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What's on? TV picks for the May Bank Holiday Weekend

Looks who's hosting Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
Looks who's hosting Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

It's a bank holiday weekend! Here are some tips on what's worth watching on the box from now until Monday.

Pick of the weekend

Who Wants to be a Millionaire? 9.15pm Saturday, TV3

The once hugely popular quiz show returns with new host, former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson in the, eh, driving seat for a week of special shows to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

Each contestant will have the opportunity to answer 15 questions to win a million pounds and can be helped along the way with familiar lifelines such as Ask The Audience, Phone A Friend and 50:50 - plus there are a couple of new twists along the way.

New or Returning Shows

Bake Off: The Professionals, 8.00pm Sunday, Channel 4

Former Bake Off contestant Liam Charles and comedian Tom Allen host as six teams from top hotels, restaurants and small businesses battle it out.

Judges Cherish Finden and Benoit Blin set two tricky challenges, with the first requiring teams to finely craft two batches of uniform miniature classics in just three-and-a-half hours.

For the second challenge, The Showpiece, the teams have five hours to reinvent a classic dessert.

Good Evening Europe agus Anois . . . 7.00pm Monday, RTÉ One

In advance of this year’s Eurovision Semi-Final, Cláracha Gaeilge brings together those famous Irish faces who stepped into the Euro-spotlight to host when Ireland stages the Eurovision.

From the heady days of 1971, when RTÉ first hosted the contest, to the seventh and last time, over 20 years ago, here's the inside scoop on all the gossip, glamour, politics,  cock-ups and faux pas that go hand in hand with hosting this musical extravaganza.

Pat Kenny and Michelle Rocca

Friday Night Dinner, 10.00pm Friday, Channel 4

The award-winning comedy is back for a fifth season with brothers Adam (Simon Bird) and Jonny (Tom Rosenthal), who return to Mum and Dad's house (Tamsin Greig and Paul Ritter) for a Friday night dinner of soup, bickering and wind-ups.

In episode one, the boys are horrified to find Mum and Dad in a hot tub in the garden, drinking champagne. Neighbour Jim arrives to ask them if they can look after Wilson because his sister, who's terrified of dogs, is coming to visit.

High & Dry, 10.30pm Friday, Channel 4

Paradise turns to hell in this castaway comedy written by and starring Marc Wootton.

When Air Intacta flight mysteriously crashes in the Indian Ocean, cautious family man Douglas Jennings (Harry Peacock) finds himself stranded on a deserted, palm-fringed island with only sociopathic flight attendant Brett Sullivan (Marc Wootton) for company.

Turf Life, 8.30pm Friday, RTÉ One

Here's a specially-commissioned programme all about Ireland's boglands, one of the most important yet most threatened natural habitats on our island, presented by Derek Mooney and Sinéad Kennedy from Lough Borra Bog in county Offaly.

It will examine the current uses of Irish bogs as well as their future potential in helping fight climate change.

Derek Mooney

The Jazz Ambassadors, 9.00pm Friday, BBC Four

In 1955, the African-American congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie announced a new Cold War weapon to combat the Soviet Union - America's iconic jazz musicians and their racially integrated bands would cross the globe to counter negative propaganda about racism in American.

This is the story of how the state department unwittingly gave the Civil Rights movement a voice on the world stage when it needed one most.

Black-ish, 7.30pm Monday, E4

The US comedy about advertising executive Dre, his anaesthetist wife Rainbow and their children returns for a fourth run.

The Johnsons go to Jack and Diane's school play about Columbus Day, and Dre is dismayed by the historically inaccurate way that the holiday is portrayed.

The Great House Revival, 9.30pm, Sunday, RTÉ One

This new series, presented by architect Hugh Wallace, follows six homeowners who have taken on the task of a lifetime, to transform these derelict properties into comfortable modern homes fit for the 21st century.

Filmed across two years, the series follows every aspect of these mammoth projects as the homes are restored to their former glory.

In episode one, Bede Tannock travels halfway across the world from Perth, Australia to rescue Ballinafad House in Mayo, built in 1827, from dereliction.

Carnage, 8.00pm Sunday, Sky One & NOW TV

Remember Robot Wars?Weaponised cars go bumper-to-bumper Mad Max-style in this high-octane show hosted by Freddie Flintoff, Lethal Bizzle and Vick Hope.

Six cars and six battles make for an explosive first heat as Team I-Scream, The Mad Max Appreciation Society, A Nut Between Two Spanners, The Monks and Team Hellraiser clash in the opening episode.

Tabula Rasa, 10.15pm Sunday, Channel 4

Walter Presents continues with this apparently unsettling psychological thriller from Belgium about a young woman with amnesia who appears to be the only key to a mysterious disappearance.

Mie finds herself confined in a psychiatric hospital. She's visited by Detective Inspector Wolkers, who claims she was the last person to be seen with a man named Thomas Spectre before he vanished.

Generquake, 9.00pm Monday, Channel 4

11 strangers of different gender identities and sexualities spend a week together under one roof in the hope that they will discover what divides them and what unites them.

