There's Pile Up: World's Biggest Crash Test, Soccer Aid for Unicef 2025, a Charlie Drake night on the Beeb, more From that Small Island, Sparks on Later - and a gaelic football double-header . . .
Pick of the Day
Pile Up: World's Biggest Crash Test, 9.00pm, Channel 4
This is essential viewing for anyone who’s ever been in a car. Which is pretty much anyone and everyone.
In an audacious experiment, members of the public unwittingly take part in a test that sets drivers and vehicles on course for an inevitable pile-up at motorway speeds.
Thanks to cutting edge engineering, no one is ever in danger and no one gets hurt as the vehicles are driven remotely.
Can crash test investigators figure out the way the crash unfolded, and what can be learned about car safety from the results.
New or Returning Shows
Soccer Aid for Unicef 2025, 6.00pm, UTV
Dermot O'Leary and Alex Scott host the pre-match build-up before presenting live coverage of the charity match between England and Soccer Aid World XI (KO 7.30pm) from Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United.
This year's star-studded line-up includes Tyson Fury, Wayne Rooney, Gary Neville, Vicki McClure, Mo Farah, Harry Redknapp, Tom Grennan, Denise Lewis, Jill Scott, Nadia Nadim and many more famous faces playing in aid of Unicef.
This is Your Life, 8.00pm, BBC Four
A night of programming relating to the late British entertainer Charlie Drake (below), begins with an edition of This is Your Life from 1995, with Michael Aspel recounting the life and career of the comedian, actor, writer and singer.
Followed at 8.30pm by The Charlie Drake Show, a 1961 edition of the comedy series, with error-prone jester Charlie unwittingly causes a war between Baron Stephen and the Danish invader King Cnut.
At 9pm there's an Arena special from 2001 entitled Charlie Drake: Drake's Progress, in which the comedian and entertainer looks back on his career, recalling the days when he regularly topped the TV ratings and the bill at the London Palladium.
He reflects on dramatic roles in Pinter's The Caretaker and Bleak House and his classic one-man performance of the 1812 Overture in which he played the conductor and all the musicians in the orchestra.
America's Veterans: The War Within, 10.20pm, UTV
Deeyah Khan's film explores the devastating psychological aftermath of serving in the military during wartime.
Travelling from Alabama to Washington, she speaks to veterans of America's War on Terror about their combat experiences, including accounts of violence unleashed on civilians in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Part of the Exposure strand, the film explores the dehumanising effects of war and its long-term social impact on America and beyond.
Polk: The Trial of Philip Polkinghorne, 9..0pm, Sky Documentaries
All Episodes streaming on NOW
The first two episodes of a three-part documentary series that explores the case of a prominent New Zealand eye doctor accused of the murder of his wife.
Was it suicide? Or did Dr Polkinghorne stage Pauline Hanna’s death?
In an exclusive, never-before-seen interview conducted while he was awaiting trial for murder, Dr Philip Polkinghorne (above) reveals his version of events for the very first time.
Sexual deviance. Illicit drugs. Suspicious behaviour. Polk has an answer for it all.
Don’t Miss
From that Small Island, 6.30pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
This week’s episode is entitled Contested Identities: The Coming of the English.
It examines the ways in which Ireland changed after the arrival of the Normans, the catastrophes caused by the Black Death and the Protestant reformation in the Tudor era that led to Irish people spreading across Europe and the country creating a strong connection with Spain due to religion.
Walking with Dinosaurs, 6.25pm, BBC One
You think times are tough now?
As palaeontologists in western Canada unearth the remains of a young albertosaurus, CGI recreations reveal how she had to find her place within a pack, hunting pterosaurs and fighting the dominant matriarch in her battle to avoid starvation in the brutal late Cretaceous world of 71 million years ago.
Later... with Jools Holland, 10.00pm, BBC Two
There’s a double episode of the music show, starting with Wet Leg, who perform a couple of tracks from their forthcoming second album Moisturizer.
The wonderful Sparks (below) are in to play two songs from recent album MAD! The Mael brothers are in Europe for a series of gigs that includes two nights at the National Stadium in Dublin.
Sasha Keable, Annahstasia, Brooke Coombe also appear, while classical composer and pianist Ludovico Einaudi performs and chats to Jools, who is also joined at the piano by Ron and Russell Mael of Sparks.
The second show follows at 10.45pm, where pop stalwarts Sugababes perform a couple of songs and talk to Jools about their journey as a group.
Also appearing are rock band Wolf Alice, poet and rapper Kae Tempest, and singer-songwriters Obongjayar and George Houston.
At the piano, Jools chats with veteran folk musician Peggy Seeger as she embarks on what she says is her farewell tour in celebration of her 90th birthday and 70 years in music.
Sunday Cinema
28 Days Later, 10.30pm, BBC One
Danny Boyle's excellent horror film from 2002, starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson and Christopher Eccleston.
A man wakes from a coma to discover Britain has been struck by a terrifying experimental virus that sends victims into a homicidal rage.
With a handful of other survivors, he heads for Manchester, the last outpost unaffected by the outbreak - but realises the virus is not the only threat.
There's also Casino Royale on RTÉ One at 9.30pm, as Daniel Craig makes his debut as the legendary spy James Bond.
Sport
The Sunday Game Live, 1.30pm, RTÉ2
Streaming on RTÉ Player
Another Sunday afternoon double-header of GAA action as Monaghan host Down (2pm) and Donegal face Mayo (4pm).
Joanne Cantwell (above) presents coverage of the matches from the third round of group fixtures in the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, held at BOX-IT Athletic Grounds and King & Moffatt Dr Hyde Park respectively.
