Pick of the Week
Gangs of London S3
Thursday, Sky Atlantic & Now, 9pm
The biggest, bloodiest, most explosive turf war on telly flares up again in this third series of the acclaimed crime drama, with Joe Cole returning as ruthless gang boss Sean Wallace, and Sope Dirisu back as former undercover cop Elliot Carter, now a newly minted gangster heading his own crime cartel. Elliot has teamed up with the Dumani crime family, but his new career as a drug lord gets off to a shaky start when their shipment of cocaine turns out to have been spiked, killing hundreds of Londoners and putting the gangs firmly on the cops’ radar. But who spiked the coke, and what is Elliot going to do about it? The scene is set for more mayhem on the streets of London as rival gangs duke it out with maximum firepower, with the city itself as collateral damage. Michelle Fairley is back as matriarch Marian Wallace, and new additions to the cast for this series include Richard Dormer, Ruth Sheen and Phil Daniels.
Dancing with the Stars 2025 final
Sunday, RTÉ One, 6.30pm
Tonight is the final of the popular RTÉ dancing contest, and last week’s horror-themed semi-final saw some scarily good performances from the remaining couples. It all went down to a dance-off between former Miss Universe Ireland Aishah Akorede, with her professional partner Robert Rowinski, and Olympic taekwondo star Jack Woolley, with his professional partner Alex Vladimirov. Alas, Akorede’s witchy routine wasn’t enough to put a hex on Woolley’s alien-themed salsa, and now there are just four couples left to battle it out on the dance floor: Woolley and Vladimirov, Olympic gymnast Rhys McClenaghan with his pro partner Laura Nolan, Mrs Brown’s Boys actor Danny O’Carroll with his pro partner Salome Chachua, and TikToker Kayleigh Trappe with her pro partner Ervinas Merfeldas. Judging by the perfect scores awarded to them in the semi-final, this final is looking increasingly like a titanic showdown between the two Olympians.
The Priests: Faith and Fame
Sunday, BBC One, 7pm
They are three of the most unlikely pop stars, but for the last 17 years this trio of parish priests from Northern Ireland have gathered fans from around the world, regularly smashed the classical albums chart, and seen the faithful flocking to their concerts. This documentary tells the real story of how Frs Martin and Eugene O’Hagan and Fr David Delargy were discovered, how they bagged a £1.4 million recording contract with Sony Epic Records, how they balance their celebrity commitments with their pastoral duties, and why they’ve decided to break up the band after 50 years singing together. The documentary takes us back to their schooldays in Co Antrim when the trio first met, the impact of sudden fame, and the difficulties of being the public face of the priesthood during a time when clerical abuse was making headlines.
Tempting Fortune
Sunday, Channel 4, 9pm
Paddy McGuinness is the taskmaster in the second series of the travel show with a tantalising twist. Twelve randomers are brought together in faraway place to embark on a gruelling trek, and they must forego all the luxuries and comforts if they want to bag that 300 grand prize at the end of their journey. In this series, the contestants must take an 18-day trek through Malaysia, with little more than the packs on their backs and whatever wits they can gather about them. What’s the twist? Along the way, the fortune seekers will be faced with luxurious temptations, and they can choose to spend some of the prize money in advance if they want a taste of paradise. Whoever gives in to the temptation, everybody ends up paying at the end as the prize pot is whittled away.
Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+: 10 of the best new shows to watch in February
Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Apple TV+: 10 of the best new shows to watch in March
TV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonight
Dancing with the Stars finale: When is it on, who are the front-runners, what dances will feature and more
Protection
Sunday, UTV, 9pm
Siobhan Finneran from Happy Valley and Katherine Kelly from Mr Bates vs the Post Office head the cast in this new thriller series revolving around a team of detectives in charge of a witness protection programme. Finneran plays detective inspector Liz Nyles, with Kelly as DCI Hannah Wheatley, in a series based on the real-life experiences of a witness protection officer. Nyles must navigate this murky world, where protected witnesses are often criminals themselves, and no one – friends, family, colleagues – can be trusted.
