Pick of the Week
Catherine Fulvio’s St Patrick’s Way
Thursday & Friday, RTÉ One, 8pm
Most of us prepare for Paddy’s Day by stocking up on soakage, but chef and broadcaster Catherine Fulvio is getting ready for our national holiday by taking a spiritual journey along St Patrick’s Way, a 132km camino winding through counties Armagh and Down, and ending up at St Patrick’s final resting place in Downpatrick. This famous pilgrims' walk takes Fulvio past some stunning scenery steeped in history and myth, with lots of local culture, food and drink along the way to refresh the mind and body. In the first of two parts, Fulvio takes a tour of the historic town of Armagh with local guide Donna Fox, then explores Gosford Forest Park in the company of Darren Rice, ending her day with some forest bathing in the Ring of Gullion. In episode two, on Friday, Fulvio takes the Co Down leg of the journey, with the Mourne Mountains in the background, crossing Spelga Dam and traversing Tollymore Forest Park on her way to Downpatrick and Strangford Lough.
Ten Pound Poms
Sunday, BBC One, 8pm
In the years following the second World War, many working-class Britons longed to get away from their damp council estates and start a new life in the sun. When the Australian government, desperate for people to boost the workforce, announced an assisted passage scheme that would allow Britons to up sticks and head to a life of luxury down under for just a tenner, many were on the boat to Oz faster than you could say “fair dinkum”. When they reached the promised land, however, they found the reality was not so idyllic: they were treated like migrant workers, living in Nissen huts and earning a pittance for long hours' labour. Series two of Ten Pound Poms continues the story, as nurse Kate Thorne (Michelle Keegan) sets out to create a future following her search for her missing son, and Terry and Annie Roberts (Warren Brown and Faye Marsay) and their family endeavour to make the most of the opportunities to build a better life in a strange land. It all looks a bit like a 1950s travel brochure, but the poms-in-paradise setting has clicked with viewers.
Neil Martin: Bóthar an Cheoil
Sunday, BBC Two, 10pm
Belfast composer and musician Neil Martin has seen his work performed in some unusual venues: Ground Zero in New York, the Mostar Bridge in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the International Space Station. Kinda makes the Ulster Hall seem a bit underwhelming. Martin is also a member of the experimental West Ocean String Quartet, with Niamh Crowley, Seamus McGuire and Kenneth Rice, and this film follows the quartet as they prepare for a concert in Letterkenny to celebrate 25 years together.
Chess Masters: The Endgame
Monday, BBC Two, 8pm
Prepare to be at the edge of your seat as Sue Perkins hosts this brain-scrambling tournament featuring 12 amateur chess players facing off in a series of heats and knock-out rounds, with just one winner left on the chessboard at the end of it all. All 12 contestants are passionate about the world’s oldest game, but passion alone won’t cut it in this arena, says Perkins. “It’s all about psychology, strategy, smart thinking, and nerves of steel. Chess that is, not my job,” says the presenter. Joining her to make sense of the chess action for us draughts players are British chess grandmaster David Howell and chess coach Anthony Mathurin. Mathurin has knowledge of being a piece in a high-stakes game of chess, having previously been a contestant on Traitors.
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Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway
Monday, Channel 4, 9pm
People in Wales were intrigued and a bit puzzled by social media posts claiming that the Welsh actor Michael Sheen had paid off personal debts of hundreds of Welsh families struggling with the cost of living. Was this some online scam? No, it was true: Sheen had used £1 million of his own money to give some financial relief to those dealing with crushing debt, and had kept his act of benevolence under the radar, and this documentary shows how Sheen has been campaigning for years for a fairer credit system that gives lower-income families an equal shot at improving their lives. The actor bought people’s debts and then wrote them off to highlight how big banks and faceless finance companies profit from tying up vulnerable people in a lifelong cycle of paying back their debt.
What We Do in the Shadows
Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm
Matt Berry stars in series five of the bat-on-the-wall comedy doc following the gruesome goings-on inside a vampire apartment on Staten Island. The series takes an up-close look a the every-night lives of vampire flatmates in modern-day New York as they try to work the telly remote control and bicker over the last carton of human blood in the fridge. Berry plays the dashing blood-sucking immortal Laszlo, with Kayvan Novak as Nandor the Relentless, Harvey Guillén as Nandor’s human helper Guillermo (who longs to be made a full vampire), Natasia Demetriou as vampire matriarch Nadja and Mark Proksch as “energy vampire” Colin Robinson. In episode one, the vampires celebrate Guillermo’s birthday with a visit to a steakhouse, and then discover a strange place called “the mall”.
