TV guide: the best new shows to watch, beginning tonight

Pick of the Week

Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light

Sunday, BBC One, 9pm

Fans of Wolf Hall have waited nine years for this second series of the Bafta and Golden Globe-winning historical drama based on the acclaimed trilogy by Hilary Mantel. And it could well be worth the wait, as Mark Rylance returns to the role of cunning power-player Thomas Cromwell and Damian Lewis reprises his role as Cromwell’s cruel and capricious boss, King Henry VIII. Screenwriter Peter Straughan and director Peter Kosminsky are also back on board, with Jonathan Pryce, Kate Phillips and Thomas Brodie-Sangster among the returning cast, along with new cast members Timothy Spall, Harriet Water and Alex Jennings. It’s May 1536, and Henry has finally rid himself of his second wife, Anne Boleyn, with help from Cromwell’s machinations, but as the king takes up with his new wife, Jane Seymour, life in the court of Henry VIII is becoming ever more perilous, and though Cromwell remains a feared and powerful politician, his enemies are becoming ever bolder, and he will have to have all his wits and wisdom about him if he’s going to keep his own head.

Highlights

All Aboard! Scotland’s Poshest Train

Sunday, Channel 4, 8pm

The Royal Scotsman is like a five-star hotel on wheels, and in this series actor Alan Cumming takes a trip on this iconic train, immersing himself in the luxuries on offer and seeing the incredible Scottish landscape from the comfort of his beautifully appointed cabin. The train has its own head of housekeeping, Karen, who takes Cumming on a tour of the train, which also has an executive chef, Mark, who shows Cumming the hard work that goes into creating a delicious movable feast for the well-heeled passengers. Cumming boards the train at Edinburgh for the first leg of his journey, which will cross the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct.

Crá

Monday, TG4, 9.30pm

It’s a bylaw in rural Irish crime drama that all remote villages must have dark secrets buried away for some poor tormented detective to uncover. The title of this new six-part Irish-language drama set in a small village in Co Donegal translates as “anguish”, and lead character Garda Conall Ó Súilleabháin (Dónall Ó Héalaí) certainly has a lot of angst on his plate when the body of his mother, who went missing 15 years ago, turns up. Naturally he is not allowed to join in the murder investigation, but he’s determined to bring his mother’s killer to justice, so he teams up with true-crime podcaster Ciara-Kate (Hannah Brady), who has a talent for digging up those buried secrets. That’s another crime drama bylaw: nosy reporters must be replaced by dogged podcasters as stock characters.

Teen Predator/Online Killer

Monday, BBC One, 10.40pm

Last month, the shocking and sickening case of Alexander McCartney highlighted the very real dangers of catfishing on social media. McCartney, from Newry, Co Down, groomed and sexually abused thousands of children online, posing as a young girl to befriend his victims, then blackmailing them and forcing them to perform vile acts. One of his victims, 12-year-old Cimarron Thomas from West Virginia, died by suicide as a result of McCartney’s abuse. McCartney was sentenced to life in prison for child sex offences, blackmail and manslaughter, and this harrowing documentary follows the eight-year hunt to bring him to justice, and shows the devastating impact his actions had on his victims and their families.

When Claire Byrne confronts Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary on RTÉ, the atmosphere is seriously tetchy

‘We jumped the shark in the very first episode!’: 35 years of The Simpsons

Culchiecore, bonkbusters, murder, more murder and Nationwide: What I’ve seen on TV in 2024

Futureville Ireland

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, RTÉ One, 7pm

Imagine an Irish metropolis of the future, built on scientific and technological innovation, where the fast-growing population enjoy the health benefits of breakthroughs in medicine and neurology, where sustainable housing and urban design are a given, and where robots look after all the menial work, leaving citizens free to dream big. Where is this futuristic idyll, you ask, and when can we move there? Why, it’s Athlone, of course. This three-part series, running over three nights during Science Week, conjures up a what-if vision of the midlands town as a vital, vibrant hub in the centre of the country, where its inhabitants work, shop, play and raise families in space-age style. Presenters Carla O’Brien and Dr Lorraine Mancey take us on this trip to the near future, with contributions from an array of boffins and local Athlonians, who share their own hopes for the next 25 years, and an introduction to the next-generation K-9 robot pet, called Megabyte.

