If you're going no further than the sofa, here are some tips on what's worth watching on the box over the weekend. As ever, it’s a busy one...
Pick of the weekend
The Crown, from Friday, Netflix
While the opening season of this hugely successful period drama about the early years of the current British monarch focused on how Elizabeth, her family and country coped with the weight of the crown, things have moved on.
Season two sees Elizabeth - and to a lesser extent the whole British royal family - come to an uncomfortable understanding that the role of the monarchy in Britain has changed.
Starting in 1956 at the height of the Suez Crisis and ending with the resignation of Harold Macmillan in 1964 amid the Profumo scandal, this run spans a period in which Britain is hurtling towards the swinging sixties and with that, the end of the age of deference.
Stars Claire Foy, Matt Smith, Vanessa Kirby, Matthew Goode, Victoria Hamilton, Michael C Hall and Jodi Balfour.
New or Returning Shows
Attenborough and the Giant Elephant, 9.00pm Sunday, BBC One
David Attenborough investigates the remarkable life and death of Jumbo the elephant - a celebrity animal superstar whose story is said to have inspired the movie Dumbo.
Attenborough joins a team of scientists and conservationists to unravel the complex and mysterious story of this large African elephant - an elephant many believed to be the biggest in the world.
John Noakes: TV Hero, 5.30pm Saturday, BBC Two
This special documentary pays tribute to one of British TV’s true TV icons, by the people who knew him best.
Celebrating some of John Noakes’ finest moments, the film is an appreciation of the extraordinary master of derring-do, featuring often astonishing - and equally often hilarious - archive, both classic and less well-known.
Contributors include John’s wife of 55 years, Vicky; co-presenters Valerie Singleton, Peter Purves and Lesley Judd; along with legendary Blue Peter boss Biddy Baxter.
Would You Believe - The Secret of Christmas, 10.30pm Sunday, RTÉ One
Here are some topical, heart-warming and inspiring stories from across Ireland of people who bring meaning and magic to Christmas.
For example, Kate Durrant and her team of St Vincent de Paul volunteers and staff in Cork put together 2500 special Christmas hampers to ensure that nobody goes hungry in the Cork area during the festival season.
Pat Carey and his wife, Margaret, in Youghal, Co Cork, put up an amazing Christmas lights display around their house and garden and invite donations in aid of the Mercy Cancer Appeal.
Pat himself is a cancer survivor and for him, Christmas is all about living life to the full, giving to others and creating happiness for the people around him.
Ending this weekend
I’m a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! 9.00pm Sunday, TV3/UTV
They’ve survived camp life, living with each other and the dreaded Bushtucker Trials, but which of the finalists will you crown this year’s King or Queen of the Jungle?
As ever, Ant and Dec present as this year’s event comes to an end. Here's how it started:
Blue Planet, 8.00pm Sunday, BBC One
In this final episode, David Attenborough examines the impact of human life on life in the ocean.
With evidence of albatross parents unwittingly feed their chicks plastic, mother dolphins potentially exposing their new-born calves to pollutants through their contaminated milk, and even man-made noise drowning out the natural sounds animals use to communicate, many creatures are struggling to survive.
Despite these devastating impacts, this film contains an inspiring message of hope.
Fifty years ago Norwegian spring-spawning herring were almost wiped out. Today, the recovered herring stocks offer one of the greatest spectacles in the ocean, as hundreds of humpback whales and orca gather for the feast.
Know the Score, 7.30pm Sunday, RTÉ One
This week’s show features former Ulster, Ireland and Lions rugby forward Stephen Ferris, legend of Irish international football Jason McAteer and basketball, GAA and rugby star Lindsay Peat.
New to Download
El Camino Christmas, from Friday, Netflix
Stuck in a liquor store during an alleged robbery, a group of strangers share hidden truths and forms an unexpected bond on Christmas Eve. Stars Vincent D'Onofrio, Jessica Alba, Dax Shepard and Tim Allen.
Don't Miss
Dermot Bannon’s New York Homes, 9.30pm Sunday, RTÉ One
Dermot Bannon visits some incredible homes in the Big Apple including a skyscraper with a million dollar view; and a $35 million Hamptons super home with its own indoor basketball court, library and rooftop putting green.
Along the way Dermot soaks up the colour of New York and visits some of his favourite sights including the famous Flatiron building and the High Line.
Chat Show Line-ups
The Late Late Show, 9.35pm Friday, RTÉ One
Oscar-nominated actress Saoirse Ronan, The Corrs, The Coronas, Pat Short and two very poignant real-life stories. Plus the FULL line-up of Dancing with the Stars will be revealed.
The Graham Norton Show, 11.05pm Friday, BBC One & 10.15pm Saturday, TV3
Hollywood stars Jessica Chastain, Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Rebel Wilson, as well as British comedian and writer Dawn French, plus music from Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds.
The Ray D’Arcy Show, 9.55pm Saturday, RTÉ One
Dermot Bannon and Peter McVerry join Ray this Saturday plus he brings his heart-warming The Big Christmas Thank You - well known to his radio listeners - to television to surprise two lucky viewers who have made a massive difference to someone else's life.
Weekend movies
Gravity, 9.25pm Saturday, RTÉ2
Although you’d have to have a massive TV to even begin to appreciate the visual magnificence of this film, there’s still much to enjoy in this space-tastic yarn.
Directed, co-written, co-edited, and co-produced by Alfonso Cuarón, it stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as American astronauts who are stranded in space after the mid-orbit destruction of their space shuttle, and their subsequent attempt to return to Earth.
Also...
The Second Best Marigold Hotel, 9.00pm Sunday, Channel 4
Judi Dench, Bill Nighy, Dev Patel and Maggie Smith are among the returning all-star cast of director John Madden's sequel to the hit comedy-drama about ageing Brits seeking low-cost luxury retirement in India.
Unbroken, 11.30pm Sunday, Channel 4
Angelina Jolie's second outing as a director is a fact-based wartime drama, written by the Coen brothers and starring Jack O'Connell and Domhnall Gleeson.
Louis Zamperini (O'Connell) is a troubled youngster who develops into a star athlete and then signs up for the US Air Force in WWII. His plane crashes into the Pacific and things go from bad to worse.
Box Set Binge
Southcliffe, More4
Tony Grisoni's powerful and emotionally draining four-part drama starring Rory Kinnear tells the story of a fictional English town devastated by a spate of shootings that take place over a single day.
The series explores tragedy, grief, responsibility, and redemption, as seen through the eyes of a journalist (Kinnear) returning to the small town of his childhood to cover the story of the tragedy, and those closest to the victims of the tragedy.
It’s hard work, but it’s fantastic.
