Dragon Hearts looks at cancer survivors who race boats, 999: The Critical List is the latest hospital documentary series, there's Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans and Rovers v Bohs in Tallaght . . .
Pick of the Day
Dragon Hearts, 6.30pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
Here’s something uplifting for this Easter Monday.
This promises to be an inspiring and emotional documentary following members of Ireland’s dragon boat racing community, brought together not just by sport, but by their shared experience with cancer.
From Dublin to Donegal, Sligo to Cork, the documentary meets men and women who have turned adversity into strength, paddling not just for victory but for survival.
Dragon Hearts captures their passion, pain, joy and resilience across a full season of training and racing. What sets these paddlers apart from other rowing clubs is that every rower has been touched, directly or indirectly, by the dreaded Big C.
Mark O’Connor is one of the founding members of the Cork Dragon Boat Club, a rowing club with a difference.
He says: "People can tell you many things about living and dying, but when you are faced with it, the majority of people will say 'let me live’. And I choose to live."
His words are echoed by hundreds of dragon boat club members all over Ireland; men and women who, week in week out, take to the lakes, rivers and sea to participate in a truly unique sport.
Ordinary people brought together in the worst of circumstances, now bonded in competitive camaraderie by this unique sport, each share their stories.
New or Returning Shows
999: The Critical List, 9.00pm, Channel 4
Channel4 has become quite the home for fly-on-the-wall documentaries based in hospitals. And here’s the latest.
It follows the critical list team at the Royal Blackburn Hospital, as they juggle urgent life or death cases.
In this opening episode, operating theatre coordinator Niki is juggling the busiest month in five years for A&E.
Patients are brought in with a suspected burst colon, self-inflicted injuries, and a dental abscess, while an 11-year-old boy is only hours away from potentially losing a testicle.
A Murder at the End of the World, 10.35pm, RTÉ2
Mystery thriller from the FX stable, starring Emma Corrin, Harris Dickinson and Brit Marling.
Amateur sleuth Darby Hart receives a mysterious invitation, along with eight other guests, to a reclusive tech billionaire's secret retreat.
Naturally enough, it isn't long before she must prove her credentials when one of the guests is found dead.
Ó Lámh an tSaoir, 8.30pm, TG4
The Galway Hooker, and particularly the Bád Mór, is widely regarded as one of Ireland’s most iconic images.
These distinctive traditional sailing workboats of Galway have been built and maintained by generations of boatbuilders and many of them have remained in family ownership for over 120 years.
In this documentary, we follow the unprecedented challenges faced by both boat owners and builders during the most difficult period yet for the Galway Hooker community since their revival in the late 1970s.
New to Stream
Secrets of the Penguins, Disney+
On the 20th anniversary of National Geographic’s Academy Award-winning March of the Penguins, this series changes everything believed to be true.
From the emperor penguins’ revelatory bonds of friendship to the gritty resolve of gentoos and rockhoppers and the astonishing ingenuity of the migrant penguins that reached deserts and far beyond, their incredible traditions and societies echo ours in ways we never dreamt possible - until now.
For over two years, BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning wildlife cinematographer Bertie Gregory has collaborated with world-leading scientists, using cutting-edge camera technology and unique access to capture three world-first episodes that resonate with our lives like never before.
The three-part series is executive produced by National Geographic Explorer-at-Large and Academy Award-winning filmmaker James Cameron.
Pangolin: Kulu’s Journey, Netflix
From the Academy Award-winning director of My Octopus Teacher comes what promises to be a poignant exploration of the connection between humans and the creatures with whom we share the world.
A man finds new purpose when he helps rescue a baby pangolin, one of the most trafficked animals in the world, in a sting operation in South Africa.
He leaves the city and embarks on a heartfelt mission to rehabilitate and prepare the vulnerable animal for a life of freedom in the wild.
Don’t Miss
Paul Simon: Omnibus, 10.30pm, BBC Two
Here’s an interesting repeat from 1988.
It’s an in-depth interview with singer/songwriter Paul Simon (above) in which he talks about his solo career, including the break-up with Art Garfunkel in 1970.
He also discusses self-penned songs such as Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, Still Crazy After All These Years, Graceland and Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes.
The programme also considers how he has moved from being a spokesman for alienated youth to a more personal approach, while still embracing music from around the world, including Latin American, African and reggae.
Bank Holiday Movie
North By Northwest, 3.10pm, RTÉ One
Alfred Hitchcock's superb thriller, starring Cary Grant, James Mason, Eva Marie Saint, Leo G Carroll and Martin Landau.
A suave advertising executive is mistaken for an American intelligence agent by a foreign spy and finds himself drawn into a world of espionage and adventure, leading to a high-tension cross-country chase made more perilous when the FBI intervenes.
The Fabelmans, 9.30pm, RTÉ One
Quality Bank Holiday night viewing with Steven Spielberg's semi-autobiographical drama, starring Michelle Williams, Gabriel LaBelle and Paul Dano.
Growing up in post-Second World War-era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence.
But he soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of movies can help him see the truth.
Sport
Live League of Ireland, 1.30pm, Virgin Media Two
It’s the ultimate Dublin derby – certainly the bitterest – as Shamrock Rovers host Bohemians (KO 2pm) at Tallaght Stadium.
It's the second clash of the campaign as Bohs won the previous meeting between the sides– the season-opener at the Aviva Stadium that drew a crowd of over 30,000 to the Dublin 4 venue.
Despite that losing start, Rovers have had the better of things since then and lie just a point off the top of the table, while Bohs are down in 7th place - but come into the game on the back of last Friday's defeat of Cork City.
Stephen Bradley's Hoops played a thrilling 2-2 away against fellow title hopefuls Saint Patrick's Athletic on Friday, with Jack Byrne looking back to his best. Today's game could be tasty.
Legendary Bohs' manager Billy Young - who led the club to great success back in the 1970s and '80s - passed away last Friday. He also briefly managed Rovers in 1971.
Billy was a much-loved and respected member of the Irish football community and no doubt he'll get a great send-off from both sets of fans before today's game. Go Raibh Suaimhneas Síoraí Air.
