Pick of the weekThese Sacred VowsSunday, RTÉ One, 9.30pm
Remember when Tom Vaughan-Lawlor ruled Sunday night telly as gang leader Nidge in the hit series Love/Hate? Now he’s back on our screens of a Sunday, but this time he’s shockin’ holy as Irish priest Fr Vincent in this new comedy drama written and directed by John Butler, the man behind such acclaimed Irish films as The Stag and Handsome Devil. The action is set on the island of Tenerife, where Fr Vincent has been summoned by friends to officiate at their daughter’s wedding. But Vincent is not prepared for the ungodly carry-on by the bridal party in this holiday hotspot, and we’re guessing that those titular sacred vows are put under severe pressure in the Spanish sun. Not only is Vincent battling temptation, he’s also clashing with the local priest, Fr Sandoval. The first episode opens with a body in a black cassock floating in a swimming pool. Is it Fr Vincent? Is he really dead? To find out what happened we have to go back a week and reconstruct events leading up to that moment, told from the perspective of different characters. The top-notch cast includes Justine Mitchell and Jason O’Mara as the bride’s parents, Sandra and Jerry, and India Mullen as wedding guest Ava, who strikes up a friendship with Vincent. Also starring are Adam John Richardson, Aaron Heffernan. Mark O’Halloran, Catherine Bohart and Isolt Caffrey.
Highlights Secret GeniusSunday & Monday, Channel 4, 9pm
If you’ve seen Good Will Hunting, you’ll know that genius can hide in some of the most unlikely places. The most ordinary people could turn out to be total Mensa-heads, and in this new series, comedian, presenter and amateur villa renovator Alan Carr and lexicographer Susie Dent are on the hunt for Britain’s first secret genius, someone whose prodigious brainpower has never been properly acknowledged before. It could be your binman, the supermarket checkout girl, or even your local Reform candidate – you just never know. Now they have a chance to show their true brilliance to the entire nation, in this contest that sounds like To Hell and Back for brainyheads. Over four heats, 48 contestants from all over the UK will compete for 12 places in the finals at the University of Oxford, and only one will win the crown (duh, I’m confused already). Among the brain-melting tasks are “Eye Scream” where contestants have to memorise the positions of ice-cream tubs.
The 2026 68th Grammy AwardsMonday, RTÉ2, 9pm
The big names in pop music are gathered at the Crypto.com arena in Los Angeles for the world’s biggest music biz bash, and while there may not be a Grammy for everyone in the audience, there’s certainly plenty to go around. The event itself takes place on Sunday February 1st, and RTÉ is bringing us highlights from the industry bunfight just a day later, while the stars are probably still tucked up in their satin sheets after the bash. Nominees are voted for by their peers in the music industry, and while we usually scoff at these glitzy back-patting sessions, in a world where streaming services are overflowing with AI slop, at least the Grammies confirm that your favourite pop star is an actual person. Among the nominees this year are Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Billie Eilish, Justin Bieber, Chappell Roan, Bruno Mars and Bad Bunny, with performances from the likes of Pharrell Williams, Addison Rae, Sabrina Carpenter, Clipse, Sombr and Olivia Dean.
Silent WitnessMonday, BBC One, 9pm
Silent Witness: Emilia Fox. Photograph: BBC
It’s been 30 years since Silent Witness first arrived on our screens, and the current cast of Emilia Fox, David Caves, Maggie Steed and Fran Mills are back for the 29th series of the crime drama. But there are a few changes this time round, as the forensic investigation team move to their new HQ in the Bowman Centre in Birmingham. But before they even have time to settle in, they’re faced with a chilling new challenge – an apparent hitman operating in the city. The new series also features a starry guest cast, including Lydia Wilson, Chris Reilly, Vinette Robinson and Adam Rayner.
Lover, Liar, PredatorMonday, BBC Two, 9pm
Shannon, Robyn, Jenni and Natalie. Photograph: BBC Scotland
In May 2024, 39-year-old Aaron Swan was jailed for six years on charges including rape, assault and domestic abuse. This dangerous predator was finally brought to justice thanks to the efforts of four women who had been victims of his coercive control and abuse, and this documentary film tells the story of how the women, Jenni, Shannon and Robyn, and Swan’s ex-wife Natalie, joined forces to ensure this serial abuser was put behind bars. All four had been teenagers when targeted by Swan, and the film traces his modus operandi, as he moved from region to region in the Scottish borderlands, using violence and coercion to control his victims.
TryingTuesday, BBC One, 12.40am
Trying: Esther Smith and Rafe Spall. Photograph: BBC
Rafe Spall and Esther Smith are Jason and Nikki, who have been trying for a baby, but have to face the fact that, even with IVF, they are unable to conceive. So they decide to go the adoption route, but soon learn that the road to adoption is lined with pitfalls and perils. This comedy has a serious side: the hoops couples must jump through to prove they are worthy to adopt children. Series one followed the couple’s journey as they prepared for their interview with the adoption panel, and series two finds Jason and Nikki still hopeful that they will be blessed with an adoptive child, but also afraid that they may not make the grade.
