Hijack season two: Even Idris Elba looks uncomfortable with the direction of this latest heistTelevision: The fast-moving unfussy plot was a strong feature of Hijack series one on Apple TV. Alas, second time out, it’s all too convolutedWed Jan 14 2026 - 15:52
Jenny on Holiday: Quicksand Heart review – Brilliantly bittersweet walk on pop’s melancholy sideJenny Hollingworth, of Let’s Eat Grandma, expertly balances downbeat lyrics with upbeat melodies on her first solo albumTue Jan 13 2026 - 05:00
Industry review: So nasty it makes Game of Thrones seem like TeletubbiesTelevision: In series four of the critically adored HBO/BBC drama Mickey Down and Konrad Kay have broadened the canvas and darkened the pictureMon Jan 12 2026 - 23:10
Dancing with the Stars: An unhappy punchline for the comedian Michael FryTelevision: The gap continues to widen with singer Tolü Makay topping the leader boardSun Jan 11 2026 - 22:13
Ten great Irish music acts to catch in 2026From Shark School to SexyTadhg and Dove Ellis to Hotgirl, here’s who’s tipped to take over in the year ahead Sat Jan 10 2026 - 05:18
David Bowie: 10 years after his death, he’s still electrifying, still plugged into the 21st centuryDavid Bowie died on January 10th, 2016. He still has a message for the modern world in a way that, frozen in time, John Lennon or Elvis Presley simply doesn’tSat Jan 10 2026 - 00:01
The Traitors review: Would the BBC’s secret traitor twist work on the Irish version?Television: With three gimmicks in the latest UK series, the makers seem terrified of the blueprint going staleThu Jan 08 2026 - 13:54
The Cribs: Selling a Vibe review – First-rank indie underdogs make an attention-grabbing returnIf ever a landfill-indie group deserved a shoegaze-style rehabilitation, it’s Ryan, Gary and Ross JarmanThu Jan 08 2026 - 04:48
Can You Keep a Secret? An understated chortle onslaught from Dawn French and Mark HeapTelevision: British comedy doesn’t always land with Irish viewers, but French and Mark Heap are great in this understated chortle onslaughtWed Jan 07 2026 - 22:00
Lynley on BBC One: Ken Loach does Agatha Christie on the creepy Norfolk coast, but it’s funTelevision: The class distinctions will quickly bore Irish viewers, but the mystery is at least compellingMon Jan 05 2026 - 21:30
Dancing with the Stars week 1: New head judge Oti Mabuse collides with Brian Redmond in fun returnTelevision: Celebrity dancers have much to improve on, but this new season will clearly be entertainingSun Jan 04 2026 - 21:50
Stranger Things finale: Imperfect but poignant ending leaves a bittersweet acheTelevision: The real destructive force at the end of this fifth and final season was the pain of growing upFri Jan 02 2026 - 11:26
Fuss over AI actors is a distraction – Netflix has been making algorithm movies for yearsThink of the movies Atlas or the deafeningly forgettable Red NoticeFri Jan 02 2026 - 06:23
The Night Manager on BBC One review: Dark TV for dark times - with compelling results Television: Suave sleuth Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston) emanates movie star glamour, but the world he inhabits is notably murkier than beforeThu Jan 01 2026 - 22:00
The Late Late New Year Special: It’s a Paudie expanded universe, and we’re all just drifting through Television: Patrick Kielty exudes positivity in the face of impossible odds and vapid banterThu Jan 01 2026 - 07:10
2026 on TV: Dancing with the Stars, The Night Manager and 18 other new and returning shows to catch Including Industry, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Tip Toe, Lord of the Flies and Grown UpsTue Dec 30 2025 - 05:21
Run Away star James Nesbitt: ‘My Irishness has always been very important to me. I fought to play my roles as Irish’The latest chapter in the Ballymena man’s hugely successful career is perhaps his starriest yet – all thanks to the murderously moreish whodunits of Harlan CobenTue Dec 30 2025 - 05:20
