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
Mosaic, 10.00pm Saturday, Sky Atlantic & NOW TV
Steven Soderbergh directs this HBO thriller starring Hollywood icon Sharon Stone as Olivia Lake, a children's book author and illustrator.
Focusing on the New Year’s disappearance of Lake, a high-profile resident of a picturesque rural town in Utah, the story is set over the course of four years as law-enforcement officers and civilians eventually arrive at the truth behind the sinister occurrence.
When Mosaic was originally released by HBO in the USA, it was available as an iOS/Android mobile app as well as a six-part TV drama. The latter contained largely the same content as the app, but without the interactivity or the ability to research documents, and is slightly shorter.
New or Returning Shows
Room to Improve, 9.30pm Sunday, RTÉ One
Country music legend Daniel O’Donnell and his wife Majella share a large four-bed detached home in Kincasslagh, west Donegal.
Unlike Daniel, who’s fairly happy with the place, Majella is keen to upgrade and reconfigure the interior. With her husband on tour, she’s determined to get the very best from her architect, Dermot Bannon.
He plans to unify three ground floor rooms to create a huge open plan kitchen and living area, overlooked by a mezzanine library. He impresses with an enlarged double height south facing window, but not so with his vision of wooden floors and a huge exterior floating deck.
Saoirse Ronan: The Story So Far, 8.00pm Friday, TV3
Thrice Oscar-nominated Irish actress Saoirse Ronan chats to Karen Koster in this exclusive interview.
She talks about catching the acting bug, growing up in the spotlight as she attended school in Carlow, the influence of her parents on how her career has progressed, and her future plans, from children to the roles she’d love to play.
Ronan also opens up about her latest role which has landed her an Oscar nomination, coming of age story Lady Bird.
Hold the Sunset, 7.30pm Sunday, BBC One
Here's a new sitcom starring the legendary John Cleese, of Fawlty Towers and Monty Python fame. No pressure, then.
For Edith (Alison Steadman), life is pretty good. She's been a widow for some years now, but her children live locally and drop by regularly, and she enjoys daily visits from Phil (Cleese), an old boyfriend who now lives across the road.
Phil dreams of marrying Edith, and the pair of them upping sticks and moving abroad to the sunshine. But just after she finally says yes, her 50 year-old son Roger arrives, looking to rebuild his life.
The IFTA Film and Drama Awards, 10.45pm Saturday, RTÉ One
Highlights of the annual bash, this year held at Dublin's Mansion House, as The Irish Academy Awards celebrate and honour the very best in Film, Television Drama, Feature Documentary, Live Action Short and Animation.
British Academy Film Awards, 9.00pm Sunday, BBC One
Joanna Lumley hosts the British Academy Film Awards live from the Royal Albert Hall in London. Nominees include Gary Oldman, Octavia Spencer, Hugh Grant, Margot Robbie, Daniel Kaluuya, Sam Rockwell and Frances McDormand.
Films up for awards include Darkest Hour, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, Call Me By Your Name and The Shape of Water.
First Dates: Valentine's Special, 9.00pm Friday, Channel 4
Fred Sirieix and the team welcome hopeful daters to the First Dates restaurant for a Valentine's special.
For starters, blonde bombshell Dominique is looking for a man as chatty as she is and who can accept her just the way she is - including her loud laugh. Her date, mortgage advisor Buddy, is the apple of his nana's eye and is looking for someone special to whisk off on a romantic adventure.
Troy: Fall of a City, 9.10pm Saturday, BBC One
Told from the perspective of the Trojan family at the heart of the siege, this promises to be an epic story of love, intrigue, betrayal and belonging.
Following a fateful encounter with the gods, the life of young herdsman Paris (Louis Hunter) changes forever. At the Troy city games he discovers something extraordinary about himself.
The First Brit: Secrets of the 10,000 Year Old Man, 8.00pm Sunday, Channel 4
A team of top scientists at the Natural History Museum and University College London have analysed the DNA of Britain's oldest complete skeleton.
Known as Cheddar Man, this human male fossil was originally unearthed over 100 years ago in Gough's Cave in Cheddar Gorge, Somerset.
You may recall that he recently made the news by virtue of having dark skin.
Homeland, 9.00pm Sunday, Channel 4
If you missed this season seven opener last Thursday on RTÉ 2, here it is again.
