{"id":466717,"date":"2026-05-03T17:43:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T17:43:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/466717\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T17:43:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T17:43:22","slug":"tv-guide-the-best-new-shows-to-watch-starting-tonight-the-irish-times-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/466717\/","title":{"rendered":"TV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonight \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pick of the WeekCome to Your CensusSunday, RT\u00c9 One, 6.30pm<\/p>\n

In 1926, the newly established Free State carried out its first census, and this April it was made available free to the public online, giving people the opportunity to delve back into the past and get valuable insights into Irish society and their own family history 100 years ago. In this special two-part series, six well-known figures in Irish life step into the time machine and explore their own roots via these historic records. What will they learn, and what stories will they uncover about their own family\u2019s past? In the first episode, trade unionist Mick Lynch<\/a> goes back to the former slums of Cork city, where his widowed grandmother struggled to raise a young family on her own. Meanwhile, in Connemara, Raidi\u00f3 na Gaeltachta presenter Gormfhlaith N\u00ed Thuairisg learns how the Irish language was central to her family\u2019s identity even back then. Later, architect Dermot Bannon<\/a> looks into the history of a small town in Waterford that was overshadowed by a very imposing building \u2013 an industrial school. The celebrity time-travellers won\u2019t be going it alone \u2013 they\u2019ll be guided by the experts at the National Archives<\/a>, who will help them interpret the data and build up a picture of what life was like for their own families back in 1926. <\/p>\n

HighlightsDermot Bannon\u2019s Celebrity Super SpacesSunday, RT\u00c9 One, 9.30pm\"JoanneJoanne McNally with Dermot Bannon in Celebrity Super Spaces. Photograph: RT\u00c9 <\/p>\n

Bannon\u2019s new series<\/a> is aptly titled, as he visits the homes and havens of well-known people, and finds that they are indeed rather super. This week, he flits between Dublin and London, with a stop-off at a beautiful castle in Hampshire. In London, he visits the home of comedian Joanne McNally<\/a> in Clapham, and is greeted by a riot of bold colours. Back in Dublin, more bold colours and designs are on display in the dressingroom of Rory O\u2019Neill aka drag queen Panti Bliss<\/a>. Having spent years changing costume in toilets and cleaning cupboards, O\u2019Neill treasures his luxurious changing space, where a whole history of drag couture is on display. Also in Dublin, Bannon visits the 1940s home of singer Camille O\u2019Sullivan<\/a> and actor Aidan Gillen<\/a>, which the couple brought back from dereliction to create an award-winning space that works as both a family home and a place where performers can feel right at home. In Hampshire, England, Bannon visits a 300-year-old cottage in the grounds of Highclere Castle in Hampshire, where chef Clodagh McKenna lives with her husband, Harry, where they run a 100-acre sustainable farm with hens, ducks, pigs and Aberdeen Angus cattle. The couple have also restored a beautiful 18th-century walled garden and orchard on the castle grounds, and even built a bar in the sylvan surrounds. <\/p>\n

Making Life on Earth: Attenborough\u2019s Greatest Adventure Sunday, BBC One, 8pm\"DavidDavid Attenborough during filming for the 1979 Life on Earth series. Photograph: BBC <\/p>\n

You want to live a long, healthy and rewarding life? Become a wildlife TV presenter. On May 8th, writer, broadcaster and natural historian David Attenborough<\/a> will reach the marvellous milestone of 100 years old, and to celebrate, this documentary looks back 50 years to when he began making his landmark series Life on Earth. It was the game-changer in wildlife programming, bringing the richness of the natural world into livingrooms around the world and making Attenborough the undisputed king of the telly naturalists. To make the series, Attenborough and his crew travelled to 40 countries and filmed 600 different species in their natural habitats, using groundbreaking filming techniques to bring the full wonder of the plant and animal kingdom to life and tell the story of evolution from the first fossils to the most complex primates. The acclaimed series also featured one of the most famous TV sequences of all time, when Attenborough mingled with mountain gorillas in Rwanda. The series was watched by 500 million people around the world and, 50 years later, Attenborough tells the story of how he made it, with help from members of the original film crew. They recall some of the perils they encountered, including a coup in the Comoros and being threatened by Saddam Hussein\u2019s army in Iraq. <\/p>\n

Rian na FolaMonday, RT\u00c9 One, 6.30pm\"RianRian na Fola: Dara \u00d3 Cinn\u00e9ide. Photograph: RT\u00c9 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a murder mystery that has remained unsolved for 100 years. Patrick M Foley was a well-known historian in his native Kerry, and had written several books about the history of the Dingle peninsula. But in 1908, Foley left his wife and two small children in Kerry and emigrated to the US, and was never heard from again until 12 years later, when the family received word of his death in Oklahoma. The shocking news was that Foley had been murdered, and the perpetrators were the Ku Klux Klan. Broadcaster and former GAA star Dara \u00d3 Cinn\u00e9ide decides to do some detective work and find out what exactly happened, so he follows Foley\u2019s trail to Boston, Texas and the Deep South to get to the bottom of this century-old mystery. Helping him piece together the jigsaw along the way are historian Mike Cochran and Cherokee community leader Uriah Grass. <\/p>\n

This Is a Bomb: The Nevada Casino HeistTuesday, BBC Two, 9.45pm\"JimJim Birges in This Is A Bomb: The Nevada Casino Heist. Photograph: Britton Foster\/BBC\/ Propagate Content\/West Buttermilk LLC <\/p>\n

