Pick of the Week
This City Is Ours
Sunday, BBC One, 9pm
Sean Bean heads the cast as ageing crimelord Ronnie Phelan in this epic drama series set among the modern-day gangs of Liverpool. James Nelson-Joyce stars as Ronnie’s friend and business partner Michael Kavanagh, who has been successfully bringing in bucketloads of cocaine from Colombia, but when Ronnie decides it’s time to step down as the don, Michael starts thinking about a life beyond crime. He has fallen in love with Diana Williams (Hannah Onslow) and dreams of building a legit life with her. However, Ronnie’s son Jamie (Jack McMullen) has his own ambitions to take over his dad’s drug empire and bring it into the modern age, and so begins a battle for control between the would-be heirs to the gangland throne. Thing are made more complicated when a shipment of cocaine goes missing, the first salvo launched in an all-out attack on the gang. The series also stars Derry Girls’ Saoirse-Monica Jackson as Cheryl Crawford.
Highlights
Raised by the Village
Sunday, RTÉ One, 6.30pm
We hang our heads in despair as our teenage kids bury their heads in their smartphones, switching off from the real world and going down a virtual rabbit-hole while the chores and homework are left undone. If only we could ship them off to some remote place where they would have no access to smartphones and no choice but to muck in and pull their weight. Welcome to a new series of Raised by the Village, which sees urban teens transplanted to an isolated rural farm where they will have to survive without tech, and away from all the distractions of the city. Noah is a streetwise 14-year-old who is master of his north-inner-city domain, but can he navigate his new environment at Hilltop Berry Farm in west Cork? Noah will be under the supervision of the Collins family, who own the farm near the remote village of Kealkill. Meanwhile, teen phone addict Teagan will be going cold turkey at a dairy farm in the village of Aghada in east Cork, under the mentorship of the Morrissey family. Will she suffer wifi withdrawal symptoms or will she learn to adapt to a tech-free life?
Cailíní Comhraic
Monday, RTÉ One, 8pm
The sporting achievements of Irish women are something to celebrate, and this three-part observational series focuses on women in combat sports as they battle their way to medal-winning glory. In the first episode we meet boxer Christina Desmond from Cork as she works hard to grab a spot on the national team and get to the 2024 Olympics. Also featured is Cork woman Rosa Walsh, whose chosen sport is Brazilian jiu jitsu. She is training hard for the European BJJ Trials and there will have to be no let-up if she’s going to qualify. We also meet karate kid Mary O’Neill from Donegal, a third-dan sensei who has opened the county’s first martial arts dojo run by women.
Punt: The Irish and The NFL
Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
It’s a long way from Tipperary to the Super Bowl, but three GAA stars and one rugby player set out to retrain as American football players in a bid to join an NFL team in the US. Rory Beggan, Charlie Smyth, Mark Jackson and former Connacht player Darragh Leader are the footballing foursome who are hoping to get drafted to the NFL under the mentorship of Darragh’s brother Tadhg Leader, a top NFL talent scout. He has been tasked by the Rooneys, the Irish-American owners of the Pittsburgh Steelers, with finding a new star kicker for the team – could the next all-star NFL kicker be an Irish man?
1883
Tuesday, RTÉ2, 9.30pm
First aired in 2021, this Paramount+ series, a prequel to to the popular Yellowstone, follows the Dutton family as they leave their impoverished life in Texas to seek their fortune in Montana. Real-life singing and acing couple Tim McGraw and Faith Hill star as James and Margaret Dutton, who make the perilous journey west through the Great Plains in search of a better life. Sam Elliott also stars as tough but tortured cowboy Shea Brennan, and look out for a guest appearance by Billy Bob Thornton and a cameo from Tom Hanks in a flashback to the civil war.
Donal’s Festival Kitchen
Friday, RTÉ One, 8pm
As Muslims prepare for the feast of Eid al-Fitr, marking the end of the fasting period of Ramadan on March 30th, Donal Skehan kicks off his new series with an exploration of the flavours and recipes of Eid, with expert help from guest chefs Sham Hanifa from the Cottage Restaurant in Leitrim, and Hatice Ozkavak from Tang Cafe in Dublin. Skehan and his guests will cook up such delights as Malaysian chicken sambal with nasi lemak (coconut rice) and shakshuka, a breakfast dish featuring poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce. Mayo GAA player Shairoze Akram and photographer Sujood Momani will add their insights into the meaning and traditions of Eid.
Beyond Paradise
Friday, BBC One, 8pm
The Death in Paradise spin-off is having its day in the sun, despite being set in grey old Blighty. Kris Marshall returns as DI Humphrey Goodman in this third series, so we can surmise he’s well settled in after relocating from the fictional tropical island of Saint Marie to the fictional English village of Shipton Abbott. He’s hoping to build a happy, stress-free life with his fiancee Martha (Sally Bretton), but those dashed bloody murders – not to mention the return of Martha’s old flame Archie (Jamie Bamber) – threaten to put a spanner in the works. The gang’s all back for this new set of sleuthing adventures, and among the guest stars are Hugh Dennis and Caroline Quentin.
How’s She Cuttin'
Friday, BBC One, 10.40pm
Claire is a country girl on the hunt for an eligible farmer to marry, but single men with their own cattle herd are a bit thin on the ground. She heads down to the local cattle mart in hope of attracting a nice fella in wellies and a Barbour jacket, but is kicked out for being a brazen hussy. Then she meets The Yank, a New York lawyer who has inherited a farm but doesn’t want to get his hands mucky. Can Claire convince him to give country life a whirl and make her his girl? Claire Corrigan stars in this new comedy series from Northern Ireland, which started life as a comedy short.
Streaming
Million Dollar Secret
From Wednesday, March 26th, Netflix
Twelve guests check into a luxury lakeside hotel in Canada, and when they get to their room a mysterious box is waiting for them. Eleven of the boxes are empty, but one is stuffed with $1 million. Whoever has it will have to keep their windfall a secret, as the other guests are out to get their hands on the cash. Soon the accusations, denials and insults are flying as everyone tries to flush out whoever is hoarding the treasure. This new game series sounds like a twist on Traitors, where everyone has to lie and conceal to get what they want and no betrayal is too cruel in this high-stakes battle of wits. If the millionaire is exposed they’re out of the game and the cash moved to a new custodian. The English actor and comedian Peter Serafinowicz is the smooth-voiced master of ceremonies who will guide the guests through tasks that will help them find clues to the identity of the millionaire in their midst.
The Studio
From Wednesday, March 26th, Apple TV+
Cinema is under siege from a barrage of tentpole TV series, as more people choose to skip the trip to their local cineplex and just settle down on the sofa to binge-watch Emily in Paris. But cinema is fighting back, and it has a brave gladiator in the form of Matt Remick, head of the beleaguered Continental Studios, who leads his team of executives on a quest to make movies great again. But can Remick stay relevant in this fast-changing industry? Seth Rogen stars as the studio head who is so immersed in cinema that he’s practically made of celluloid. The series also stars Catherine O’Hara and Kathryn Hahn, with guest appearances from Bryan Cranston and Rebecca Hall, plus a dizzying number of cameos from the likes of Paul Dano, Zac Efron, Olivia Wilde, Ron Howard, Martin Scorsese, Charlize Theron and Steve Buscemi. Will TV save the cinema stars? You’ll have to skip that trip to the movies to find out.
