Bank Holiday viewing includes Ireland 100: An Old Song Re-Sung, the return of period drama The Gilded Age, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, and a tribute to the late great fiddle player Seán Keane . . .
Pick of the Day
Ireland 100: An Old Song Re-Sung, 9.30pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
This special commemorates, in performance, song, music, dance, and spoken word, the hundred years from 1923 - 2023 through the lens of Irish culture.
On October 7th last at the RDS in Dublin, an audience of 1500 gathered to watch Ireland 100: An Old Song Re-Sung, in which a cast of 100 of Ireland’s most creative performers, writers and broadcasters assembled to present a broad-ranging live entertainment event.
Featured artists and contributors include: Dermot Kennedy, Damien Dempsey, Diarmaid Ferriter, Tolü Makay, Colm Mac Con Iomaire and Síle Denvir with Bláth na hÓige and Liam Ó Maonlaí, Paula Meehan, Iarla Ó Lionáird, Dónal Lunny and friends, Eamonn McCann, FeliSpeaks, the London Irish Elders Choir and more.
Woven into the show are key themes of the free state/republic’s100-year story of achievement, failure, challenge, and change. Human experience and identity – and the cultural and artistic response to these events – are at the heart of the show.
A full version of the live show will also be available exclusively on RTÉ Player and a special two-hour show for RTÉ Radio One will also play simultaneously tonight at 9.30pm.
Don’t Miss
Cloch Le Carn, 6.30pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
A special edition celebrating the life and times of Seán Keane, the fiddle maestro and a member of the Chieftains from 1968 until 2002.
Featuring contributions from his brother James, fellow Chieftain Matt Molloy and musical friends Noel Hill, Paddy Glackin, Seán Potts and Liam O'Connor. In Irish.
Love in the Country, 9.30pm, RTÉ2
Streaming on RTÉ Player
George Quirke has a welcome dinner for his potential partners when they arrive at Carlow. In the morning he leads them in meditation and plays his didgeridoo.
Jano Evans goes on a candlelight dinner with Morgan Swann, and Anna Geary meets the final rural singleton, cafe owner Edwina Walshe from Mayo.
Bank Holiday Movies
The Seven Year Itch, 3.30pm, TG4
Billy Wilder's comedy, starring Marilyn Monroe (below) and Tom Ewell, is probably best remembered for Monroe’s legendary Subway scene, which brought Manhattan to a standstill.
Ewell is great as a bored publisher who revels in his new-found freedom after his wife and son go away to the country to escape the stifling New York City summer.
When a beautiful but naive actress (guess who?) moves in upstairs, he is tempted to turn his fantasies of an affair with her into reality.
But even in his dreams, his conscience has a way of tripping him up.
I wouldn’t put this in Wilder’s top ten - his celluloid CV is staggering - but it’s still a good yarn.
Se7en, 10.00pm, Virgin Media One
David Fincher's thriller, starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman (both below), Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey. An old-school detective and his headstrong new partner discover a connection between two unusually horrific murders.
They then realise they are on the trail of a serial killer who deems his victims to be each guilty of one of the seven deadly sins.
But the longer the cops pursue the murderer, the more twisted and disturbing the slayings become.
New or Returning Shows
The Gilded Age, 9.00pm, Sky Atlantic
The return of the sumptuous period drama, starring Carrie Coon and Louisa Jacobson.
It is Easter morning 1883 and Bertha Russell receives news that her bid for a box at the Academy of Music has been rejected.
The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, 9.00pm, Sky Arts
This is the National Theatre of Scotland's retelling of RL Stevenson's gothic tale.
Concerned by Dr Jekyll's behaviour, Gabriel Utterson works to uncover the identity of the dangerous Mr Hyde.
Rhod Gilbert: A Pain in the Neck for SU2C, 9.00pm, Channel 4
The comedian documents his life living with head and neck cancer over the course of 18 months, from diagnosis, through initial surgery, to chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
On top of everything he's dealing with, Rhod undertakes a personal challenge, not only to raise awareness of his condition and how it can be prevented in the future, but also to raise funds for the cancer hospital that played a pivotal role in saving his life.
The Detectives: Taking Down an OCG, 9.00pm, BBC Two
Documentary following a specialist police unit over an extraordinary two-year operation to take down Rochdale's most significant organised crime group.
When tree surgeons attempt to intervene in a road rage incident on Rochdale's Newbold Estate, the dispute escalates and one of the group is attacked with an axe, his hand almost severed.
It soon emerges that the main suspects in the incidents are members of a notorious local gang known as the ADAM, and the case is passed to Detective Sergeant Martin Soutter and his small team of specialist officers.
They uncover a sophisticated criminal network involved in major drug dealing, widespread grooming of children to deal drugs, witness intimidation and suspected money laundering.
Gremlins: The Secrets of the Mogwai, 7.00pm, BBC Three
Animated series based on the movie. A boy rescues a strange creature from a circus, and is pulled into a strange new world of magic
In episode two at 7.20pm, Sam is torn between his promise of keeping Gizmo safe or returning to his normal life - a choice that is complicated further by an alliance with street thief Elle.