The Complaints Bureau
Thursday, RTÉ One, 7pm
It’s a never-ending battle getting recompense from big companies for selling us faulty goods or sub-standard services. Consumers seeking redress are faced with stubbornness, bureaucracy, and an automated voice repeating “your call is important to us”. Luckily, The Complaints Bureau is back for another series advocating for ordinary people trying to exercise their consumer rights, and there’s another stuffed caseload awaiting the team of Conor Pope, Amy Molloy and Siobhán Maguire. In this first episode, Irish Times journalist Pope, who writes our weekly Pricewatch column, investigates the mystery of the missing rental car, while Maguire meets Eamon and Bernadette Byrne, who bought a new car and discovered that its display system wouldn’t display. And Molloy meets Luke and Orla Mills, at their wits' end due to a defective front door and a reluctant builder.
Steven McRae: Dancing Back to the Light
Friday, BBC Two, 9pm
Steven McRae is the principal dancer at Britain’s Royal Ballet, but six years ago it looked like his career was about to come to an abrupt end after his Achilles tendon ruptured during a live performance at the Royal Opera House. The Australian ballet and tap dancer was hailed as a “semi-god” in the ballet world, but this catastrophic injury meant he had no idea if he would ever dance again. So began a long, demanding journey to recovery and rehabilitation, captured on this inspiring film directed by Stéphane Carrel, as McRae worked hard to get back to full strength and resume his glittering dance career, and focused on breaking taboos in the ballet world about injury and mental health.
Streaming
Temptation Island
From Wednesday, March 12th, Netflix
It’s a holiday hazard: there you are relaxing by the pool when a bunch of hunks and honeys sidle up and try to tempt you to cheat on your partner. (I usually bring a large fly-swatter to beat them off.) In this saucy game series, four couples who are teetering between committing and cutting loose arrive on an idyllic tropical island, where they are immediately separated and thrown in among a group of hot singletons with just one thing on their minds. The 24 tempters and temptresses have no compunction about breaking up relationships, and they’ll shamelessly use all their charm and sex appeal to lure their prey offside. It’s the ultimate test of a relationship. (Actually, choosing kitchen cabinets is the ultimate test.) Will the couples heed the siren call of seduction or ignore the invitation to infidelity? As usual, presenter Mark L Walberg presides over this sun-drenched pheromone fest.
The Wheel of Time
From Thursday, March 13th, Prime Video
It’s not easy being a humble farm boy. One minute you’re mucking out the pigsty, and next thing you’re revealed as the Dragon Reborn, and the fate of the entire world rests in your calloused hands. In series three of the epic adventure based on the best-selling fantasy series by Robert Jordan, former agricultural worker Rand al’Thor has reunited with his friends following his victory over Ishamael. But he’s not home free yet, not by a long shot. The White Tower is still divided, the Black Ajah are still at large, and the Forsaken are closing in on Rand. But as his power grows, his friends don’t recognise him any more, and his close allies Moraine and Egwene must join forces to stop Rand turning to the dark side. Rosamund Pike returns as Moraine, Josha Stradowski as Rand and Madeleine Madden as Egwene.
Dope Thief
From Friday, March 14th, Apple TV+
Ray and Manny are best pals and petty criminals knocking about in Philadelphia, but friendship doesn’t pay the bills, so the delinquent duo come up with a foolproof plan to get rich quick: dress up as DEA agents and carry out a drug bust, keeping the confiscated stash and cash for themselves. No surprise that their targets turn out to be part of the biggest drug cartel around, and they’ve vowed revenge on Ray, Manny and everybody they know and love. Wagner Moura, from Narcos, stars as Manny, alongside Brian Tyree Henry as Ray, in a series based on the novel by Dennis Tafoya and executive produced by Ridley Scott. Look out for Kate Mulgrew from Orange Is the New Black and Ving Rhames from Mission: Impossible.