2025 in video games: the 10 best overall, plus the three best Irish releasesGame quality remained high in a year in which 1990s nostalgia played a big roleMon Dec 29 2025 - 05:04
Rory McIlroy - A Battle Won: Fascinating profile of a sporting hero with human failingsYou have to credit McIlroy for possessing something all too rare in professional sport: a moral compassSun Dec 28 2025 - 22:00
2025 in TV: Rogue brogues, the drunken Irish and a prestige streamer’s hidden jewelsThe biggest show of the year, Adolescence, became so huge that it fuelled a moral panic, but the best stuff was on the little-watched Apple TVSun Dec 28 2025 - 05:27
2025 in music: The five best international albums of the yearIncluding releases by Ethel Cain, Anna Von Hausswolff, Wednesday, Hayley Williams and Cole PuliceSun Dec 28 2025 - 05:14
George Best and Cork Celtic on TG4: A fascinating portrait of a prodigy in declineTelevision: By the time Best joined Cork Celtic he was not so much a shadow of his former self as a pickled parody, more in love with booze than the beautiful gameFri Dec 26 2025 - 20:30
Gene Kelly - Réalt an Rince on TG4: Absorbing documentary reveals a rare, affable geniusMost revealing are extracts from an interview in Tipperary in the early 1970s by RTÉ broadcaster Donncha Ó DúlaingFri Dec 26 2025 - 06:00
Mrs Brown’s Boys review: The studio audience sound as if they are being held hostage Television: Oh, for a gag about breaking wind or a well-deployed single entendre to interrupt the monotonyThu Dec 25 2025 - 22:30
Amandaland review: This engaging and funny one-off is the pick of Christmas Day viewingTelevision: Christmas is about excess and familial angst, but also tenderness and tears, and all of the above are combined in perfect portions hereThu Dec 25 2025 - 21:30
Reluctant pop star Chris Rea felt ‘Monty Python-silly’ in Slane but was beloved in IrelandThe singer-songwriter’s streak of earnestness elevated him beyond other hitmakers of the dayMon Dec 22 2025 - 19:20
Ryan Tubridy attempts to reinvent himself on YouTube. Will it work?Will this be a step down for a personality who was once one of Ireland’s highest-paid broadcasters?Fri Dec 19 2025 - 19:54
Dove Ellis: Blizzard review – Thank heavens for awkward outsiders, and for this luminescent Irish albumEnigmatic Galway songwriter sounds like a storm-tossed mix of Thom Yorke of Radiohead and Jeff BuckleyFri Dec 19 2025 - 05:00
Emily in Paris review: It may be ridiculous but you have to give it a grudging respectTelevision: Since its debut in 2020, Emily in Paris has been variously celebrated as a guilty pleasure and lamented as a sure sign of civilisation’s downfallThu Dec 18 2025 - 19:00
Trump agus na Gaeil on TG4: A sobering insight into Trump’s effect on the Irish in AmericaThe documentary examines the cruelty of Trump’s new immigration policies and how a green card, long a golden ticket, is no longer a guarantee of safe passageWed Dec 17 2025 - 22:00
Kneecap at 3Arena: A rambunctious and humorous set with heartfelt momentsRap trio brings its controversy machine to the Dublin venue with a formidable live gig, guest collaborations and plenty of funTue Dec 16 2025 - 23:43
The Salt Path Scandal review: A remarkable tale pieced together using old-school gumshoe journalismTelevision: Film is based on theories around a bestselling memoir full of struggle and courage, but did any of it actually happen?Tue Dec 16 2025 - 15:24
Pink Floyd: Wish You Were Here 50 review – Brilliantly bleak masterpiece comes with its own mythologyEvoking Syd Barrett and the schism between Roger Waters and David Gilmore, the title track is still the emotional core of this 50th-anniversary editionMon Dec 15 2025 - 05:06