St Patrick’s Festival Parade
Monday, 12.15pm, RTÉ One
It’s Paddy’s Day, and everything is going green for the feast day of Ireland’s patron saint. And of course the annual St Patrick’s Day parade will wind its way through the streets of Dublin, with more than 4,000 artists and performers taking part, including Mácnas, Bui Bolg, Art FX, Spraoi and Artastic, and half a million people lining the route ready to take in the pageantry and spectacle. Once again, the RTÉ team of Sarah McInerney, Dáithí Ó Sé, Emer O’Neill and Thomas Crosse will take up strategic positions along the parade route to bring us full coverage of this year’s celebrations, which have the theme of “Eachtraí” or “Adventures”.
Patrick: A Slave to Ireland
Monday, RTÉ One, 7pm
Never mind that Patrick was actually from Roman Britain – he’s as Irish as Joyce, Guinness and Tayto Crisps. This documentary tells the story of British-born missionary Patrick, who was apparently kidnapped by Irish pirates and brought here as a slave 1,500 years ago, but ended up converting the Hibernian hordes to Christianity and putting some manners and refinement on us while he was at it. Through dramatic re-enactments, historical investigation and powerful visuals, and narration from Ciarán Hinds and Ian Hart, we’ll get an insight into pre-Christian Ireland and the gargantuan task facing Patrick as he founded his church and established his seat of classical learning on Irish soil.
Ceolta
Monday, BBC Two, 10pm
Today is a fitting day to start this new music series presented by broadcaster and Hothouse Flowers guitarist Fiachna Ó Braonáin and singer/presenter Eve Belle. You’re in good hands with this pair as they bring us memorable live performances from various Northern Ireland venues, spanning a breadth of genres from trad, country and folk to punk, pop and jazz. The first show comes from Dungiven in Co Derry, and features performances from Mary Dillon, Neil Martin, The Paul Casey Band, Muireann Bradley and Briana Corrigan. And you can be sure that, along the way, Ó Braonáin and Belle will be persuaded to do a party piece.
Leaving Neverland 2: Surviving Michael Jackson
Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm
In 2019, Dan Reed’s explosive documentary Leaving Neverland: Michael Jackson and Me told the story behind allegations of child sexual abuse levelled at the global pop star. Two boys, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, had accused Jackson of molesting them from the age of seven and 11, gaining the trust of their families to allow him access to the children. This second film details the continuing legal battles fought by Robson and Safechuck against Jackson’s companies (Jackson died in 2009), who used all their might and resources to prevent the case from going to trial, and how they faced a vicious backlash from Jackson’s diehard fans around the world.
Streaming
The Residence
From Thursday, March 20th, Netflix
A twisty whodunit set in a big mansion house? Nothing new here. Except that the address of this mansion is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC, aka the White House. Shonda Rhimes set her hit series Scandal in these same hallowed halls; now she returns to the presidential gaff for this screwball murder mystery starring Uzo Aduba as eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp. The story revolves around a disastrous state dinner, a dead body and a list of suspects as long as the Declaration of Independence. Cupp will have her work cut out sifting through the staff, politicians and celebrities to unmask the killer. “I’m trying to solve a murder, and I’ve got the FBI, the president and Kylie Minogue breathing down my neck,” she deadpans. Aduba heads a cast that includes Randall Park, Giancarlo Esposito, Jane Curtin, Jason Lee and the aforementioned Aussie pop star.
Last One Laughing UK
From Thursday March 20th, Prime Video
What do you get when you put Jimmy Carr, Bob Mortimer, Daisy May Cooper, Joe Lycett, Judi Love, Rob Beckett, Sara Pascoe, Lou Sanders, Joe Wilkinson, Harriet Kemsley, Richard Ayoade and Roisin Conaty in the same room? A very big pain in your sides from laughing, you might assume. But you’d be wrong. Carr has brought some of the UK’s top comedy talent together with the express purpose of keeping a straight face. The comedians will be working hard to make their colleagues’ poker faces crack, and whoever holds their laughter in right to the end is the winner. Alas, the Irish version of this series has shown the pointlessness of bringing all that comedy talent together just to create a guffaw-free zone.
