The Late Late Show
Friday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
Ahead of the Irish Open in July, golf star Paul McGinley will join host Ryan Tubridy to discuss why he wants this tournament to be the biggest one yet. Also: In his new TV show Wingman (Sunday on RTÉ One), Baz Ashmawy helps participants achieve something they wouldn't have ever thought possible. Baz describes the unlikely story of a Louth dairy farmer who wants to put on a play when nobody is taking him seriously. And: It's been 25 years since Rock 'n' Roll Kids won the Eurovision Song Contest. To celebrate, there will be a special performance of the song by Paul Harrington, Niamh Farrell from Ham Sandwich, Ruth-Anne Cunningham, Ryan O'Shaughnessy and the Line-Up Choir. Tubridy will also be joined by Harrington, Linda Martin, Rory Cowan and Mary Coughlan to discuss this year's contest, and Sarah McTernan will perform Ireland's 2019 entry, 22. Plus: The Benhaffaf twins, Hassan and Hussein, on making international headlines this week after actor Tom Hanks sent them a personalised Toy Story video; Colette Ryan on wandering away from her family on holiday when she was just two years old 44 years ago; and, in the month of World Autism Day, budding film-maker Nicholas Ryan Purcell, who has Asperger syndrome, and three mothers and their three children will discuss the realities of living with autism.
The Looming Tower
Friday, BBC2, 9.30pm
What happens when America's two biggest law-enforcement agencies, the FBI and the CIA, go to war with each other? The answer: 9/11. The Looming Tower tells the story of how two rival agencies, both ostensibly working toward the same goal, ended up working against each other in the years leading up to the 2001 attacks on the twin towers and the Pentagon. Jeff Daniels stars as John O'Neill, head of the FBI's counter-terrrorism unit, and Peter Sarsgaard plays his arrogant CIA counterpart who believes that only his agency can properly tackle terrorism. So while O'Neill and his team doggedly travel the world picking up intelligence on an imminent attack on US soil, the CIA crucially withhold knowledge that known al-Qaeda operatives have already entered the US.
Na Sár-Laochra Spóirt
Friday, TG4, 8pm
Four immortals from different sports are profiled: the l road cycling warrior Vincenzo Nibali; Britain’s poster boy diving world champion, Tom Daley; the woman who invented the perfect 10 in gymnastics, Nadia Comaneci; and cricket’s greatest-ever, Sir Donald Bradman.
Sex Tape
Friday, Channel 4, 10pm
The return of the fly-on-the-wall reality programme, in which three couples suffering relationship problems take part in a social experiment, filming their most intimate moments for one week, before sharing their "sex tapes" with the other couples as well as relationship therapist Anjula Mutanda. The aim is to see whether what they see on camera and hear from the others will change their relationship.
Rick and Morty
Friday, E4, 10.55pm
A new series of the animated sitcom begins with a chaotic episode in which Rick decides to unfreeze time six months after it was stopped. He warns his grandkids, Morty and Summer, that time could initially be unstable, but their uncertainty tears time apart into two realities. Despite Rick using a crystal to try to mend the timelines together, a Fourth Dimensional Being with a testicle for a head appears and tells Morty and Summer that they are going to Time Prison for eternity.
Cruising with Jane McDonald
Friday, Channel 5, 9pm
The first of a two-part Indian adventure finds McDonald amid the colourful chaos of the city of Kolkata, where she visits the largest flower market in Asia, before being treated to a ringside view of some traditional wrestlers in action. She then sets sail on India's most holy river, the Ganges, on board a five-star ship. Stop-offs include the temple city of Kalna and the former home of the historic East India Shipping Company, Murshidabad. While in Murshidabad, McDonald explores the grand palaces of the city, before going off the beaten the track to see some local artisans at work.
All Round to Mrs Brown's
Saturday, RTÉ One/BBC1, 9.10pm
The last episode in the series sees Agnes pack the house full of fantastic guests for a good ol’ chinwag, including Love Island star Dani Dyer and her mammy Jo Mas, new Top Gear host and legendary matchmaker Paddy McGuinness, and Australian icon Jason Donovan, plus music from Busted.
Inside Jaguar: A Supercar Reborn
Saturday, Channel 4, 8pm
Some supercars are made to be mythical. Take the Jaguar XKSS. The road-going conversion of the race car that dominated at Le Mans in the 1950s led to the construction of 16 vehicles, one of which was owned by Steve McQueen. These days they’re worth around £15 million each, so little wonder historic car enthusiast Mark Evans is like a kid on Christmas morning as he goes behind the scenes at Jaguar’s state-of-the-art Classic Works. He will witness the complete resurrection, from scratch, of the first of its legendary lost supercars. This is the first time the car company has undertaken such a task, and it should leave petrolheads slack of jaw.
Ireland's Favourite Folk Song
Sunday, RTÉ One, 7.30pm
Ah, we love a good folk tune – the softly strummed acoustic guitar, the gently picked refrain, the stirring, heartfelt lyrics and, of course ,the big, singalong chorus. But which folk song do we love the most? In January, viewers of The Late Late Show were asked to nominate their favourite folk song as part of a cross-media campaign to root out the one folkie to rule them all. The entries are in and whittled down to a shortlist of 10 titanic tunes. Over five episodes, Ireland's Favourite Folk Song will reveal each shortlisted ditty. Guests such as musician John Sheahan, comedian Oliver Callan and actor Darragh O'Malley will discuss the influence these songs have on our lives, and explore how folk music became deeply embedded in the Irish psyche. The series is presented by Mary Black, whose ear for a good folk tune knows no frontiers. (See what I did there?)
Wingman
Sunday, RTÉ One, 9.30pm
Despite his best efforts over an Emmy-winning series on Sky One, Baz Ashmawi has singularly failed to find a way to kill his mammy. Time to look for a new challenge. For this new three-part series, Baz is looking for people with unfulfilled dreams or thwarted ambitions. His plan? To become their “wingman” and help them to fly. Each of his subjects has something missing from their lives, and he’s the one to push them out of their comfort zones and help them grasp those opportunities they’ve missed, either through self-doubt or life getting in the way. In his first episode he becomes wingman to dairy farmer Jimmy Byrne from Togher, Co Louth. Jimmy spends his time tramping the fields, but he’s always wanted to tread the boards. So Baz is going to help him put on his own play. Will it be a triumph or a comedy of errors? We’re putting our trust in Baz.
London Marathon
Sunday, BBC2, 8.30am (highlights 6pm)
Those with long memories may remember that historic day on March 29, 1981 when the first London Marathon took place. It's been an annual event since. With Kenya's Eliud Kipchoge completing the course last year in two hours, 4 minutes and 17 seconds, it'll be interesting to see if that can be beaten by any of the 40,000-plus runners of varying abilities tackling the 26.2-mile course. Gabby Logan is in the presenter's chair and Steve Cram, Andrew Cotter, Tanni Grey-Thompson and Paula Radcliffe offer commentary.
The Adulterer
Sunday, Channel 4, 11pm
Sylvia Hoeks came to international notice with her star-making turn two years ago in Blade Runner 2049, though by she had already proved to be a formidable force in this Dutch series, originally titled Overspel. It examines the steamy relationship between a photographer (Hoeks) and a slick lawyer (Fedja van Huêt). As you may gather from the Engish-language title, they are both married, and before long their families are mixed up in a web of corruption, lies and murder. If you’re keen to see the rest of the series, it’s available on All 4 after this first episode airs.
Contributing: PA
