Bryan Dobson and Dearbhail McDonald present The Last Irish Missionaries present, Human tells the story of humanity, Michael Mosley explores the Secrets of the Superagers, and celebs go swimming with man-eating sharks . . .
Pick of the Day
The Last Irish Missionaries, 9.35pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
Bryan Dobson and Dearbhail McDonald chart the unique evolution of the Irish missionary movement in this two-part series.
The focus ranges from religious colonialism to heroic acts of self-sacrifice and philanthropy, a flourishing of Irish "soft power" to tawdry scandals of abuse and cover-up.
Today, the Irish missionary chapter is drawing to a close.
Our last missionaries are nearly all elderly and either retired or determined to die in harness. So, what will be their legacy? And who, if anyone, will take their place?
Since the mid-19th century, Irish missionaries have followed the example of earlier "saints and scholars" in taking their faith to every corner of the world.
At the peak of the Irish missionary movement, in the 1960s, over 6,000 Irish Catholic missionaries were dispersed over 80 countries.
Now, though, with vocations evaporating and the last Irish missionaries ageing and dying, a movement, which put Ireland on the map in terms of moral influence, is coming to a close.
There are only about 450 Irish missionaries still scattered around the world and most of these are well over the age of sixty. By the end of this decade, that number is likely to fall below 200.
Bryan Dobson and Dearbhail McDonald travel home and away to explain the origins and impact of the Irish missionary project, for better and for worse, and to assess its legacy.
New or Returning Shows
Shark! Celebrity Infested Waters, 9.00pm, UTV
The things people do to maintain their celebrity status!
Lenny Henry (above), Lucy Punch, Helen George, Rachel Riley, Ade Adepitan, Dougie Poynter and Ross Noble head to the Bahamas to swim with man-eating sharks.
Experts Danni Washington and Tristan Guttridge and shark attack survivor Paul de Gelder are the mentors whose mission is to help the celebrities conquer their fears and teach them to love this notorious predator.
Human, 9.00pm, BBC Two
Opening with an episode called The First of Us, Palaeoanthropologist Ella Al-Shamahi tells the story of humanity across 300,000 years of evolution.
She'll be looking at five key moments, revealing how our ancestors went from being just one of many hominin species to a dominant form of life on Earth.
Ella begins by revealing how Homo sapiens first emerged, finding out that the species is 100,000 years older than previously thought and was nearly wiped out by violent climate change, but clung on against the odds
Michael Mosley: Secrets of the Superagers, 8.00pm, Channel 4
In this new series, Michael Mosley (below) travels the world to meet people who seem to defy the normal rules of ageing and learn the secrets and the science behind ageing well.
The first episode sees Michael focusing on the brain.
At the Shaolin Temple in China, he learns how meditation can trigger structural changes in the brain that help to counteract dangerous levels of stress.
The Veil, 10.30pm, RTÉ2
Here's a spy drama - previously available on streamer Disney+ - that was written by Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, starring Elisabeth Moss (below) and Yumna Marwan.
MI6 agent Imogen Salter and her boyfriend Malik Amar are recruited by CIA agent Max Peterson to work with him on a mission. They must determine if French woman Adilah El Idrissi is part of an ISIS cell.
The Couple Next Door, 9.00pm, Channel 4
Season 2 opener of the psychological drama, starring Annabel Scholey, Aggy K Adams and Sendhil Ramamurthy.
Leo's return sparks a change in Charlotte, and Mia seizes the opportunity to work her way into Jacob and Charlotte's confidence, their street, and eventually their bed, befriending cul-de-sac outcast Alan along the way.
Mastermind, 8.00pm, BBC Two
Clive Myrie (below) returns with the quiz, inviting the first four contenders to the famous black chair.
They answer questions on the specialist subjects of the Women's Institute, athlete Carl Lewis, the military career of Ulysses S Grant, and the films of the Muppets, before getting a chance to demonstrate the extent of their general knowledge.
Followed at 8.30pm by a new run of University Challenge.
The Sky at Night, 10.00pm, BBC Four
Here’s a series that’s been on the go since the 1950s – and still a source of fascination for those who are into astronomy.
This month, the team goes on a cosmic adventure, exploring one of the newest areas of modern astronomy in the form of the search for exoplanets, the distant bodies that orbit stars beyond Eath's solar system.
These strange new worlds are transforming understanding of how planets form, where we can look for potentially habitable ones and just how unique, or not, our own planet may be.
New to Stream
Apocalypse in the Tropics, Netflix
When does a democracy end, and a theocracy begin?
In Apocalypse in the Tropics, director Petra Costa takes viewers on a decade-long journey through the spiritual and political upheaval of Brazil.
What begins as a search for signs of life in a fragile democracy transforms into a deeper inquiry into the seductions of power, prophecy and belief.
Costa gains extraordinary access to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former President Jair Bolsonaro and the nation’s magnetic televangelist Silas Malafaia.
More than a chronicle of political change, Apocalypse in the Tropics is a cinematic investigation of the fault lines that emerge when religion fuels political ambition.
Don’t Miss
American Gangster, 9.30pm, TG4
Ridley Scott's fact-based crime drama from 2007, starring Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Josh Brolin.
It’s the story of 1970s drug kingpin Frank Lucas, whose innovative methods of smuggling heroin into the US made him one of the leading figures in the New York underworld.
A detective is assigned to bring Lucas's empire down, but his investigation is undermined by police corruption.
