Ar Son Na Poblachta
(Monday, RTÉ One, 7.30pm)
Stock up on cigs and cans of bully beef and settle into the bunker – we're in for a barrage of 1916-related programmes, as the national broadcaster gets to grips with events of 100 years ago. Ar Son Na Poblachta is a three-part series looking back on some of the unsung heroes of 1916.
This first episode tells the story of actor Arthur Shields, who, when he wasn’t on the Abbey stage, was training with the Irish Volunteers. Armed with a rifle he had stashed under the stage, Shields joined up with James Connolly’s men to take over the GPO, and was in the thick of the fighting throughout Easter week. He went on to become a character actor in Hollywood and appeared in several movies and TV shows, but none of his roles equalled his real-life part in the Rising.
iZombie
(Monday, RTÉ Two, 8.05pm)
The undead have been shuffling around cinemas for decades, and in recent years they have made the transition to television. iZombie has a pretty bonkers premise: Liv, a beautiful, ambitious young medic, gets turned into a zombie, and is forced to change to a high-protein diet, ie human brains.
So Liv moves her medical residency to the coroner's office, where there's an endless supply of zombie cauliflower. By eating a homicide victim's brain, she absorbs their memories and gains clues to their murder. With her unique insight, she is encouraged to work with a young detective and help him solve crimes in a unique cop-zombie partnership. Adapted from a successful comic book series, iZombie should play well with the geekerati. But do the rest of us have the stomach for it?
My Homeless Family
(Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm)
Imagine if you and your family had to spend Christmas in emergency accommodation. Spare a thought for the 700 Irish families with no chimney of their own for Santa to come down in 2015. What is life like for a family living in a hotel room or B&B? Sounds like a holiday, but the reality is lack of space and privacy, lack of facilities and a sense of helplessness. My Homeless Family is a reality show with a large dose of reality: three families were given cameras to document their everyday lives over three months as they struggle to live an ordinary life in an extraordinary situation.
The Jihadis Next Door
(Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm)
Documentary looking at the spread extremist fundamentalism in Britain. Shot over the course of three years, the film gains extraordinary access to a new wave of extremists who are radicalising and grooming young British Muslims, including Abu Rumaysah, who is suspected of being the notorious British jihadi in a recent Isis execution video.
The Story of China
(Thursday, BBC, 9pm)
New documentary series in which Michael Wood explores the history of the world's newest superpower. Wood joins a family reunion, where 300 relatives gather to worship their ancestors and journeys to the plain of the Yellow River, where he joins a million pilgrims at the shrine of goddess Nuwa. At the Beijing Planetarium, he meets the astronomers plotting the planetary conjunction that the ancients believed foretold the overthrow of the Shang Dynasty. China, it seems, is rising again, not just because of its economic strength, but because of the solidarity of the Chinese view of their own civilisation.
Lucky Man
(Friday, Sky 1, 9pm)
Ever wish you could have permanent good luck? It might not be quite the blessing you expect. James Nesbitt plays a down-on-his-luck cop in Lucky Man, a new series created by Marvel comics legend Stan Lee. Nesbitt's Harry Clayton is a compulsive gambler, and his life is quickly going down the tubes – until a mysterious lady gives him a bracelet that literally turns his fortunes around.
Harry is suddenly a winner, but it’s not long before he realises that spectacular good luck comes with an equally big price tag, as he finds himself up against the biggest crimewave London has seen in years. Nesbitt is joined by a starry supporting cast, including Amara Karan, Darren Boyd, Omid Djalili and Eve Best. Let’s hope this programme’s luck holds out.
Bad Language
(Friday, BBC One, 10.35pm)
Are you a stickler for proper usage? Are there words or phrases you'd like to see expunged from the English language? Then a new comedy panel show is for you. Bad Language is hosted by Patrick Kielty and recorded at the Waterfront in Belfast, and features celebrity panellists (Phil Jupitus, Lucy Porter, Rich Hall, Marcus Brigstocke) who pick apart the words we use and have their word power tested by a variety of language challenges. Word up!
