Big Life Fix returns with more ingenious solutions to everyday problems, Josh Widdicombe and Alison Hammond are team captains on Rob Beckett's Smart TV, and Neven's Portuguese Food Trails comes to an end . . .
Pick of the Day
Big Life Fix, 9.35pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
Ireland’s leading inventors create ingenious solutions to everyday problems for extraordinary people.
The Big Life Fix team harnesses the power of science to create tailor-made inventions for individuals and families. Between them, they can build everything from space satellites to life saving medical devices and military hardware.
This incredible team includes Rocket Scientist David McKeown (UCD) Designer, Inventor Trevor Vaugh (Maynooth University), Software Engineer Niamh Stockil (Microsoft), Electronic Engineer Shane Phelan(Logitech), Robotics Expert Peter Redmond (Mechatrons) and Designer Lorna Ross (VHI).
In tonight's episode, the team endeavours to help Mary Ita O’Connor, from Milford in Cork, who was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease at the age of 39.
She’s desperate for something that will allow her to continue to run competitively.
Tonight's show will also feature Dáire Gorman (above), a 10-year-old boy at the time of filming (now aged 12) from Monaghan.
Dáire was born with Crommelin Syndrome causing his arms and legs to be underdeveloped.
New or Returning Shows
Rob Beckett’s Smart TV, 9.00pm, Sky Max
Streaming on NOW
From the makers of Never Mind the Buzzcocks comes a brand-new, fast-paced comedy quiz show all about the magic of television.
Hosted by Rob Beckett (above), alongside team captains Josh Widdicombe and Alison Hammond, the show will be a celebration of the small screen and its shows.
Featuring some of the biggest names in TV, the regulars will be joined by actors, comics, presenters and personalities, competing across a series of funny, chaotic, trivia-infused rounds to see who knows the most about telly.
Joining Rob, Alison and Josh for theopening episode are Jon Richardson, Russell Tovey, Stacey Dooley and Jamie Laing.
Kiki, 11.00pm, Virgin Media One
Here’s a short drama, written and directed by Naomi Sheridan.
Adamma and her father Jide, seeking refuge in an asylum centre, are greeted by angry protestors. Things escalate when Adamma ventures into the neighbourhood alone, in search of her missing cuddly toy, Kiki.
Don’t Miss
Bring the Drama, 9.00pm, BBC Two
Our own Charlene McKenna (below) is tonight’s special guest star.
Who wants to be a Peaky Blinder? The aspiring actors head to Birmingham to battle it out on the set of one of the UK’s biggest-ever dramas.
They're taken on a wild ride where only the toughest will prevail. Who will be crowned actor of the week and get one step closer to the showcase?
Anna Karenina, 10.15pm, BBC Four
A rare chance to see a classic from the BBC archives.
Anna, the wife of government minister Alexis Karenin, visits Moscow to help straighten out a family quarrel. There, Count Alexis Vronsky falls in love with her. Television adaptation of a play based on Leo Tolstoy's novel by Marcelle Maurette.
Preceded at 10pm by Claire Bloom remembers, where she introduces the BBC’s 1961 adaptation, in which she delivers one of her own personal favourite performances, playing Tolstoy’s tragic heroine.
New to Stream
Dead in the Water, Prime Video
This is a new three-part true crime documentary series from the award-winning producers of The Tinder Swindler and Don’t F**K With Cats.
It's a global story of the long hunt for a brutal killer that spans four decades. It begins in 1978 when a young British couple embark on the trip of a lifetime through remote Central America.
Chris Farmer and Peta Frampton set out on an exhilarating backpacking adventure, so the letters they write and the tapes they sent home were filled with tales of exotic landscapes, cultural encounters, and the thrill of the unknown.
But their dream soon turns into a chilling nightmare when they are brutally murdered and the trail for their killer goes cold.
Four decades later, failed by law enforcement, their family take up the manhunt and begin the descent into an unknown world of online sleuthing and make a shocking discovery.
American Conspiracy: The Octopus Murders, Netflix
When journalist Danny Casolaro was found dead in a hotel bathtub, police ruled it a suicide.
But his family and colleagues believe he may have been murdered for investigating a conspiracy he called The Octopus.
It’s a hidden organization connected to stolen government spy software, a string of unsolved murders, and some of the biggest political scandals of the 20th century.
Years later, researcher Christian Hansen pushes to uncover the secrets behind Casolaro’s death, and the story that killed him.
Iwájú, Disney+
This is an original animated series set in a futuristic Lagos, Nigeria.
It's a coming-of-age story that follows Tola, a young girl from the wealthy island, and her best friend, Kole, a self-taught tech expert, as they discover the secrets and dangers of their different worlds.
Ending Today
Neven's Portuguese Food Trails, 8.00pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
In this final episode of season two, Neven Maguire returns to the northern city of Porto.
Last year Neven visited Graham’s Wine Lodge to tour the cellars and learn about their traditional port wines.
This year, he takes a boat trip on the Douro and tastes their table wines which are produced within the Douro Valley and gaining in popularity.
Neven also samples one of Graham’s more recently launched products, White Port Blend No.5, aimed at a new generation of port drinkers and designed especially for mixing.
Neven also takes in Óbidos, famous for ginjinha, and Neven tastes this type of cherry liqueur made from locally grown cherries infused in 100% alcohol, and sold by street vendors in dark chocolate cups.
He also returns to Madeira, including the village of Porto Da Cruz, home to the last steam-powered sugar cane mill in Europe, Engenhos Do Norte.
Sport
The FA Cup, 7.30pm, BBC One
Twelve-time FA Cup winners and last year’s beaten finalists, Manchester United, face a tricky trip to Forest, who beat them in the league at the City Ground at the end of December.
That 2-1 victory ended a run of 11 straight defeats for Nottingham Forest against the Red Devils, which included two Premier League encounters and the two-legged EFL Cup semi-final in 2023.
This is their first FA Cup meeting since Mark Robins’ notable winner at the City Ground in January 1990, a result which is thought by man to have saved Alex Ferguson's job at United.
His side went on to win the FA Cup that year, the first of his incredible 38 trophies at Old Trafford.
