cynical about programmes following the personal journeys of celebrities, but this heartfelt documentary is definitely a cut above most. Chris Packham has previously opened up about his mental health struggles, and here he explores the importance of nature when it comes to wellbeing, walking along the river Itchen and Itchen Navigation. It stirs up powerful memories of walking the same stretch with his father, playing in the fields with his beloved kestrel, and living with undiagnosed Asperger’s syndrome while he was growing up. Packham offers his thoughts on mental health that he hopes will help others, and describes the life-saving and life-changing qualities of “natural health”.
Glórtha ón Imeall
Thursday, TG4, 8.20pm
For almost a decade, Imeall was TG4’s landmark arts series showcasing Ireland’s most exciting musicians, artists and creatives. This compilation by Fiachna Ó Braonáin looks back at interviews, performances and short film pieces, featuring Ireland’s top artists in all genres and guest interviews by Úna Mullally, Theo Dorgan and Tristan Rosenstock. The first episode has performances and an interview from Christy Moore, who talks about his path through life and song; a performance from Kerry slam poet Séamus Barra Ó Súilleabháin; and contributions from artist Deirdre McKenna from An Daingean.
The Goldbergs
Thursday, E4, 3pm
Your favourite Jewish family from the 1980s is back to see out its eighth season, and things are as chaotic as ever, as Pop-Pop (the late George Segal, who died in March) organises the family to spend the Hanukkah holiday on a cruise ship to Canada. The series, created by Adam F Goldberg and based on his own life growing up in 1980s Pennsylvania, has been renewed for a ninth season. So there’s clearly plenty of comedy gold still to be mined from the decade.
No Body Recovered
Thursday, ITV, 9pm
On January 27th, 2020, the family of Michael O'Leary from Carmarthenshire in southwest Wales reported him missing. The subsequent murder investigation became one of the most challenging cases ever dealt with by the local Dyfed-Powis police force. Alarm bells began to ring when a mysterious text, purportedly from O'Leary, was sent from his phone. It read simply "I'm sorry x" but in English which, according to his son, he would never have done – not only did O'Leary not communicate with his family via text, but as a proud Welshman he wouldn't have written it in another language. Eventually, it was discovered that O'Leary had been shot by his lover's husband. Here, we discover how the police came to that conclusion, despite not being able to find the body.
King Gary
Friday, BBC1, 10pm
Tom Davis returns as working-class dad Gary King, who is trying to settle into suburban life in Butterchurn Crescent, which is somewhere in outer London. Gary has taken over his dad Big Gary’s building firm and now hopes to become the uncrowned king of suburbia. But his penchant for drama-queen antics often hampers his efforts. Davis is joined again by Laura Checkley as the love of his life, Terri, Simon Day as Big Gary, and Romesh Ranganathan as enemy neighbour Stuart. The series has been praised for its attention to working-class Essex detail, but also criticised for its broad working-class Essex humour. In series two, Gary and Terri plan a wedding fit for a King, and the arrival of a very unlikable new neighbour forces Gary and Stuart to broker a truce.
BBC Proms: First Night of the Proms
Friday, BBC2, 8pm
It feels as if it's been away forever, but we're back at the Royal Albert Hall for the first night of this annual musical celebration – and there may even be a live audience to boot. It kicks off as Dalia Stasevska conducts Vaughan Williams's Serenade to Music, written to celebrate Proms founder-conductor Henry Wood's 50 years on the podium and premiered by him at his jubilee concert in 1938. There's the premiere of Sir James MacMillan's companion piece to the Serenade, while Francis Poulenc's Organ Concerto brings some light and shade. Soprano Elizabeth Llewellyn, contralto Jess Dandy, tenor Allan Clayton, and bass baritone Michael Mofidian and organist Daniel Hyde are the performers.
ON DEMAND
Chip n Dale: Park Life
From Wednesday, Disney+
In 1959, when Walt Disney unleashed the animated movie Sleeping Beauty on the world, everyone was entranced at the depth and richness of the forest backgrounds. This new cartoon series, which features a host of iconic Disney characters such as Pluto and Butch, isn’t in the same quality league. Still, there is much to enjoy, especially if you’re looking to park your small people in front of something fast-paced and funny. It follows nervous worrier Chip and laid-back dreamer Dale as they attempt to live the good life in a big city park while driving each other nuts in their perpetual pursuit of acorns.
Tattoo Redo
From Wednesday, Netflix
These day, getting inked is as much about creating amazing works of art as it is about self-expression, but that doesn't mean everyone is always happy with their tattoos. This series, presented by comedian Jessimae Peluso, follows five of the most talented artists as they take on some of the most embarrassing tattoos and turn them into amazing masterpieces. However, little do the clients know there's a twist – and it's not the gentle ribbing they receive from Peluso. Nope, it's that the person who brought them in chooses the Tattoo Redo. Given some of the questionable decision-making behind many of the tatts, we cannot wait to see how each episode pans out.
The Last Mercenary
From Friday, Netflix
In his day, Muscles from Brussels Jean-Claude Van Damme was a cheesy action star and someone who could always make our eyes water by doing the splits between kitchen cupboards. But he was never an actor we took very seriously – until maybe now. Van Damme, still buff at 60, heads the cast of this cracking French drama, playing La Brume (The Mist), an ex-secret service agent turned mercenary. A mob operation threatens the life of La Brume’s son after he is framed by an international terrorist organisation. To save him, La Brume will have to reach out to his old contacts and join forces with an offbeat bureaucrat and a bunch of reckless youths.
Contributing: PA
