Tonight's picks include Clannad and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, The Queens of Pop: Viva La Diva, Matt Damon, Montalbano – and a tribute to Ronnie Drew on The Heart of Saturday Night . . .
Pick of the Day
Retrospective - Clannad and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, 10.35pm, RTÉ One
Celebrating an incredible 50 years in showbusiness, here’s Clannad - in the company of the RTÉ Concert Orchestra and conductor David Brophy.
They’ll perform new arrangements of several of the Donegal group’s landmark songs including Harry’s Game, In a Lifetime and I Will Find You.
Also: in conversation with presenter John Kelly, the band reveal some of the stories behind their classics and their remarkable career.
Don’t Miss
The Heart of Saturday Night, 9.35pm, RTÉ One
This week, Una Healy and Loah introduce performances by Damien Dempsey, John and Ceoladh Sheahan and Saint Sister, as well a tribute to Ronnie Drew by Phelim Drew, John Sheahan (above) and the Mary Wallopers.
Inspector Montalbano, 9.00pm, BBC Four
More Sicilian crime-catching and lunch-scoffing with Luca Zingaretti (below) and co.
A Swedish film unit arrives to shoot a period drama in Vigata, and Augello immediately takes a shine to the production's female lead.
When Montalbano intervenes in a case of bullying at a local school, a resident asks the inspector to unearth the story behind a collection of mysterious home movies found in his dead father's attic.
New or Returning Shows
The Queens of Pop: Viva La Diva, 9.30pm, BBC Two
Ana Matronic (below) explores the key elements that have shaped the identities and sounds of Beyoncé, Cher, Grace Jones, Madonna and Mariah Carey, investigating the lives and legacies of these five pop superstars.
The Scissor Sisters singer unpicks their triumphs and tragedies to get a better understanding of what makes them so special, before setting out what a diva might look like in the future.
Followed at 10.30pm by Queens of Song at the BBC, which features performances by the likes of Whitney Houston, Beyonce, Mariah Carey, Grace Jones, Cher, Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Diana Ross and Adele.
Southern Journey (Revisited), 9.00pm, Sky Arts
Streaming on NOW TV
Exploring the truths behind the stereotypes of the Southern USA, this is both a music documentary and a road movie.
Set against the incendiary backdrop of the 2018 mid-term elections, and accompanied by a soundtrack of blues and bluegrass, hollers and spirituals, the film retraces the route of an iconic song-collecting trip from the late 1950s – Alan Lomax’s so-called Southern Journey.
The film travels the back roads of the rural South, and while the focus is on the transcendental roots music of the region.
It also contradicts the many reductive stereotypes about the region and offers insight into the historical injustices that underpin the Black Lives Matter movement.
Today at the Olympics
Tokyo 2020: Today at the Games, 7.30pm, RTÉ2
Highlights as 23 gold medals were handed out on the penultimate day of the Tokyo Olympics, as track and field events drew to a close at the Olympic Stadium.
Always high points of the Games, the men's basketball and football finals took place, while four boxing gold medal bouts were also a feature.
New to Stream
Two by Two: Overboard!, Sky Cinema & NOW TV
Second helping of eye-frazzling, animated antics from the Ark-based, castaway critters.
Noah’s ark drifts on the open seas, with best friends Finny and Leah on board. But, after weeks with no land in sight, food stocks are running low.
The fragile peace between carnivores and herbivores could break any second.
After a series of unfortunate events, the kids find themselves inadvertently washed overboard – along with the last of the food supplies.
Saturday Night Cinema
The Bourne Ultimatum, 9.00pm, RTÉ2
Here’s the third instalment of the spy thriller series, directed by Paul Greengrass and starring Matt Damon, Joan Allen, Julia Stiles, David Strathairn, Paddy Considine, Scott Glenn and Albert Finney.
Amnesiac rogue assassin Jason Bourne's long-buried memories are reawakened by a British journalist researching the secret organisation that was responsible for transforming him into a killing machine.
Meanwhile, a ruthless CIA director becomes convinced Bourne is still a security risk, and plans to dispose of him once and for all.
Family Flick
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, 6.35pm, RTÉ One
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Gary Oldman, Michael Gambon and Alan Rickman star in this fifth installment of JK Rowling's fantasy series about the eponymous young wizard.
This time around Harry struggles to convince his fellow sorcerers that the evil Lord Voldemort has returned to life.
When Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore is ousted in favour of a sadistic replacement, Harry realises he must take matters into his own hands, uniting his fellow pupils to form a secret army and training them for the inevitable confrontation to come.
Afternoon Delight
Meet Me in St Louis, 4.40pm, BBC Two
It’s early August – so here’s a Christmas movie.
The timing may be all wrong, but the film itself is pretty flawless, and worth watching just for the sheer exuberance of The Trolley Song, or the sweetly melancholic Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas.
The cast is great, but Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien are both outstanding as sisters in a tale about a banker who considers uprooting his close-knit family and moving to New York for a career opportunity.
His wife and children struggle with the prospect of leaving their contented lives and friends behind, and are further horrified when they realise they might miss out on the 1904 St Louis World's Fair.