Secrets of the Spy Whale

Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

In the new cold war, spies are everywhere – even under the icy Arctic waters. In 2019, Norwegian intelligence services were baffled by the arrival of a mysterious stranger in the port town of Hammerfest. The visitor was a beluga whale who was eager to make friends, but locals spotted the whale was wearing a harness with a camera mount and the words “Equipment St Petersburg” printed on the buckle. Suspicion mounted that this charming, friendly fellow was actually a trained Russian spy. This documentary dives into the mystery, and looks at how military forces train marine mammals for international espionage. In the search for the next 007, maybe they should give a whale a whirl.

What’s Next?

Thursday, RTÉ2, 5.30pm

Let’s face it, us grown-ups have made a Peppa Pig’s ear of looking after the environment, so now it’s time for the kids to step in and do it properly. In this new series, inventive youngsters from across the country pit their wits against each other to come up with big ideas for saving the planet. These junior disrupters will be looking at ways to tackle fast fashion, reduce food waste, make transport more sustainable, build greener homes and boost recycling and reuse. On hand to give encouragement and advice are influencers Adam Beales, Demi Isaac Oviawe and MC Fitzpatrick, with young inventor Fionn Ferreira judging the children’s efforts.

Storyville: Did You Read About Erskine Fogarty?

Thursday, RTÉ2, 10.10pm

Robert Sheehan in Did You Read About Erskine Fogarty?

The last of the Storyland trio of tales for 2024 is adapted from Blindboy’s acclaimed short story about one man and his fridge, and shot entirely on location in Limerick. International star Robert Sheehan plays the eponymous Erskine, a man who know a lot of facts, but has very little understanding of reality. Having moved to Dublin to make his fortune during the boom, he has now returned to Limerick following the financial crash of 2009. He’s lost everything in the crash – his job, his house, his family and even his mind – but he’s still clinging on to one last possession: a huge American-style fridge-freezer that now stands as a metal monument to Celtic Tiger hubris. In this Beckettian tale, Fogarty drags his fridge past the shuttered shops and ghost estates of Limerick to his childhood home of Caherdavin, just to prove to the folks back home he’s a winner.

Streaming

Bad Sisters

From Wednesday, November 13th, Apple TV+

You couldn’t not have a second series of this deliciously wicked black comedy, so welcome back the Garvey sisters, Eva, Grace, Ursula, Bibi and Becka, played once again to perfection by Sharon Horgan, Anne-Marie Duff, Eva Birthistle, Sarah Greene and Eve Hewson. In the first series the sisters came under suspicion following the unexpected death of Grace’s abusive and controlling husband, John Paul, aka the Prick. Two years later the sisters are getting on with their lives, but if they think they’re home and dry they’ve another think coming, as nosy church lady Angelica (Fiona Shaw) is giving off serious I-know-what-you-did-last-summer vibes. Soon the Garda is putting two and two together and coming up with five prime sibling suspects.

Say Nothing

From Thursday, November 14th, Disney+

This series based on the bestseller by the investigative journalist Patrick Radden Keefe tells the story of the Price sisters, Dolours and Marian, who became key figures in the IRA, taking part in the bombing of the Old Bailey in 1973. Dolours also claimed to be involved in the abduction and murder of the mother of 10 Jean McConville, an event that provides the harrowing opening for a series exploring the huge human cost of a code of silence. Lola Pettigrew and Hazel Doupe play Dolours and Marian, with Maxine Peake as an older Dolours, Anthony Boyle as the IRA commander Brendan Hughes, and Josh Finan as Gerry Adams.

Cross

From Thursday, November 14th, Prime Video

We all know Alex Cross, the fiercely dedicated forensic detective from the bestselling series of crime novels by James Patterson. Now we’re going to get to know him even better in this new series starring Aldis Hodge as the iconic Washington DC investigator, and Isaiah Mustapha as Cross’s partner, John Sampson. As the series opens, Cross’s life has been upended by the murder of his wife, but he has to stay focused as he and Sampson hunt down a sick and sadistic serial killer who has struck in several parts of the US capital.

Silo

From Friday, November 15th, Apple TV+

Rebecca Ferguson returns as Juliette in the second series of this dystopian sci-fi series based on the bestselling trilogy by Hugh Howey. The last 10,000 people on Earth live in an underground cylinder 100 storeys deep. They’ve been told that the surface is a toxic wasteland and that anyone who ventures outside will die immediately. But some suspect that the dead world relayed from the silo’s external cameras is fake, and when engineer Juliette finally steps outside she is shocked by what she finds. Tim Robbins returns as head of IT Bernard Holland, who is out to shut down dissent in the silo.