Des Cahill and Jacqui Hurley host Up for the Match, I Am Raquel Welch gets the real person behind the Sixties' sex symbol, there’s a Whitney Houston night on the Beeb, and there’s a camogie double-header from Nowlan Park . . .
Pick of the Day
Up for the Match, 9.30pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
It still feels weird that this is on in July rather than September.
Des Cahill and Jacqui Hurley present an evening of lively chat and music offering a preview of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final at Croke Park.
Marty Morrissey (below) will be live from Kilcar in Donegal, meeting the friends, family, and clubmates of Ryan and Eoin McHugh, and Patrick McBrearty - all lining out for Sunday's decider.
Meanwhile, Anna Geary will be live in Kerry, catching up with fans at Rathmore GAA Club, home to Paul Murphy and Shane Ryan.
Back in-studio, GAA legends Marc Ó Sé, and Eamon McGee will share their insights and predictions for the big day, and the Godfather of Donegal GAA Brian McEniffe will also be in-studio.
The popular Donegal anthem, Jimmy’s Winning Matches by Rory & The Island, is set to make a highly anticipated return this Saturday night, and viewers can expect a twist on the fan favourite!
After last week's impressive Riverdance's routine in county colours, tonight's viewers will be treated to another unexpected opening performance.
New or Returning Shows
I Am Raquel Welch, 9.00pm, Sky Documentaries
Streaming on NOW
Celebrating the life of a trailblazing actress and single mother who not only redefined the world's idea of a Hollywood sex symbol but also led the way for modern-day action heroines.
Playing strong female characters such as Fathom Harvill, Constance de Bonacieux, Hannie Caulder, and an iconic bikini-wearing cavewoman, Welch became an international star and sex symbol in the 1960s and '70s.
This documentary promises to reveal the woman behind the legend that was Raquel Welch.
Directed by Olivia Cheng, the 90-minute doc delves into the life and legacy of the trailblazing actress, who challenged traditional gender roles, redefined what it meant to be a Hollywood sex symbol.
The production was granted never-before-seen access to Raquel Welch's personal archives from her estate, including an emotional interview with her son, Damon.
Ottoman Empire by Train with Alice Roberts, 7.45pm, RTÉ2
Here’s a pretty stunning Channel 4 exploration of the Ottoman Empire's rich history, travelling across Turkey and beyond via its local railway routes.
In the first episode, historian Alice Roberts (above) starts her journey in Adana, near Syria.
She visits a historic mosque and uncovers the origins of Turkish delight.
Alice also catches a train across the Taurus Mountains to Konya, to learn about whirling dervishes and the Ottoman leaders' elaborately decorative tombs.
New to Stream
Rumours, Sky Cinema Premiere & NOW
The latest film from directors Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson.
Ricocheting between comedy, apocalyptic horror, and soap opera, Rumours follows the seven leaders of the world’s wealthiest democracies at the annual G7 summit, where they attempt to draft a provisional statement regarding a global crisis.
The ensemble cast includes Cate Blanchett, Alicia Vikander, and Charles Dance in a tale where these so-called leaders become spectacles of incompetence, contending with increasingly surreal obstacles in the misty woods as night falls and they realise they are suddenly alone.
Don’t Miss
Whitney at the BBC, 8.00pm, BBC Two
A night of Whitney-related programming kicks off with a selection of songs by one of soul music's greatest-ever voices, illustrating why the world sat up and listened when Whitney Houston burst onto the scene in 1985 with Saving All My Love for You.
This playlist traverses the 1980s, '90s and '00s, including Saving All My Love for You, Where Do Broken Hearts Go, How Will I Know and Your Love Is My Love.
Followed at 9pm by Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody, a biopic, starring Naomi Ackie, Nafessa Williams and Stanley Tucci.
In 1980s New Jersey, Whitney Houston performs in the choir directed by her mother Cissy, a professional soul and gospel singer.
A carefully orchestrated first encounter with influential record producer Clive Davis sets Whitney on the path to stardom - but fame eventually takes a deadly toll.
Then at 11.15pm there's Whitney Houston: Live in South Africa 1994.
It’s a concert by the singer at Kings Park Stadium in Durban, making her the first big western star to visit the newly unified, post-apartheid nation following Nelson Mandela's victory in the presidential election.
Featuring performances of Saving All My Love for You, I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), I Will Always Love You and Greatest Love of All.
Saturday Cinema
LA Confidential, 9.35pm, TG4
Director Curtis Hanson's superb thriller set in 1950s' Hollywood, with Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, Kevin Spacey, James Cromwell, Danny DeVito and an Oscar-winning Kim Basinger.
Three cops - an ambitious rookie, a hard-boiled veteran and a smooth character more interested in celebrity than justice - investigate a corpse-strewn bloodbath in a diner.
However, the ensuing search for the perpetrators reveals a trail of crime and corruption in the police force.
Captain Phillips, 10.35pm, BBC One
Fact-based thriller, starring Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi.
An American cargo ship sets a dangerous course around the coast of Somalia, while inland, four men are pressed into service as pirates by the local warlords.
The captain is taken hostage when the raiding party hijacks the vessel, resulting in a tense five-day crisis.
Spellbound, 2.25pm, BBC Two
Alfred Hitchcock's often overlooked thriller, with Gregory Peck, Ingrid Bergman, Leo G Carroll, Michael Chekhov and Rhonda Fleming, offers superb afternoon entertainment.
A doctor suspects that the new director of the psychiatric hospital where she works is an imposter, and that he is in reality a chronic amnesiac with a tendency to kill.
But instead of turning him in to the police, she recklessly decides to unravel the truth about him herself.
Family Flick
Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile, 2.00pm, BBC One
Musical comedy based on the book series by Bernard Waber, with songs by The Greatest Showman's Benj Pasek and Justin Paul. Starring Javier Bardem, Constance Wu and Winslow Fegley.
Joseph and Katie Primm and their young son Josh move into a New York City house, where Lyle, a singing crocodile, has been left to fend for himself by a charismatic magician.
Sport
The Saturday Game Live, 2.30pm, RTÉ2
Streaming on RTÉ Player
Tomorrow’s football final isn’t the only major gaelic games action this weekend.
Damian Lawlor (above) presents coverage of the All-Ireland Senior Camogie Championship semi-finals from Nowlan Park.
Cork face Waterford at 3pm and that’s followed by Galway against Tipperary at 5pm.
Waterford were the only one of these four teams not to reach the last four in 2024, with Cork eventually defeating Galway in the showpiece match.