As the show resumes, Carrie and Franny are living with Maggie's family in DC, Saul and the 200 other federal employees detained after the attempt on the President-elect's life are still in prison, and President Keane's administration is under scrutiny.
Life and Death Row, 9.00pm Sunday, BBC Two
Here's a documentary series about the historic execution of eight men in ten days scheduled in Arkansas, USA.
The reason for the unprecedented timetable is to use up the state's supply of a lethal injection drug called midazolam before it expires.
Ending this weekend
Dragons' Den, 8.00pm Sunday, BBC Two
The Den doors open for the last time this series as the multimillionaire Dragons Deborah Meaden, Peter Jones, Touker Suleyman, Tej Lalvani and Jenny Campbell take their seats.
From transforming kids' toothbrushes into mobile game controllers to a revolutionary device for relieving back pain, and a Scottish-inspired gin, the choice is certainly varied.
Nigel Slater's Middle East, 9.30pm Friday, BBC Two
Nigel Slater’s latest food adventure concludes with a visit to Iran, to discover the secrets of Persian food, one of the oldest and most influential cuisines in the world.
He begins his journey in the bustling capital Tehran, where he is invited into the homes of people who cook dishes that have been passed down through the generations.
QI XL, 9.15pm Saturday, BBC Two
Sandi Toksvig ventures overseas with Bill Bailey, Colin Lane, Desiree Burch and Alan Davies to find out about Allotment Annies, who keeps their brothers in a cage, and much else besides.
New to Download
Everything Sucks! Netflix, from Friday
Two groups of high school misfits - the AV club and the drama club - collide in this quirky coming-of-age story set in 1996 Oregon.
Set in the real life town of Boring, this is a quirky, funny coming of age story that revolves around two crews of nerdy-edgy outsiders, who join forces to make a movie and endure the purgatory known as high school.
First Team: Juventus, from Friday
I'll be having a bit of this! Here's a six-part docu-series about Italian football giants Juventus, following the most compelling stories and characters in the club during the 2017-2018 season.
Fans worldwide will have behind-the-scenes access to the Turin club, and to players such as Giorgio Chiellini, Douglas Costa, Gonzalo Higuaín, Miralem Pjanic and Gianluigi Buffon.
Don't Miss
Imagine . . . 10.00pm Saturday, BBC Two
In the latest of his occasional series of biographical documentaries, Alan Yentob visits the American actor, writer and director Mel Brooks at his home in Hollywood.
Here's the great man on Jonathan Ross:
Chat Show Line-ups
The Late Late Show, 9.35pm Friday, RTÉ One
Ryan Tubridy's guests this week are actor Gabriel Byrne, politician Mary Lou McDonald, Outlander star Caitriona Balfe and architect Dermot Bannon.
The Graham Norton Show, 10.35pm Friday, BBC One/10.30pm Saturday, TV3
Joining Graham on the sofa tonight are Margot Robbie, Allison Janney, and Alicia Vikander. Rounding off the ladies night is Camila Cabello, who performs Havana live.
The Ray D’Arcy Show, 9.45pm Saturday, RTÉ One
The Hothouse Flowers, Sr Stan, model Alannah Beirne and her rugby star brother Tadhg, who's a contestant in Dancing with the Stars, compete the line-up.
Weekend movies
The Third Man, 2.15pm Saturday, BBC Two
Popular cinema really doesn't get much better than this superb post-WWII thriller, directed by Carol Reed, written by Graham Greene and starring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten and the city of Vienna.
It's magnificent.
Also . . .
Two other greats on this weekend: Saoirse Ronan in Atonement (Saturday, Sky Cinema Greats) and Mel Brooks' hilarious spoof Young Frankenstein (Saturday, BBC Two).
Box Set Binge
Teachers Seasons 1-4, All 4
Not to be confused with the current US sitcom of the same name. Here, Andrew Lincoln (The Walking Dead, This Life) stars in this hugely enjoyable dramedy from 2001-4 following the chaotic lives, loves and drinking sessions of a group of hapless teachers.
The first season centres heavily around probationary teacher Simon Casey (Lincoln), while later runs have an ensemble approach. The cast changes dramatically over time, with few original characters remaining by the final season.
