John Byrne’s TV choices for the week ahead (Dates covered: Saturday Oct 31-Friday Nov 06) include Dole Life, Stetsons and Stilettos and The Shelbourne
Pick of the week
Stetsons and Stilettos, Sunday, RTÉ One
Scorned by many, but loved in equal measure, Irish country music has enjoyed something of a renaissance in recent years and the recent Late Late Show special attracted the show's biggest audience of 2015.
This new six-part series enters the world of Irish country music and its fans and the opening episode looks at a country music festival, held in Leitrim. Cowboys and Heroes is a weekend of stetsons, horses, country music stars and, of course, mud.
Star of the week
Nigella Lawson
Simply Nigella, Monday, BBC Two
Returning to TV for the first time since her brief cameo on the Eurovision, Nigella Lawson's latest series shows is based on ease and simplicity.
First up: Nigella’s favourite breakfast, a Thai noodle dish, and a supper of lamb ribs.
Now, where did I leave that takeaway menu?
Starting this week
Music from D'Telly, Friday, RTÉ One
In this eight-part series, Pat Shortt will showcase rarely-seen performances and much-loved songs from six decades of RTÉ music television production.
The first programme features The Jam making their only RTÉ appearance, back in 1978, when they performed Down at the Tube Station at Midnight. There's Johnny Cash describing how his classic Forty Shades of Green came about and Nanci Griffith unveils From a Distance on her very first Irish appearance.
Dole Life, Sunday, RTÉ2
Dole Life is an observational documentary following the lives of young people whose potential is lost on JobBridge, dead-end courses, and minimum wage jobs as they find themselves on the social welfare train to nowhere.
For example, Shauna (21) is tired of scraping by on €77 a week in benefits. It's barely enough money to live on, never mind socialising with her mates in Dublin’s vibrant gay scene. Living with her Dad in Bettystown, she feels very isolated and dreams of getting her own place in Dublin.
The Hunt, Sunday, BBC One
Narrated by David Attenborough this nature series will reveal the difficulties predators face catching prey. Not one for the squeamish viewer.
Ireland's Fittest Family, Sunday, RTÉ One
This year the courses are rougher and the competition tougher than ev.er before. There are two new coaches to join the line-up as Munster rugby legend Alan Quinlan and Cork Camogie champion Anna Geary join Davy Fitz and Jason Sherlock.
Hugh's War on Waste, Monday, BBC One
Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall is on a mission to change the way people think about waste, by challenging the supermarkets and fast food industry to drastically reduce the amount of rubbish they generate.
The Shelbourne, Thursday, RTÉ One
The second season of this fly-on-the-wall series starts in glamorous style on Ladies Day at the RDS Dublin Horse show. After the competition, champagne is flowing at The Shelbourne’s No 27 bar as hundred descend to continue festivities.
Ear to the Ground, Tuesday, RTÉ One
Back for another run, this agricultural magazine show has its act together like few other show on TV. Helen gets some chilling first-hand accounts on the rise in crime in rural Ireland, Ella talks scrums with international rugby prop Mike Ross and Darragh opens the gates at his own farm to reveal life as a dairy farmer.
After Hours, Monday, Sky 1
Ardal O’Hanlon, John Thomson and Jaime Winstone star in this new comedy drama. Eighteen-year-old music fan Willow Hannigan (James Tarpey) is stuck in the declining town of Shankly while his friends head off to uni.
When his girlfriend Jasmine (Georgina Campbell) dumps him, he has little to keep him going except for his love of local independent radio show After Hours.
The show is broadcast from a barge by Lauren (Jaime Winstone) and Ollie (Rob Kendrick), two music enthusiasts in their late 20s who wonder if they’ve any listeners. Until they meet superfan Willow, that is, who they decide to take under their wing.
Trollied, Monday, Sky 1
The supermarket sitcom returns. It won’t be plain sailing for the team, however, when Valco comes under threat from a nearby new budget store.
Designing Ireland, Thursday, RTÉ One
A four-part series that takes viewers to the heart of Irish design: from beautifully crafted furniture to award-winning buildings to cutting-edge product design.
Ending this Week
It Was Alright in the 1970s, Saturday, Channel 4
The theme this week is Living Dangerously. In the world according to TV, the 1970s was a dangerous place where it was still perfectly legal for a husband to beat his wife, and a parent or teacher to beat a child.
Doc Martin, Monday, UTV Ireland
The show's seventh season finale sees Martin Clunes' misanthropic Dr Ellingham trapped by the desperate wife of a cancer patient, while his own marriage in rapidly unravelling.
Joe Duffy's Spirit Level, Sunday, RTÉ One
It's Halloween and in keeping with the festivities Joe and his guests discuss Samhain and ancient Irish traditions. In particular our regard for our ancestors and how we honour them.
Ordinary Lies, Tuesday, RTÉ One
Just as Beth finally starts to move on with her life, the police arrive at her door.
Later . . . with Jools Holland, Tuesday/Friday, BBC Two
The latest run of the eclectic music show ends with Ceelo Green, The Arcs, Shura, Mbongwana Star, Joanna Newsom and Low.
The Kennedys, Friday, BBC One
For the first time in his life, Tony has got his own way - he’s taking the family on a camping holiday to Wales.
Drama
The Dresser, Saturday, BBC Two
One of the great British plays about life in the theatre returns in Richard Eyre's television adaptation of Ronald Harwood's The Dresser, this time starring Anthony Hopkins and Ian McKellen, Emily Watson, Sarah Lancashire and Edward Fox.
The play tells the story of one fateful night in a small regional theatre during World War Two as a troupe of touring actors stage Shakespeare's King Lear. Bombs are falling, sirens wailing, the curtain's up in an hour but the actor/manager Sir who is playing Lear is nowhere to be seen. His dresser Norman must scramble to keep the production alive but will Sir turn up in time and be able to perform?
Comedy
Modern Family, Monday, Sky 1
The Closet Case SEASON 7, EPISODE 3
This multi-award-winning US comedy continues to deliver, and this week the Dunphy kids continue to grow up as Phil helps Haley convince Claire to let her boyfriend Dylan move in. Phil soon has second thoughts after he discovers just what living with him really means. Meanwhile, Mitch takes on a much-needed new role working for Jay's rival company Closets, Closets, Closets, Closets! and Gloria and Cameron come to blows over how to deal with Manny’s problem at school.
Documentary
Reality Bites: Kevin McGahern's Fast and the Furious, Thursday, RTÉ2
Kevin McGahern journeys inside the modified car scene in Ireland, meeting the minds and monitoring the motors involved. Beneath the often negative image lies a fiercely passionate subculture.
Most hate the term 'boy racer' as much as they love their cars. They plough any income they have into their cars, before meeting at organised gatherings to show off their souped-up machines to like-minded car fanatics.
On Demand
Wayward Pines, from Thursday, Sky on Demand
This quirky ten-part drama stars Matt Dillon as a US Secret Service agent who ends up questioning his own sanity as he searches for missing colleagues in a strange town that seems like an open prison.
Film of the Week
Wild, Friday, Sky Movies Premiere
Reese Witherspoon impresses in this acclaimed drama. The break-up of her marriage and the death of her beloved mother (Laura Dern) send Cheryl Strayed (Witherspoon) into a spiral of self-destruction. Heroin abuse and a string of empty sexual encounters with strangers have her almost at breaking point, but she finally decides enough is enough.
Despite being wholly unprepared for the wilds that await her, she embarks on a solo thousand-mile trek from the Mojave Desert to the Oregon-Washington border.
John Byrne
