It’s hello to the returning Saturday Night with Miriam and Under the Dome, and it's cheerios for the departing Penny Dreadful and Bones. Telly never stands still . . .
Pick of the week
Under the Dome (Thursday, RTÉ Two)
The first season of this sci-fi drama based on Stephen King’s best-selling novel of the same name was a mixed affair. When it was on top of its game it was great fun, but there were episodes that had me twitching for the remote.
For those who haven’t seen it yet, Under the Dome is about the residents of a small US town that becomes inexplicably covered by a massive, transparent, indestructible dome. Cut off from the rest of the world, with no Internet access, no mobile signals and limited radio communication, the people trapped inside try to figure a way out without everybody killing each other. In a sub-plot, things get even weirder with a bunch of local teens who seem to be linked to the dome.
Back with a double bill just days after its US TV return, the opening episode of the second season was written by Stephen King himself and he also makes a cameo appearance. Following on from the season one finale, Barbie's fate lies in Big Jim’s hands - but then the Dome presents a new threat when it becomes magnetized. Meanwhile, Julia seeks out the help of a stranger to save the life of a mysterious girl who may hold clues to the origin of the Dome. Later, Rebecca discovers an infestation of butterfly eggs on the town’s crops.
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Star of the week
Miriam O’Callaghan
Saturday Night with Miriam (Saturday, RTÉ One)
Very few broadcasters can do what Miriam O’Callaghan does with seeming ease: she’s both a serious journalist who has presented Prime Time, Irish TV’s leading current affairs show, since 1996, and more recently a chat show host, talking turkey with various personalities and having the craic in front of a live audience. Oh yeah - she also has her own radio show, Sunday with Miriam.
And, no, I'm not going to mention the eight kids.
This Saturday sees the start of the tenth season of O’Callaghan’s hugely popular chat show Saturday Night with Miriam and it will run for eight weeks, seeing out the summer. As ever, the show features a mix of entertainment, showbiz, sports, current affairs, music and human interest stories.
This summer's run kicks-off with Hollywood star and proud Dubliner Colm Meaney, comedian and impressionist Mario Rosenstock, while teacher and model Sarah Jane Dunne talks of being the first traveller to reach the finals of Miss Ireland.
Also: Ryan Sheridan performs the song Brendan O’Carroll personally commissioned for Mrs. Brown’s Boys D’Movie.
Here's Miriam chatting to Aidan Power and Nicky Byrne:
Starting this week
Callan’s Kicks (Friday, RTÉ One)
It’s parody time! After a successful New Year’s Eve TV special, impressionist Oliver Callan and his gang have been given the nod for a full run. The six-part weekly comedy sketch show will chart the events of the moment through mimicry and satire, with the focus on sending-up Ireland’s array of celebrities, media, culture, sports stars and politicians.
Here's Oliver doing Michael D on The Saturday Night Show:
Also starting this week:
Tour de France Beo 2014 (Saturday, TG4)
Live coverage from the Grand Start and the first stage of Le Tour, which sees the cyclists race from Leeds to Harrogate in the very un-French setting of England’s Yorkshire. Wensleydale, anyone?
Hitched (Monday, Sky Living)
This documentary series films a group of newly-wed couples from the day they say ‘I do’ to capture all the significant milestones and tricky adjustments during their first year of marriage.
Banshee (Monday, Sky Atlantic)
If gratuitous sex and violence is your bag, there’s plenty of x-rated viewing in this pulp US drama, which returns for a second season with the fallout from the shoot-out with Rabbit and his mob.
Building Ireland (Tuesday, RTÉ One)
A team of expert presenters in engineering, architecture and geography explore some of the finest examples of Ireland’s building and engineering heritage.
Geographer Susan Hegarty on Buidling Ireland
Kirstie’s Fill Your House for Free (Tuesday, Channel 4)
For this second run, Ms Allsopp has reopened the Fill Your House for Free store in Glasgow to source quality cast-offs and help transform homes at a fraction of high street prices.
