Pick of the week
Hell for Leather: The Story of Gaelic Football
Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
“Gaelic football covers more of Ireland than any mobile phone network,” writes Irish Times sports columnist Denis Walsh in his analysis of this “elegant” five-part exploration of Ireland’s own beautiful game. The series comes at an opportune time, writes Walsh, as the code is having something of a renaissance, evidenced by “the most spectacular football season in living memory”. The series, filmed by Gerry Nelson and produced by Crossing the Line, certainly makes the case for Gaelic football as a powerful social and cultural force binding the Irish community both at home and abroad, and it’s beautifully made in cinema-quality 4k, with GAA legends and well-known figures from sport and media offering their insights into the game’s enduring appeal. In this second episode, we are taken back to the spirit of radio, when Irish people gathered round the wireless to hear Michael O’Hehir describe the frenetic action on the pitch, bringing listeners into the midst of the mayhem with seemingly effortless commentating skill. Then it’s across the pond to the US, where the All-Ireland football final was controversially staged in New York in 1947, the first and only time an All-Ireland was played outside Ireland. Cork’s Juliet Murphy and Kerry’s Dara Ó Cinnéide wax lyrical about the lure of the leather ball, and we learn how the game gained a foothold in Northern Ireland, with Sam Maguire making its first of many trips across the Border.
Highlights
From that Small Island – the Story of the Irish
Sunday, RTÉ One, 6.30pm
This landmark series – written by Bríona Nic Dhiarmada, narrated by Colin Farrell, with music by Colm Mac Con Iomaire, and shot on location in 17 countries – tracks the comings and goings of the Irish through history and around the world, asking who we are, where have we come from and where are we going from here. If you’re wondering how such a small country has managed to exert such a big influence on global culture and society, or how the hell the whole world and his granny ended up celebrating St Patrick’s Day every year, then this ambitious series will shine a light on this small but significant island on the outer edge of Europe. Episode two focuses on a seismic period in Irish history, from the Anglo-Norman invasion of the 12th century, through the ravages of the Black Death to the rise of the House of Tudor and the Protestant reformation in the 16th century. As Queen Elizabeth I carried out her brutal plantation of Ireland, the Irish looked to European Catholic countries such as Spain for help in resisting the English, but that resistance ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Kinsale.
Pile Up: World’s Biggest Crash Test
Sunday, Channel 4, 9pm
What happens when a bunch of cars, vans and lorries crash into each other at high speed on a busy motorway? Only one way to find out, and that is to stage your own mega motorway pile-up using the latest remote-control technology and deploying high-tech cameras to record every millisecond of this car-tastrophe in minute detail and from every angle. The boffins at Cranfield University’s Advanced Vehicle Engineering Centre have meticulously set up this road-traffic experiment – “the largest ever staged anywhere in the world,” according to the producers – to learn what actually happens during a multi-vehicle pile-up, how different drivers react, and how effective are the safety systems in modern vehicles. But of course, it’ll also make a great spectacle, and we can watch safely in the knowledge that no humans were harmed in the making of this programme, although if you’re an advocate for crash test dummies’ rights, you might be better off switching to America’s Craziest Car Crashes.
Death Valley
Sunday, BBC One, 8.15pm
Timothy Spall stars as retired thesp turned sleuth John Chapel, with Gwyneth Keyworth as DS Janie Mallowan, in this crime series set in smalltown Wales. Janie has recruited the veteran actor to help her solve serious crimes, and you just knew it wouldn’t be long before John ends up treading the boards again as part of a murder investigation. The victim is local businesswoman Menna Hughes, who also happens to be the director of a local amateur dramatics group, so what better way to pick up some clues than by joining the cast of the group’s next production. It’s not long, though, before John gets bitten by the acting bug again – can he keep his mind on solving the crime, or will he be distracted by the roar of the greasepaint and the smell of the crowd?
Murder 24/7
Monday, BBC Two, 9pm
Sit up straight and pour yourself a strong coffee, because the new series of Murder 24/7 is about to drop, and things are going to move so fast your head will spin. The series looks at a real-life murder investigation in real time and from a number of different perspectives, so forget the cosy crime dramas with just one or two detectives doing all the heavy lifting, and copsplaining everything as they go. These stories will be coming atcha from all angles, as the series follows the investigations of the West Murcia Police in England’s midlands. Everything is in the mix here, from the reactions of first responders to CCTV footage to suspect interviews and police raids, showing the true complexity of a murder investigation and the sheer numbers of personnel needed to gather evidence, interview witnesses and bring killers to justice.
