There's a state of the nation under Covid-19 special in The Next Normal, Dundalk face a Europa League play-off, there’s The Apprentice Best Bits, and First Dates returns to Channel 4 . . .
Pick of the Day
The Next Normal, 9.35pm, RTÉ One
Here’s RTÉ's state of the nation survey, presented by Miriam O'Callaghan and Mark Coughlan.
Six months into the Covid crisis, RTÉ undertook a national poll to understand and reflect how we feel as a people, how we see our future and priorities.
The comprehensive survey examines how people across the country, ages 12 and up, have adapted and gauges their outlook in areas such as mental and physical health, the economy, finances, family and going back to work and school.
The findings will be revealed and discussed in this special broadcast and with further coverage and programming on 2FM, Radio 1 and RTÉ.ie.
Don't Miss
Live Europa League, 7.00pm, RTÉ2
Dundalk face KI Klaksvik (Kick-off 7.30pm) in the play-off round for the Europa League group stages which takes place at Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.
The Lilywhites are aiming to become the first Irish club to make the group stages for a second time - but their Faroese opponents will be no pushovers, as they defeated Dinamo Tblisi 6-1 in the previous round.
Frankie Boyle’s New World Order, 10.00pm, BBC Two
Potty-mouthed and occasionally controversial Scottish comic Frankie Boyle makes a string of bold and often outrageous statements which he then picks apart with the help of Miles Jupp, Kiri Pritchard-McLean and Jamali Maddix.
There’s an Irish angle this week, as his guests include Blindboy Boatclub (below) of Rubberbandits fame.
Motherland, 9.30pm, BBC Two
This is a repeat, but it’s a great episode of the excellent comedy about motherhood, made more topical due to so many of us having to work from home these days.
Julia finds that working from home is impossible due to all the tasks she has to do for her family.
Meg tells her this is her 'mother’s load' - all the things that no-one else will do but that need to be done to keep the home running.
Julia removes herself to the local cafe, but even there finds it’s not that easy to get her work done. A possible solution presents itself when she shares a table with a fellow freelancer.
Atlanta, 12.30am, BBC Two
Another repeat that’s worth highlighting, because this is pure, demented genius.
Atlanta has been one of the most impressive new shows of recent years, and this is quite possibly the best moment so far for Donald Glover’s quirky comedy.
Darius goes to pick up a free piano from a large, strange house out of town and meets the piano's creepy and unsettling owner, Theodore Perkins, who seems more interested in having a conversation.
Talking Pictures, 10.10pm, BBC Four
To this day, Alfred Hitchcock is looked on as one of cinema's best and most influential directors. But how did the stars of his films finding working with the great man?
To some he was 'the master', to others 'the manipulator'. Here, Talking Pictures explores the relationship between Hitch and his leading actors, using rarely seen interviews of the man himself and a line-up that includes Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren, Joan Fontaine, Janet Leigh and Sean Connery.
New or Returning Shows
The Apprentice Best Bits, 9.00pm, BBC One
Over the last 15 years, we’ve met hundreds of largely useless but hilariously desperate candidates, and there’s a select few that are utterly unforgettable.
This episode looks back fondly at the bossy boots, the wheeler dealers, the jokers and the walking egos that we’ve loved and sometimes loved to loath.
First Dates, 10.00pm, Channel 4
Maître D' Fred Sirieix and his team fling open the doors of the restaurant of romance once more.
And first in is self-confessed party animal Nikita, a 24-year-old from Swansea who's hunting for someone just as wild.
She gets a little more than she bargained for when engineer Rhys reveals a rather intimate tattoo.
Walk Against Far: James Meredith, 9.00pm, Smithsonian
One of the most controversial icons of the Civil Rights movement, James Meredith's actions saw him exert pressure on the Kennedy administration to enforce such rights.
In 1966, he was shot during his solo 220-mile March Against Fear, though survived the attack.
Ending Today
Return of the Wild: The Bearman of Buncrana, 8.30pm, RTÉ One
In this final episode, the staff prepare to open the park, welcoming the bears from Belgium and introducing three wolves to their habitat. But Naoise the lynx is a little timid.
The Russell Howard Hour, 10.00pm, Sky One & NOW TV
Russell Howard trawls through the week’s biggest stories in his quest to find something remotely redeemable about 2020, as well as learning some more Life Lessons and sitting down for a chat with one of his very special guests.
