What's on? Top TV for the weekend

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

St Patrick's Festival Parade, 12.15pm Saturday, RTÉ One
Presented by Aidan Power, Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh and Des Cahill, the St Patrick's Day parade will weave its way through the heart of the capital city with customary colour and flair.
This year, Dubliner and Game of Thrones star Liam Cunningham has been selected as Grand Marshall to lead the parade. Community groups and pageant companies from all over Ireland will come together to celebrate the parade theme Home Is Where the Heart Is.
This year will also see over 2,000 band members from far and wide deliver dazzling rhythms and uplifting music that will reverberate throughout the streets of Dublin.

New or Returning Shows

Pilgrimage: the Road to Santiago, 9.00pm Friday, BBC Two
Actor Neil Morrissey, entertainer Debbie McGee, comedian Ed Byrne, singer Heather Small, priest Kate Bottley, journalist Raphael Rowe and TV presenter JJ Chalmers set out on the famous Camino de Santiago pilgrimage.
In this first episode, the intrepid seven arrive in Biarritz and make their way to the start of their pilgrimage, a small town in the foothills of the French Pyrenees, St-Jean-Pied-de-Port.
They are shown a copy of the ancient Codex Calixtinus, a medieval guide to the route, before heading to the Pilgrims' Office where they register and collect pilgrim passports, which they'll get stamped where ever they stop along the way.

Scruffts: Britain's Favourite Dog, 8.00pm Friday, Channel 4
Alan Carr follows the amazing stories of the six crossbreed dogs in the semi-finals of the Scruffts (no, it's not a typo) Family Crossbreed Dog of the Year competition.
Each finalist has its own unique story, from the sock-eating Child's Best Friend winner and re-homed star of stage and screen Golden Oldie, to homeless shelter therapy dog Honey.
Alan Carr talks to the owners of each of the finalists before the grand final at Crufts, and introduces viewers to his own Irish setters, Bev and Joyce.

Escape to the Chateau, 8.00pm Sunday, Channel 4
Dick and Angel Strawbridge continue their adventures in France for a fourth season.
It's three years since they swapped their flat in Southend for a dilapidated 19th century chateau in the Loire. The intrepid couple have made great strides, but there's still much left to do.
In this run, they take on the stables - destined to become home for Angel's parents - while continuing to grow their events business.

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Famously Unfit for Sports Relief, 9.00pm Sunday, BBC Two
Entertainer Les Dennis, presenter Susannah Constantine, actress Tameka Empson and comedian Miles Jupp as they embark on a muscle-grinding mission to regain their fitness, while trying to inspire the British public to do the same and get active for Sport Relief.
Over the course of ten weeks they'll run, climb and swim their way back to fitness, culminating in one of the UK's hardest and most demanding physical challenges, a muddy and exhausting assault course in freezing temperatures.

13 Commandments, 10.05pm Sunday, Channel 4
The subtitled Walter Presents strand continues with this Belgian crime drama.
Inspired by the Ten Commandments, a perpetrator commits a series of gruesome crimes hoping to jolt society's conscience with them.
Proclaiming himself as a modern-day Moses, he aims to restore moral standards and ruthlessly punishes those he considers transgressors.

Ending this weekend

Requiem, 9.00pm Friday, BBC One
A badly injured Sean makes it to Dean House to warn Matilda that she is in mortal danger. Matilda becomes increasingly worried about Davey's safety with neither of his parents around to protect him.
Meanwhile, Trudy pines after Hal and rues her harsh parting words, Graves grows suspicious of Kendrick and starts to wonder whether Matilda has been telling the truth all along.

New to Download

On My Block: Season 1, Netflix from Friday
This comedy series follows a diverse group of teenage friends as they confront the challenges of growing up in gritty inner-city Los Angeles.

Don't Miss

Dancing with the Stars, 6.30pm Sunday, RTÉ One
This week is the semi-final and the end is in sight for what's been a very competitive series of Dancing with the Stars.
With the theme being Irish week, the four remaining couples,whose quest for the glitter ball trophy is even closer in sight, will perform two individual dances each - one being to an Irish song.
Viewers will also be in for treat, when they'll get to see the world famous Riverdance troupe collaborating with the pro-dancers to create a brand new performance for the night.

Chat Show Line-ups

The Late Late Show, 9.35pm Friday, RTÉ One

The Force is with The Late Late Show on Friday night as the original Star Warssuperstar Mark Hamill joins Ryan Tubridy live in studio. Actor Liam Cunningham will also be in studio to chat about everything from leading off this year’s St Patrick’s Day Festival to the thing that television fans are eagerly awaiting and equally fearing – the end of mega-hit Game of Thrones. And Cork woman Samantha Barry who made headlines earlier this year when she was appointed the new editor-in-chief of US magazine Glamour will also be joining Tubs. Plus their will music from Don McLean and Jake Carter.

The Ray D’Arcy Show, 9.45pm Saturday, RTÉ One

Michael Lyster will be chatting to Ray about hanging up his microphone next year after his 35th season as presenter of The Sunday Game. Irish goalkeeper Darren Randolph will discuss what it’s like to work with Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane, and TV host Jerry Springer will chat to Ray about the enduring success of The Jerry Springer Show which, now in its 27th season, is still viewed by millions every day. He will also discuss his views on President Trump and why he thinks he should be on his show and not in The White House.

Weekend movies

I Went Down, 9.15pm Saturday, RTÉ 2
This is a marvellous film, written and directed by Paddy Breathnach, and starring Peter McDonald, Brendan Gleeson, and the late Tony Doyle.
It's a crime movie, gangster movie and a road movie all rolled into a glorious one and – like a Raymond Chandler pot-boiler -much of what happens is irrelevant. The dialogue is everything. Enjoy.

Also . . .

Brooklyn, 8.30pm Sunday, BBC One
Saoirse Ronan stars in this hugely enjoyable adaptation of Colm Tóibín's Novel about a girl who swaps 1950s' Wexford for the Big Apple.

Box Set Binge

Outcast: Seasons 1-2, from Friday, Sky Box Sets & NOW TV
Created by The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman, this spooky US drama follows Kyle Barnes (Gone Girl), a young man who has been plagued by demonic possession all his life.
Now, with the help of Reverend Anderson (Philip Glenister), a local preacher with personal demons of his own, Kyle embarks on a journey to find answers in the hope of leading a normal life.
But what Kyle discovers could change his fate, and the fate of the world.

What's on? Top TV for the weekend

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