In August 1980, staff at the Harvey Casino in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, took delivery of a what they thought was an IBM copying machine, but which turned out to be a large, powerful bomb, meticulously designed to be bomb-squad proof. A ransom note accompanying the object warned that any attempt to defuse or disable the bomb would result in its detonation, and demanded a ransom of $3 million in exchange for instructions on how to neutralise the device. The mastermind of this audacious heist was 59-year-old John Birges, who had lost a fortune gambling at the Harvey and wanted it back \u2013 with interest. But his plan was doomed to failure, and he was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment, while an attempted controlled explosion caused huge damage to the casino, but resulted in no loss of life. This documentary tells the story of this failed heist and the aftermath.<\/p>\n

Amandaland Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm\"Amandaland:Amandaland: Joanna Lumley, Lucy Punch, Samuel Anderson and Philippa Dunne. Photograph: Natalie Seery\/BBC\/Merman <\/p>\n

Divorced mum Amanda Hughes is back, still stuck in SoHa (South Harlesden) but still trying to keep up appearances despite her less-than-salubrious circumstances, in this second series of the spin-off from acclaimed comedy series Motherland. In Amandaland, there\u2019s one cardinal rule: don\u2019t confront Amanda with reality \u2013 she will short-circuit faster than you can say skinny vanilla chai latte. Lucy Punch returns as the uber-pretentious Amanda, with Joanna Lumley<\/a> as her brutally honest mum, Felicity, and Philippa Dunne as her put-upon best mate Anne. In series two, Amanda is making the most of her straitened circumstances and pushing ahead with her plans to become SoHa\u2019s top influencer, via her online lifestyle brand Senuous and her \u201cco-lab\u201d gig at interiors store Kitchens Bathrooms and Kitchens, while still finding time to embarrass her teenage kids Georgie and Manus (Miley Locke and Alexander Shaw) and annoy the downstairs neighbour and possible love interest Mal (Samuel Anderson). But there are encouraging signs that SoHa may be feeling the Amanda effect, with the opening of a trendy new coffee shop. As Amanda says: \u201cShe came, she saw, she gentrified.\u201d<\/p>\n

David Attenborough\u2019s 100 Years on Planet Earth Friday, BBC One, 8.30pm\"DavidDavid Attenborough turns 100 on May 8th. Photograph: Robert Hollingworth\/BBC <\/p>\n

As we mentioned earlier, natural historian David Attenborough turns 100 on this very day (May 8th), and the BBC<\/a> has laid on a big bash at London\u2019s Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the man who transformed the landscape of wildlife TV programming. The event will be a voyage of discovery, featuring stories and reflections from an array of guests, including well-known faces and many leading figures from the world of natural history and wildlife conservation, and music from Attenborough\u2019s best-known series performed by the BBC Concert Orchestra under J\u00e9r\u00f4me Kuhn. <\/p>\n

StreamingCitadelFrom Wednesday, May 6th, Prime Video\"Citadel:Citadel: Richard Madden and Priyanka Chopra Jonas. Photograph: Paul Abell\/Prime Video <\/p>\n

There\u2019s a fine line between edge-of-your-seat thriller and comfy-in-your-couch romp, and the second series of Citadel looks like it\u2019s once again walking that line on a pair of Gucci stilettos. Richard Madden, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Stanley Tucci<\/a> return as the crack spy team of Mason, Nadia and Bernard, brought back together by a new global threat. With many of his former agents killed by the shadowy group known as Manticore, Bernard will have to recruit new operatives for this crucial mission, but of course he can\u2019t do it without Mason and Nadia leading the operation. The world may be in imminent peril, but don\u2019t worry, there\u2019ll still be lots of time for wisecracking, eye-rolling, smouldering looks and slickly choreographed fight sequences. <\/p>\n

LegendsFrom Thursday, May 7th, Netflix\"Legends:Legends: Steve Coogan as Don. Photograph: Sally Mais\/Netflix <\/p>\n

In the early 1990s, drug gangs are running rampant through the UK, and smuggling narcotics across the country\u2019s borders with seeming impunity. The cops can\u2019t seem to stop it, so there\u2019s only one thing for it: send in the civil servants. Legends is based on the true story of how a group of British customs officers were tasked with infiltrating the country\u2019s most dangerous drug gangs and help take them down. These were far from highly trained operatives \u2013 they were just ordinary men and women more used to wielding a biro than a Beretta. Steve Coogan<\/a> and Tom Burke head the cast in this six-part series created and written by Neil Forsyth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pick of the WeekCome to Your CensusSunday, RT\u00c9 One, 6.30pm In 1926, the newly established Free State carried…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":466718,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75],"tags":[137426,3412,204890,194825,78507,81743,18,117,19,17,6752,68115,204888,118977,127,204889,62134,1181,36847,33658],"class_list":{"0":"post-466717","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-entertainment","8":"tag-aidan-gillen","9":"tag-bbc","10":"tag-camille-o-sullivan","11":"tag-census-1926","12":"tag-david-attenborough","13":"tag-dermot-bannon","14":"tag-eire","15":"tag-entertainment","16":"tag-ie","17":"tag-ireland","18":"tag-joanna-lumley","19":"tag-joanne-mcnally","20":"tag-mick-lynch","21":"tag-national-archives-of-ireland","22":"tag-netflix","23":"tag-panti-bliss","24":"tag-prime-tv","25":"tag-rte","26":"tag-stanley-tucci","27":"tag-steve-coogan"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/116511887135418450","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=466717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/466717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/466718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=466717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=466717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=466717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}