The Million Pound Drop (Friday, Channel 4)
Davina McCall being shouty. Joe Public. Money. You know the drill by now, surely?
The 100 (Monday, E4)
Yet another post-apocalyptic US drama series, set 97 years after nuclear Armageddon decimated Earth. Is it still habitable?
Ending this week
Penny Dreadful (Tuesday, Sky Atlantic)
Daft as a brush it may be, but Penny Dreadful is all the better for its rather unique vision. The chilling thriller created by John Logan and starring Josh Hartnett, Eva Green and Timothy Dalton concludes its first season with what should be a compelling finale. After having a vision of Mina at the Grand Guignol theatre, Vanessa, Sir Malcolm, Ethan, Frankenstein and Semebene explore the empty building. It’s there that they’re confronted by – what else? - their worst nightmare.
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Also ending this week:
NCIS: Los Angeles (Sunday, Sky 1)
Cliffhanger guaranteed in this explosive curtain-closer. While investigating the apparent suicide of a government worker, Callen and Sam unravel a plot involving a drug cartel, a lot of cocaine and a submarine.
Jamie’s Money Saving Meals (Monday, Channel 4)
His patter may be annoying, but Jamie Oliver is on the money. Here he makes a thrifty pukka curry using chicken drumsticks - half the price of breast, but with twice the flavour. Love-lee!
Bones (Wednesday, Sky Living)
Booth gets a mysterious phone call offering intel on an important case. The caller ends up dead before Booth reaches him and the plot thickens when the victim is identified as a conspiracy blogger.
Drama of the week
The Good Wife (Thursday, RTÉ One)
Seriously, if you’re not watching this show you should just sell your telly or at least ask Santa for the season 1-5 box set next Christmas. As the repercussions following their departure from Lockhart/Gardiner, Alicia and Cary suspect that their former employers are spying on them when Zach discovers that the webcam on Alicia’s computer is being accessed remotely. Just wait till you see what’s really going on here . . .
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Comedy of the week
Episodes (Wednesday, BBC Two)
Despite a great cast - Matt LeBlanc, Stephen Mangan, Tamsin Greig - this Transatlantic TV industry comedy took its time to get going and now we’re at the end of season three. As interest in their new script intensifies, Beverly struggles to keep Sean on course and return to London. Matt has his own battles to fight when he learns that NBC expects him to audition for the lead in a new drama pilot. Meanwhile, over at the network, Castor calls a meeting to present his new vision for broadcast television. He puts on a dynamic display, lighting the fuse on the time bomb that is his career.
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On Demand
Hemlock Grove (Netflix, from July 11)
The second season of the Emmy-nominated supernatural thriller Hemlock Grove goes live from breakfast time next Friday, but wouldn't go well with your Weetabix. The series is based on Brian McGreevy’s novel of the same name and stars Famke Janssen, Bill Skarsgård and Dougray Scott. The show’s producer, Eli Roth, has promised that the second run will go into a scarier, darker and sexier place, returning as with the town coming to grips with the shocking massacre by one of its deadliest creatures.
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WARNING! Graphic adult content
Documentary of the week
Michaella, Peru and the Drugs Run (Monday, RTÉ One)
One of the big news stories of last year occurred when Michaella McCollum Connolly was arrested in Peru with a suitcase full of cocaine. The 20-year-old had left her home in Tyrone for a summer job in Ibiza, but ended up in prison on the other side of the world. Including exclusive interviews with her mother and sister, this documentary follows them as they make their first 6000-mile trip to Peru to visit Michaella.
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Film of the Week
A Hard Day’s Night (Sunday, BBC Four)
A truly ground-breaking and very funny film, Richard Lester directed the Fab Four during the height of Beatlemania. Ostensibly a fictitious snapshot of their hectic schedule, stand-out moments include the solo spots from three Beatles (Paul’s was cut out), while Dubliner Wilfred Brambell is marvellous as Paul’s "very clean" grandfather. A Hard Day’s Night was released 50 years ago today, so this screening's no coincidence.
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