British Academy Film Awards
Sunday, BBC One, 7pm
It’s all busy on the awards ceremony front as the 76th Baftas takes place in the South Bank Centre in London, hot on the heels of January’s Golden Globes and with the Oscars to follow in March. This year’s nominations list will see a face-off between All Quiet on the Western Front and The Banshees of Inisherin for best film, along with a rake of other gongs. An Cailín Ciúin also gets a nod for best film not in the English language. Richard E Grant ably handles the presenting duties – don’t forget, Richard, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are not British.
Secrets of the Jurassic Dinosaurs
Sunday, BBC Two, 8pm
The Jurassic period was a golden age for dinosaurs, when they ruled the Earth, completely unaware that they would star in a big movie franchise just 150 million years later. Scientist and presenter Liz Bonnin travels to Wyoming to meet a team of paleontologists investigating a large dinosaur graveyard filled with skeletons including the fearsome Allosaurus and the gigantic Diplodocus. They’re trying to uncover why so many dinosaurs gathered in this one place and what forces were at work to cause their extinction.
Super Agers
Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
Age is just a number, right? Well, here’s a number for you: 992. That’s the combined age of the 12 active elders featured in this special programme celebrating all that’s positive and life-affirming about ageing. This dynamic dozen have not let age restrict them from living life to the fullest, and have followed their passions into retirement, including riding fast horses, boxing, rowing the Liffey, sea swimming or dancing at the disco. We meet this geriatric action squad as they get busy living and making the most of their twilight years.
Better
Monday, BBC Two, 9pm
Line of Duty has whetted the appetite for dramas featuring bent coppers and the machinations they go through to avoid being exposed. Leila Farzad is DI Lou Slack and Andrew Buchan is gang leader Col McHugh, on opposite sides of the law, but bound by a pact made years previously. Now Lou is in Col’s pocket, covering up for his crimes by destroying evidence and stymieing investigation. But when Lou almost loses her son, she decides it’s time to break the pact – but what will be the consequences? In episode two, Lou is working to extricate herself from Col’s grip without arousing his suspicion.
Beauty & the Beast review: On the way home, younger audience members re-enact scenes. There’s no higher recommendation
Matt Cooper: I’m an only child. I’ve always been conscious of not having brothers or sisters
A Dublin scam: After more than 10 years in New York, nothing like this had ever happened to me
Patrick Freyne: I am becoming a demotivational speaker – let’s all have an averagely productive December
Katie Price’s Mucky Mansion
Tuesday, Channel 4, 10pm
Last year, the model and author Katie Price took on the gargantuan task of taking a rundown 19-room pile and transforming it into a happy family home. The project must be taking longer than expected, because season two finds Price still trying to finish the job while also working though some past traumas and relationship issues with a bit of DIY therapy. “My house is a bit like my life, it’s being put back together like I’m being put back together,” she says.
Ukraine’s War Diaries
Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm
A year has passed since Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, and there are a number of documentaries airing this week to mark the anniversary of this horrific human catastrophe. This Panorama special features five Ukrainians from diverse backgrounds who, at the request of the Panorama team, have documented this past year from their own perspective. Among them are a paramedic treating victims of Russian atrocities, a TV presenter who puts themselves in the line of fire to rescue fellow Ukrainians, and a wedding photographer who has had to pivot into a new role as a war photographer.
Fleishman Is in Trouble
From Wednesday, Disney+
It’s the old story: there you are, freshly divorced, and your dating app is hopping with offers of no-strings-attached sex, when your ex-wife suddenly disappears and leaves you with the two kids to look after. This is the fate to befall 41-year-old medic Toby Fleishman in this new drama series starring Jesse Eisenberg as Toby and Claire Danes as missing ex Rachel. With 11-year-old Hannah and nine-year-old Solly in the house, Toby will have to put his planned summer of sex on hold, but what really happened to Rachel and why has he not heard from her? Soon, Toby is putting Manhattan’s eligible women to one side while he tries to get to the bottom of this marital mystery.
Putin’s Attack on Ukraine
Wednesday, RTÉ One, 10.35pm
This 90-minute documentary sees a team of investigative journalists from Frontline and AP examining the mounting evidence for war crimes by Russian forces, including the unspeakable atrocities committed against civilians in Bucha. The film uses original footage, eyewitness accounts, interviews with international war crimes experts, along with surveillance camera videos and intercepted mobile phone calls to build up a case against Russian president Vladimir Putin and his military generals.
First Dates Ireland
Thursday, RTÉ One, 9.30pm
The power of love is put to the test in the restaurant this week as Pokémon fan Clodagh meets up with heavy metal fan Fran, who is the proud owner of a pair of Charizard socks. Well, was the owner. To Clodagh’s horror, Fran reveals he has thrown out the socks featuring the popular Pokémon character. Can Clodagh get past this sock revelation? Meanwhile, James is hoping his date Natalie won’t find him loud and arrogant, as previous dates have judged him. And Ryan from Belfast learns on his date with Nick from Carlow never to say, “Go on, guess my age.”
Other Voices
Thursday, RTÉ2, 11pm
Dublin band Inhaler head the line-up in this episode of Other Voices, unveiling songs from their second album, Cuts and Bruises, at St James’s Church in Dingle, Co Kerry. The band, whose singer Eli Hewson is set to give his dad a run for his money in the charismatic rock star stakes, will also sit down for a chat with presenter Huw Stephens. Also performing is local star Pa Sheehy, formerly of Walking on Cars but now firmly in the driving seat with his solo career, and Dublin singer Gemma Dunleavy, who announced her arrival with north-inner-city anthem Up De Flats.
Beyond Paradise
Friday, BBC One, 8pm
It had to happen: a spin-of series from the ever-popular Death in Paradise. Kris Marshall stars as DI Humphrey Goodman, and the action has moved from its idyllic Caribbean setting to the less-exotic but still beautiful Devonshire coast. Humphrey has decamped from the fictional island of Saint Marie to the fictional Devon town of Shipton Abbott to begin a new life with his fiancee, Martha Lloyd (Sally Bretton). But will he find any detective work to do? Fear not: luckily, Shipton Abbott seems to have an usually high crime rate, so Humphrey’s bound to be kept busy solving murders and whatnot.
Django
Friday, Sky Atlantic & Now, 9pm
Matthias Schoenaerts stars in the title role of this new wild west series, but it’s nothing to do with Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, although both were inspired by the same source material – a feature film by Sergio Corbucci. Following the murder of his family, Django embarks on a perilous quest to find his missing daughter, Sarah, and his search takes him to the city of New Babylon, a haven for outcasts and outsiders. He learns that Sarah has founded New Babylon with her fiance, John, but Django is not welcome there. Noomi Rapace, Nicholas Pinnock and Lisa Vicari co-star.