Neven’s English Food TourWednesday, RTÉ One, 8.30pm
Chef Neven Maguire explores the county and city of Durham in this latest instalment of his culinary adventure around England. He also visits the historic city’s 900-year-old cathedral, which houses the relics of St Cuthbert, and has been a place of pilgrimage since medieval times. Maguire learns what was on the menu for the medieval monks and pilgrims of the cathedral – their diet included porpoise, frog and 21 different species of fish. Maguire’s own foodie pilgrimage brings him to a 13th-century building by the river which houses the Cellar Door restaurant. Here chef Taahir Patel shows Maguire how to make heavenly honey panna cotta using Northumberland honey and other fresh ingredients. He also visits the scenic village of Blanchland, where he works up an appetite with a walk through the gorgeous dales, meadows, moors and woodlands of the North Pennines National Landscape, designated a Unesco global geopark. Along the way, Maguire drops in to the Knitsley Farm Shop near Blanchland to learn the art of pie-making from a master of the craft, baker Jayne O’Brien.
Reform: Ready to Rule?Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm
We can close our eyes, cover our ears and say “la la la” in a loud voice, but we can’t escape the reality that Nigel Farage’s right-wing Reform party has been outperforming Labour and the Tories in the polls over the past year, and if the polls are any indication of voter intention, then Reform could well end up in government after the next election. In this programme, Laura Kuenssberg looks at how the former Brexit Party has established itself in Britain’s local councils and in Westminster, and asks if Reform is ready to participate in government. With a number of top Tories defecting to Reform in recent weeks, Britain’s political landscape is looking increasingly topsy-turvy – will the populist party sail triumphantly into government, or will it be scuppered by its own overreaching ambitions?
Michael Jackson: The TrialWednesday & Thursday, Channel 4, 9pm
In 2005 the self-styled King of Pop stood in the dock accused of child molestation and other offences. His accuser was teenager Gavin Arvizo, who was a cancer patient when Jackson befriended him, inviting him and his family to stay at his Neverland ranch. Jackson was acquitted on all charges, but the trial put an end to his planned comeback, and within four years he was dead following an anaesthetic drug overdose. This four-part documentary traces the arc of Jackson’s downfall, and looks at how the star was the architect of his own doom, admitting in an infamous 2003 interview with Martin Bashir that he shared his bed with young boys. The documentary reveals how Jackson’s inner circle desperately tried to wrest control of the narrative, even planning to move Arvizo and his family to Brazil to keep them out of the public eye. With previously unseen footage and unheard audio of Jackson, the documentary will bring us inside the weird and troublesome world of Neverland, and the messed-up mind of a pop star who wanted to be Peter Pan, but soon became cast as a creepy Captain Hook.
StreamingThe Lincoln LawyerFrom Thursday, February 5th, Netflix
The Lincoln Lawyer: Becki Newton, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo and Angus Sampson. Photograph: Kim Alexis/Netflix
Mickey Haller is back in the driving seat for a new batch of legal cases, and in this fourth series based on the bestselling novels by Michael Connelly, the LA lawyer has to defend a most unusual client: himself. Haller, the only lawyer in LA whose office has whitewall tyres and a retractable roof, has been accused of murdering a former client, and it seems that everyone wants to see him go down for a crime he did not commit. After the violent conclusion to series three, there was bound to be some fallout, but Haller wasn’t expecting a murder rap to land at his feet. Manuel Garcia-Rulfo returns as Haller, with Neve Campbell as ex-wife and criminal prosecutor Maggie McPherson, and Becki Newton as his other ex-wife and now his legal aide, Lorna Crane. Joining the cast for series four, based on Connelly’s novel The Law of Innocence, are Cobie Smulders, Sasha Alexander and Constance Zimmer.
Cash QueensFrom Thursday, February 5th, Netflix
Cash Queens: Zoe Marchal, Tya Deslauriers, Naidra Ayadi and Pascale Arbillot. Photograph: Laurent Le Crabe/Netflix
Five sassy but desperate French women don brightly coloured beards and rob a bank at gunpoint in this heist drama starring Rebecca Marder, Zoé Marchal, Tya Deslaurieux, Naidra Ayadi and Pascale Arbillot, and produced by Jonathan Cohen (who also guests as the bank’s manager). The series, titled Les Lionnes in France, follows the five women as they team up to pull off a big bank heist, loosely disguised as men (but looking more like a cross between Maga survivalists and Hayseed Dixie). When their swag turns out to be a paltry 30 grand, the women have to rethink their strategy, but with police, politicians and gangsters out to hunt them down, convinced their quarry are men, the Cash Queens will have to think fast to stay ahead of the game.