In the first episode, introductions quickly lead to arguments on the first night and over the following days, as the housemates begin to make new alliances over visits to a country pub and nearby Brighton beach.

Ending this weekend

The Woman in White, 9.00pm Monday, BBC One

As the Beeb's adaptation of Wilkie Collins' classic concludes, Walter, Marian and Laura are forced into hiding from Sir Percival and Fosco .

Sir Percival is now a ghost of his former self, haunted by the possibility of his secret being revealed – a secret Marian and Walter know they must discover if they are to prove Sir Percival’s role in the conspiracy involving Anne and Laura.

Sounds Like Friday Night, 7.30pm Friday, BBC One

It’s the final instalment of this cracking music show and Kylie will be performing her single, Stop Me From Falling, as well as a world exclusive of a track from her latest album.

Homeland, 9.00pm Sunday, Channel 4

The seventh season of the hit US thriller starring Claire Danes and Mandy Patinkin concludes – three nights after the wrap-up on RTÉ 2.

As things come to a head, Carrie and Saul's mission doesn't go as planned. Meanwhile, the beleaguered Elizabeth Keane fights for her presidency of the United States.

New to Download

The Rain, Netflix from Friday

Six years after a brutal virus carried by the rain wipes out almost all humans in Scandinavia, two Danish siblings emerge from the safety of their bunker to find all remnants of civilisation gone.

Soon they join a group of young survivors and together set out on a danger-filled quest through an abandoned Scandinavia, searching for any sign of life.

Dear White People: Volume 2, Netflix from Friday

Romantic dilemmas, a social media troll and big changes at Armstrong-Parker House push Sam, Lionel and friends to the breaking point.

My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman: Tina Fey, Netflix from Friday

Tina Fey opens up about her family, the changing culture at Saturday Night Live and the one moment she wishes she could take back. Plus, there's blues icon Buddy Guy.

Don't Miss

Peter Kay's Car Share Unscripted, 10.00pm Monday, BBC One

The BAFTA award winning Car Share returns to BBC One with a special improvised episode featuring Peter Kay and Sian Gibson ad-libbing as John and Kayleigh.

The entire show follows them home on their daily commute and features what was filmed while they were driving around with no script.

Chat Show Line-ups

The Late Late Show, 9.35pm Friday, RTÉ One

Paul Harrington, Charlie McGettigan, and Linda Martin will perform some of the Eurovision's biggest hits and taking part in a game of Eurovision Spin and Sing alongside Jake Carter, Rory Cowan and Ronan Johnston.

Dave and Steve Flynn will be in studio to talk about their expanding vegan food empire, Gordon Snell will chat about his late wife Maeve Binchy, while professor John Crown and health editor Susan Mitchell will discuss the continuing fallout from the Cervical Check controversy.

Galway hurling legend Tony Keady died suddenly last year sending shockwaves across the sport. A few months before his death, Tony had started to tell his story to sportswriter Liam Hayes, including his dramatic departure from the Galway team, and since his passing his family has decided to continue that work. His wife Margaret and daughter Shannon will tell viewers why they wanted to finish Tony's story.

There will also be music from Dublin four piece State Lights.

Paul Harrington and Charlie McGettigan

The Graham Norton Show, 10.35pm Friday, BBC One/10.20pm Saturday, TV3

Hollywood star Amy Schumer and UK actor Stephen Mangan are among Graham's guests on the sofa - while Jess Glynn performs her new release, I'll Be There.

Amy Schumer

The Ray D’Arcy Show, 9.50pm Saturday, RTÉ One

A packed show includes Dublin GAA player Nicole Owens, economist David McWilliams, singer Una Healy, Eurovision hopeful Ryan O’Shaughnessy, broadcaster Derek Mooney and Keith Broni - the world’s first emoji consultant.

Una Healy

Weekend movies

Sing Street, 9.30pm Monday, RTÉ One

Perfect for bank holiday Monday night viewing, Sing Street is a 2016 musical coming-of-age comedy-drama film co-written, co-produced and directed by John Carney.

Starring Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Maria Doyle Kennedy, Aiden Gillen, Jack Reynor, and Kelly Thornton, the story revolves around a boy starting a band to impress a girl in 1980s Dublin.

Also . . .

There's Something About Mary, 9.00pm Saturday, Comedy Central

Still good for a fifth or sixth viewing, this 1998 romantic comedy film directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly could make a cat laugh.

It stars Cameron Diaz as the eponymous paramour, with Matt Dillon, Ben Stiller, Lee Evans and Chris Elliott all playing men who are in love with Mary and vying for her affections.

Box Set Binge

Poldark: Season 2, Netflix from Sunday

The second season of the BBC reboot begins with Ross preparing for his trial. Elizabeth and Demelza try their best to help him, however, George is doing everything in his power to bring Ross down.

Meanwhile, Francis struggles to rebuild his life and a familiar face returns to Cornwall.

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