Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult are back in The Great, Helen Mirren is the focus of The South Bank Show, Germany take on France in the Euros, and seafood’s on the menu in Paul Flynn's Food Truck Favourites . . .
Pick of the Day
The Great, 10.00pm, Channel 4
Huzzah!!!!
Please, please, please let this new run be as good as it was last time around.
This period dramedy from the makers of The Favourite was a delight as it took delightful liberties with the story of legendary Russian monarch Catherine the Great.
Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult are pitch-perfect as schemer/dreamer Catherine and her hilariously narcissistic hubby Peter.
As the second season opens, pregnant Catherine has taken the Russian throne.
It’s four months after she launched a coup against her husband, and she’s gaining the upper hand in her war against Peter.
But the fact that he is deeply in love with Catherine and their unborn child does little to dissuade her from making his throne her own.
Don’t Miss
The South Bank Show, 10.00pm, Sky Arts
Streaming on NOW
Helen Mirren (below) is one of the best-known and most respected actresses in the world, with a career that spans over 30 years.
Here, she joins Melvyn Bragg to discuss her diverse and prolific career across theatre, film, and television, exploring the broad range of work she’s been involved in over the years.
That includes her early days at the Royal Shakespeare Company, her various successes on the big and small screen, up to her extraordinary Oscar-winning performance in The Queen.
Euro 2022, 7.30pm, RTÉ2/BBC One
Peter Collins presents coverage of the second semi-final, which sees Germany take on France (KO 8.00pm) comes from Stadium MK in Milton Keynes.
Record eight-time champions Germany secured their place in the quarter-finals with a game to spare and prevailed 2-0 against Austria in what was a tighter game than the scoreline suggests.
The French finished top of a group containing Belgium, Iceland and Italy and eventually prevailed 1-0 against holders the Netherlands in the last eight thanks to Eve Perisset's extra-time penalty.
Tonight’s game comes with analysis from Stephanie Roche and Lisa Fallon, and commentary by Des Curran and Stephen Kelly.
Paul Flynn's Food Truck Favourites, 8.00pm, RTÉ One
This week sees chef Paul Flynn hitting the road in search of trucks serving great seafood.
In Wicklow, he pays a visit to the Salty Buoy food truck to try a smashed fish burger and an oozing hake kiev.
He also makes monkfish and chorizo brochettes and creates his ultimate seafood roll, serving them up from his own food truck at Fota Wildlife Park in Cork.
George Clarke’s Remarkable Renovations, 9.00pm, Channel 4
Another fascinating and maybe even inspiring tale of people making their dream home become a reality.
This week George meets Peter and Julia, who had run their local Post Office and lived in the building above it for the last 20 years.
Despite being forced to close the doors to the business, they felt such a connection with the building that they couldn't bear to sell it.
But as soon as work began on the conversion, they discovered a crumbling wreck, falling apart at the seams.
New or Returning Shows
Colin Baker Remembers: The Roads to Freedom, 10.00pm, BBC Four
The actor looks back on one of his earliest TV roles (before he became Doctor Who), and discusses the significance of the acclaimed 13-part drama series The Roads to Freedom.
Following at 10.05pm, the series -which is being shown on television for the first time since 1977 as part of the BBC's Centenary celebrations - is based on the novels by Jean-Paul Sartre and set in Nazi-occupied France.
It's been described as an amazing, potent and subversive viewing experience that saw taboos broken with every weekly broadcast.
That assessment can now be tested by first-time viewers, as well those who saw it at the time and who have long campaigned for the BBC to screen it again.
Episodes two and three follow at 10.50pm and 11.35pm.
Secrets of the Lost Liners, 10.00pm, Sky History
Streaming on NOW
This promises to be an in-depth series exploring the stories of the world's greatest ocean liners lost through war, mishap and human error.
The Normandie was the most expensive and extravagant ocean liner ever built. A symbol of French national pride, her designer was in fact a brilliant Russian immigrant.
But even he could not stop fire destroying his art deco masterpiece in 1942.
Was her demise in New York during the Second World War an accident though, or was it Nazi sabotage?
New to Stream
Under the Banner of Heaven, Disney+
This series is inspired by the true crime best-seller by Jon Krakauer, which follows the events that led to the 1984 murder of Brenda Wright Lafferty and her baby daughter in Salt Lake Valley, Utah.
As Detective Jeb Pyre investigates events that transpired within the Lafferty family, he uncovers buried truths about the origins of the LDS religion and the violent consequences of unyielding faith.
What Pyre, a devout Mormon, unearths leads him to question his own faith.
The Most Hated Man on the Internet, Netflix
This new documentary series chronicles a mother's crusade against the ruthless owner of a porn site.
Dream Home Makeover: Season 3, Netflix
Syd and Shea welcome the newest McGee while making their clients' dreams - anything from a work-from-home oasis to a stylish wine room - come true.