Taylor Swift: The End of an Era review - There’s nothing here that Swift doesn’t want us to seeTelevision: After decades of Swiftmania, does the world need this not especially revealing documentary?Fri Dec 12 2025 - 12:52
Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+: Harry Potter for bored Marvel fansTelevision: Zeitgeist has moved from young adult fiction to Romantasy, making this feel behind the timesThu Dec 11 2025 - 21:00
Wolf Alice at 3Arena review: An ultimately superb – if underattended – show Scintillating gig shows Ellie Rowsell’s skills as frontwoman and band’s talent for old-school indie popThu Dec 11 2025 - 11:03
Ed Sheeran at 3Arena review: Pop’s everyman serves up Christmas bangers and beige balladsThe Dublin gig is a reminder of why Sheeran is both a streaming behemoth and a popular punching bagWed Dec 10 2025 - 09:19
Jamie’s Cook-Ahead Christmas review: Oliver’s marvellous mateyness always goes down a treatWith a nod toward ironic 1970s kitsch, you half expect Jamie Oliver to whip up some Angel Delight or produce steak-and-kidney pie in a tinTue Dec 09 2025 - 11:00
President Connolly – How the Race Was Won: Striking reminder of botched presidential campaignTelevision: Behold the idiot’s guide to running an idiotic campaign, brought to you by Fine Gael and Fianna FáilMon Dec 08 2025 - 22:30
John Maus at Button Factory review: In a haze of dry ice, the former philosophy lecturer slams like a human jackhammerJohn Maus’s Dublin gig is half performance art, half exhibitionist freakoutMon Dec 08 2025 - 11:11
Late Late Toy Show 2025 review: Patrick Kielty is far superior to previous hosts in at least one respectTelevision: Kielty makes being green seem easy in a Grinch-themed show brimming with tear-jerker moments and celebrity cameosSat Dec 06 2025 - 00:11
Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds: Live God review – A stunning double album. One of the greatsThis brilliantly stark recording from the Accor Arena in Paris in 2024 conveys the scale and bombast of the Wild God showsFri Dec 05 2025 - 00:03
Late Late Toy Show 2025: What time does it start, what’s the theme, how to watch from abroadTelevision: Marking the official start of Christmas in Ireland, the toy show arrives this week shrouded in more secrecy than usualThu Dec 04 2025 - 16:14
Hype over Spotify Wrapped is inescapable. Don’t fall for the streambaitBy pushing playlists over albums, Spotify’s algorithm encourages us to outsource our taste and see music as a background distractionThu Dec 04 2025 - 13:27
Them’s Fighting Words with Roddy Doyle review: A fun portrait of 21st-century teenage creativityTelevision: The good work done by Fighting Words on the north side of Dublin is celebrated in this agreeable, if at times workmanlike, documentaryWed Dec 03 2025 - 22:30
Meghan Markle’s holiday special review: The reek of forced fun is ever-present. Even Harry looks embarrassedTelevision: The awfulness of this onslaught of Christmas naffness seems obvious to everyone except poor MeghanWed Dec 03 2025 - 13:38
Indie star Kean Kavanagh: ‘When I saw Paul Mescal score a goal I was nearly moved to tears’The former GAA star’s new album, The County Star, is a salute to both the Irish midlands and the US state of Texas Wed Dec 03 2025 - 05:14
What’s the Monarchy for? on BBC One: You can’t help but think, better them than usTelevision: David Dimbleby’s rambling survey of the British crown is a free shot of smugness, served just before bedtimeTue Dec 02 2025 - 22:00
Indie musician John Maus: ‘It sucks to be called a Donald Trump supporter’Songwriter was labelled a Trump fan after the January 6th riots in the US – a situation that might have sunk himTue Dec 02 2025 - 05:19
The Return of the Durutti Column review: Forever a sliver of wonder brought into a world not yet ready for itForget Joy Division, New Order or Happy Mondays. Vini Reilly was the real star of Factory Records, according to Tony WilsonMon Dec 01 2025 - 15:06
