TV picks for Monday January 28
An investigation into Ireland's gambling problem; how the largest house in America became the ultimate money pit; and Inspector Lewis is back among the dreaming spires of Oxford. Here are today's top telly picks.
Reality Bites: The Gambling Gene, RTÉ Two, 9.30pm
Ireland is in the middle of a gambling explosion. Online betting is leading the way – with the market here worth a staggering €2bn a year. So do the Irish, uniquely in Europe, have a gambling gene? Journalist Joe O’Shea is not primed with the gambling gene but he is intrigued and in this one-hour documentary he makes a journey into the heart of a betting nation. Joe sneaks behind the scenes at Paddy Power’s Clonskeagh headquarters to reveal the secrets of success at one of Ireland’s most profitable companies. He goes racing in Clonmel with fellow journalist Declan Lynch, whose book Free Money catalogues the temptations and threats of online gambling. He then tries his luck against some of Europe’s leading poker players in an international tournament.
Joe also journeys to the dark side of betting with Oisín McConville, one of GAA’s most successful players, who at the height of his fame fought a chronic gambling addiction. Finally, he meets with one of the world’s most famous risk takers - Nick Leeson, the man who broke Barings Bank in 1995 with his reckless trading.
The Queen of Versailles, BBC Four, 10.00pm
Meet Jackie and David Siegel – a former beauty queen and her billionaire husband who are triumphantly building their dream home in Florida. Once finished, it’ll be the largest house in America – a 90,000-square-foot super-mansion modelled on the Palace of Versailles, replete with 30 bathrooms, 10 kitchens, a sushi bar, bowling alley, skating rink, baseball park and ballroom. And then the economic crisis hits, and the rarefied world of a truly unique family is turned upside down.
In the face of the worst economic crisis in decades, this rags-to-riches tale takes a tumble as Jackie, David, their eight children, maids, dogs, employees and business associates struggle to keep David’s time-share business afloat and finish their dream home. With the epic dimensions of a Shakespearean tragedy, this is the story of a couple who dared to dream big but lose, in a film that exposes the virtues and flaws of the American Dream.
Lewis: The Ramblin' Boy, ITV, 9.00pm
Hard to believe, but this is the seventh series of Lewis, the series following the investigations of the titular sleuth and former sidekick of the late, great Inspector Morse. Kevin Whately stars as Lewis and Laurence Fox is his partner, DS James Hathaway. As ever, the pair investigate murders against the backdrop of the ancient city of Oxford. Clare Holman also returns as Dr Laura Hobson, and the great Rebecca Front as Chief Superintendent Innocent.
Alan Corr
