Pick of the Week
Towards Zero
Sunday, BBC One, 9pm
A starry cast led by Anjelica Huston gather for another BBC adaptation of a classic Agatha Christie murder mystery, and all is well with the world of TV crime drama. Huston is formidable matriarch Lady Tressilian, with Matthew Rhys as Inspector Leach and Oliver Jackson-Cohen as celebrity playboy Nevile Strange, in a twisty, thrilling whodunit adapted for screen by Rachel Bennette and directed by Sam Yates. Following his scandalous divorce, high-living tennis star Strange arrives to spend the summer at his aunt Lady Tressilian’s coastal estate on Gull’s Point – with both his ex-wife Audrey (Ella Lily Hyland) and brand new wife Kay (Mimi Keene) in tow. Revolving around this love triangle are some of Christie’s richest and most complex characters, including family lawyer Mr Treves (Clarke Peters), lady’s companion Mary Aldin (Anjana Vasan), exiled cousin Thomas Royde (Jack Farthing) and mysterious valet Mac (Adam Hugill). Long-standing grudges soon simmer to the surface and boil over, resulting in murder. It’s up to detective Leach to wrangle his own inner demons and try to unmask the killer before they can strike again (the killer, not the demons).
Highlights
Chronicles of the Sperrins
Monday, BBC One, 8pm
The Sperrin mountains stretch 40 miles along the borders of Derry and Tyrone, in a spectacular area of natural beauty. This new series, filmed over four seasons and narrated by actor Colin Morgan, explores the history, legends, landscapes and communities that have grown around this mountain range. In the first episode we meet a group of social farmers in the Glenelly Valley as they prepare for lambing season. We also get a close look at conservation efforts to restore peatlands at Mullaghcarn, and meet volunteers who are working to restore the Lissan House estate near Cookstown – and fix its 200-year-old clock.
The Skinny Jab Revolution
Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
So, you want to shed a few kilos, but which weight-loss method do you choose? Eat less and exercise more, or simply inject yourself with a magic drug that shrinks you down to a size zero? No surprise to hear that more people are going with the latter option, and busting a gut to get their hands on such anti-obesity drugs as Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro. But are these GLP-1 medications the answer to our weight-loss problems or just another expensive, over-hyped diet fad? Kathryn Thomas, who has always advocated good diet and physical exercise as the best way to lose weight, talks to experts about these so-called wonder drugs, and meets people who are taking these treatments to learn about their benefits – and side effects.
The 97th Academy Awards 2025
Monday, RTÉ2, 9.30pm
If you’re a serious Oscars buff you’ll have sat up on Sunday night and into the early hours to watch this year’s awards, and won’t need to see the edited highlights. The wildfires which ravaged many areas of Los Angeles meant the awards almost didn’t take place but the show goes on, in LA’s Dolby Theatre, with Conan O’Brien compèring and a host of Hollywood greats lined up to present statuettes. Unlike last year, when Oppenheimer smothered all the competition, this year’s Oscars is a real race, with Anora, Emilia Peréz, A Complete Unknown, The Brutalist, Wicked and The Substance among the 10 films battling for the best picture gong. Adrien Brody, Timothée Chalamet and Ralph Fiennes are up for a best actor gong, and Mikey Madison, Cynthia Erivo and Demi Moore are among the best actress nominees. Ah, what the heck, I might as well watch it again, since I fell asleep during the best documentary editing acceptance speech.
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Realtaí na Gaeltachta
Tuesday, RTÉ One, 7pm
We all have fond memories of going to the Gaeltacht – it was a rite of passage for Irish teens – but what if you had to go back as an adult and do it all over again? In the second series of Réaltaí na Gaeltachta, five more celebrities will be sent back in time to see if they can survive a week at Coláiste na Rinne in Waterford, where they’ll be immersed in the Irish language amid the beauty of the Waterford countryside. This year’s celebrity students are presenter and fashion guru Brendan Courtney, Young Offenders actress Hilary Rose, comedian Owen Colgan, singer Toshín and Olympian rugby star Erin King. They’ll have to spend their time ag caint as Gaeilge and attending Irish classes, under the guidance of múinteoir Pádraigín, who will help them prepare for the dreaded scrúdú béil. They’ll also get to explore the area and take part in such activities as cycling the county’s famous Greenway.
