Lords & Ladles
Sunday, RTÉ One, 6.30pm
What was it like having a banquet for the nobles at one of Ireland's historic great houses? It was a lot of work, as we're about to find out in the second series of Lords & Ladles. Three intrepid chefs – Derry Clarke, Catherine Fulvio and Paul Flynn – set off around the country once again, taking over the kitchens of a big house and preparing a gargantuan feast for guests – just the way it was done hundreds of years ago.
One chef is tasked with gathering the ingredients – and that doesn’t mean popping down to the local SuperValu. They’ll have to fish, hunt and forage for what they need. Another chef will have to prepare and cook the whole thing – a major operation in itself – while the third chef will dine with the guests and learn about the history of the house and the locality.
Can't Cope, Won't Cope
Monday, RTÉ Two, 10pm
What happens when the hangover wears off and you have to face the reality that your life is spiralling out of control? Can't Cope, Won't Cope is a new comic drama revolving around the party lifestyles of two young women in Dublin, Aisling and Danielle, as they drink, dance, get shifts at Coppers and treat life as one big party.
When one of the girls takes the partying too far, though, tensions brew and their friendship quickly starts to unravel in a blur of booze, boyfriends and bad behaviour. Seána Kerslake stars as Aisling and Nika McGuigan is Danielle, with Amy Huberman as Aisling’s exasperated boss. The series opens with two back-to-back episodes of madness and mayhem – like ordering a double to get the party started.
National Treasure
Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm
A famous TV personality is in the dock, accused of having raped a woman 20 years ago. Sounds sickeningly familiar, doesn't it? National Treasure is a four-part drama inspired by Operation Yewtree, the police investigation of historic sex offences by Jimmy Savile and other well-known media personalities. Robbie Coltrane takes on his most challenging role since Fitz in Cracker, as fictional comedian Paul Finchley, who is charged with sex offences dating back to the 1990s.
The series looks at the devastating impact on the victims, but also examines the impact on the lives and reputations of famous people wrongly accused of sex crimes. Walking a fine line? This series is walking a veritable tightrope. Julie Walters, Andrea Riseborough and Tim McInnerney co-star
Living With Lucy
Tuesday, TV3, 9.30pm
Lock up your spare room – Lucy Kennedy is back, and she's looking to kip at celebrities' homes and generally elbow her way into their daily lives. Living With Lucy finds Kennedy spending quality time with some well- known personalities, becoming part of their family, helping around the house and getting some insights into their personal lives. Call it Celebrity Airbnb. In the first episode, Kennedy stays with Irish international soccer star Shane Long, his wife Kayleah and their two young daughters. She and Kayleah – both pregnant – will bond over babies and Kennedy will travel back to Dublin with Long as he prepares to play an international. Will she be the guest from heaven or the lodger from hell?
Inside Trinity
Thursday, RTÉ One, 10.15pm
We've often tried to climb over the wall to sneak into the Trinity Ball, but a new four-part series takes us deep inside Trinity College and reveals the inner life of the famous institution in the heart of Dublin city. Inside Trinity was filmed during the 2015-16 academic year and profiles some of the 17,500 people who study, teach and work within the college's historic walls. In episode one, we meet Lynn Ruane, the first student union president to live at the college with her family, Prof Luke O'Neill, chair of biochemistry at TCD, and provost Paddy Prendergast. The programme also charts the hustle and bustle of Freshers' Week.
Gogglebox Ireland
Thursday, TV3, 9.30pm
The Brits aren't the only nation who can display Olympic levels of telly-watching. Now it's time for the Irish couch potatoes to show their stuff in Gogglebox Ireland. You know the format: a bunch of people sit around on a sofa watching telly and we sit on our sofas watching them watching telly. We hear their immediate reactions to the programmes, as they discuss, debate and dissect what's on the screen and maybe even come up with some insights and opinions that TV reviewers may miss. As Irish people watch Irish programmes, Mary casts a critical eye over The Great Irish Bake Off, while Paddy gets pass-remarkable about the women from Xpose.