Aistear an Amhráin
Tuesday, RTÉ One, 7pm
What was a New Romantic band from London playing at when they released a song about the Northern Irish Troubles in 1986? Spandau Ballet hit number six in the singles charts with Through the Barricades, but for the band members, the song was close to home. Three years earlier, the band’s Belfast-born roadie, Thomas “Kidso” Reilly, was shod dead by a British soldier while visiting family at home in Belfast. Kidso roadied for many of the biggest bands of the 1980s, including Depeche Mode and Bananarama, and one iconic photo shows all three members of Bananarama leading his funeral cortege down Belfast’s Whiterock Road. In this episode of Aistear an Amhráin, Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp, the writer of Through the Barricades, recalls the day the band heard of Kidso’s death, and how Kemp was inspired to write the song after visiting west Belfast in the wake of the tragedy. Kidso’s brother Jim Reilly, former drummer with Stiff Little Fingers, recalls how working for the pop industry and touring the world with top bands was Kidso’s ticket out of the Northern Ireland conflict.
Heston: My Life with Bipolar
Thursday, BBC Two, 8pm
In 2023 celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal began experiencing hallucinations and suicidal thoughts, and his behaviour became so extreme – beyond the usual temperamental chef tantrums – he had to be sectioned. Blumenthal was shocked to be given a diagnosis of bipolar disorder, but as he digested this new knowledge, he began to realise the impact his undiagnosed bipolar has had on his success and relationships with loved ones. Blumenthal is a pioneer of “multisensory cooking”, famous for his scientific approach to cuisine and his unusual food combinations such as white chocolate and caviar, bacon-and-egg ice cream and snail porridge. This documentary follows Blumenthal in the months after his diagnosis, as he undergoes energy-sapping treatment for his bipolar, and meets others living with this challenging condition. “There is still a big stigma around bipolar but it is vital to be able to talk openly about the condition,” says Blumenthal. “I hope by sharing my experience in this documentary, people will gain a greater understanding of bipolar and an insight into my life now.”
Pushers
Thursday, Channel 4, 10pm
Emily has been made redundant from her job and, just to add insult to injury, her state disability benefits (she has cerebral palsy) have been cut. What’s a girl to do? The answer is obvious: start up your own illegal drug-dealing empire, using your disability as a camouflage for criminal activity. Emily is highly educated and sharp as a tack, but because she has cerebral palsy, she is often underestimated – which proves an advantage while running her drugs empire and trying to stay under the radar of law-enforcement authorities. Actor Rosie Jones, who has cerebral palsy, has co-written this chemically tinged sitcom with Peter Fellows, and she also stars as Emily, with Clive Russell co-starring as her dad.
Streaming
We Were Liars
From Wednesday, June 18th, Prime Video
Take a private island paradise off the coast of New England, add a sprinkle of rich, beautiful, privileged teenagers, top it off with a dash of smouldering passion and jealousy, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for a murder mystery. Cadence Sinclair Eastman is a scion of the wealthy, influential Sinclair family, and she and her siblings, cousins and close friends – known as the Liars – are spending another idyllic summer on the island, but then something bad happens, and the dynamic within the group changes irrevocably, while the island’s unspoken omerta rule suddenly kicks in. Sounds like another variation on the “I know what you did last summer” trope. It’s based on the bestselling YA novel by E Lockhart, aka Emily Jenkins.
The Buccaneers
From Wednesday, June 18th, Apple TV+
Those scandalous American girls are back in polite English society in the second series of the period drama, which is sort of like Bridgerton with a bit of a twang. In the 1870s a group of wealthy and brash young heiresses are sent over from the United States to gatecrash the London social scene and bag themselves husbands, but their extroverted ways quickly clash with the buttoned-up traditions of Victorian society. It’s not long before they’re setting gentlemen’s pulses racing, and sending scandalised dowagers reaching for the smelling salts. In this second series the Buccaneers have become firmly integrated in London life, and Nan has become the Duchess of Tintagel, while Conchita is better known as Lady Brightlingsea. But they’re still out to shake up the status quo, all to a fab, completely anachronistic soundtrack featuring Chappell Roan, Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter, Lady Gaga and The Last Dinner Party.
The Waterfront
From Thursday, June 19th, Netflix
The Buckley family are the kingpins of their own fishing empire in a small village on the coast of North Carolina. Their name is on practically every business, shop and restaurant, so they have a bit of a hegemony here. But, beneath it all, business is going downhill, and the family patriarch, Harlan Buckley (Colt McCallany), must raise a couple of million to turn things around. He gets into bed with some shady drug smugglers, but as things spiral out of control and the body count piles up, it’s looking more and more like the Buckleys will be sleeping with the fishes.