Home Grown
Wednesday, RTÉ One, 8pm
Horticulturalists Kitty Scully and Colm O’Driscoll take another jaunt around the country, digging up new stories about an industry whose tendrils reach into almost every aspect of Irish life, from the lush gardens of the big country estates to inner-city parks and urban rooftop gardens. “Horticulture is woven into every aspect of our world,” says Scully. In the first episode of the new series, O’Driscoll learns how the inmates of Midlands Prison in Portlaoise are being taught gardening skills as part of their rehabilitation, while Scully meets the Galvin brothers from Limerick, whose company Living Woodlands uses innovative techniques to grow rich rural forests and urban havens of biodiversity.
Get Millie Black
Wednesday and Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm
It’s been hailed as the anti-Death in Paradise, a tense, propulsive Caribbean-set crime drama that is anything but cosy. The series, written by Booker Prize-winning Jamaican novelist Marlon James, has been praised for its gritty, uncompromising portrayal of marginalised people in Jamaica, particularly the gay community on an island where homophobia is deeply entrenched. Tamara Lawrance plays the eponymous Millie, a detective working for London’s Metropolitan Police who is transferred to a new post in the place where she was born and spent part of her childhood. (The series also explores the complex relationship between Britain and its former Caribbean colony.) Millie is “irreverent, belligerent, hawk-eyed and driven by her heart for justice”, says Lawrance of her character. She and her new partner Curtis, a gay man hiding his sexuality from his colleagues, are assigned to investigate missing-persons cases, and Millie soon finds herself crossing swords with various crime figures, and with another detective sent over by Scotland Yard.
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story
Wednesday, UTV, 9pm
In 1955, nightclub hostess Ruth Ellis was tried and convicted for the murder of her abusive boyfriend, the racing driver David Blakely, and became the last woman in Britain to be hanged. Lucy Boynton takes on the role of Ellis in this four-part drama based on Carol Ann Lee’s biography and adapted by Kelly Jones, with Laurie Davidson as Blakely and Toby Jones as Ellis’s lawyer, who pleads for a reprieve for his client after learning the extent of Blakely’s abuse.
The Shelter: Animal SOS
Friday, RTÉ One, 8.30pm
The fifth series of The Shelter starts in a flurry of action, as the team of vets race to save eight-month-old puppy Popcorn, who has been hit by a car. New vet Alex Kavanagh has joined the team this season, but he’s well familiar with the shelter, having volunteered there long before graduating from veterinary college. The team also has to deal with the aftermath of unbelievable cruelty – a cat named Phoenix who suffered terrible injuries after being set on fire by kids.
Streaming
Fear
From Tuesday March 4th, Prime Video
Fresh from his latest outing on sci-fi eco horror series The Rig, Line of Duty’s Martin Compston has decamped to Glasgow for this three-part psychological thriller that gives a sinister new meaning to “neighbourhood watch”. Compston plays dad Martyn, who has moved with his wife, Rebecca, and their young kids out of London and in to a grand period house in the Scottish city. It’s the ideal home - apart from the unsettling atmosphere and the creepy guy living in the basement apartment. Their downstairs neighbour turns out to be a relentless stalker who seems to know the family’s every secret, thanks to some high-tech surveillance techniques. When he makes an accusation of child abuse against the couple, Martyn is driven to seriously contemplate murder.
The Leopard
From Wednesday March 5th, Netflix
This sumptuous Italian period drama tells the story of a fading Sicilian aristocrat desperately seeking to secure his family’s legacy in the face of a fast-changing political tide. Kim Rossi Stuart stars as Don Fabrizio Cordoba, prince of Salina, whose life of power and privilege is threatened by the impending unification of Italy. Don Fabrizio quickly realises that “if we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change,” and sets out to arrange a marriage between his nephew Tancredi (Saul Nanni) and the rich and beautiful Angelica (Deva Cassel, daughter of Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci). The series is based on one of Italy’s most popular novels, which was also made into a movie, directed by Visconti and starring Burt Lancaster, Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale.
