WATCH OF THE WEEK – Teen Predator/Online Killer
TV WEEK (Wednesday 24th to Tuesday 39th)
TOP SPECIALS
Night Coppers (CH4, Wednesday 24th, 10pm)
Thousands of revellers pack Brighton’s clubs and pubs every weekend, and, as the sun goes down, the number of assaults, sexual violence, anti-social behaviour, drug-related incidents and hate crimes increases accordingly. For the night coppers of Brighton, policing the city involves tackling nightclub fights and drug arrests, missing persons and mass brawls in the street – all part of their everyday jobs.
Deep Fake (TG4, Wednesday 24th, 10.30pm)
With realistic fake videos now being generated by AI, how do we tell truth from falsehood, reality from illusion? This six-part series explores the dawning phenomenon of undetectable deepfakes and confronts a crucial question: when you can’t believe your eyes and ears, who, or what, can you trust? Twenty-five-year-old Stéphanie’s life is overturned when a compromising video of her mother goes viral. It wrecked her mother’s political career and hurt her influential family, and is a fake – despite expert consensus that it’s genuine. But who created the deepfake, and why?
Mel Brooks Night (BBC 4, Thursday 25th, 10pm)
The American filmmaker and actor, a master of satire and parody, has spent a career taking on class, religion and race. Once described as ‘the funniest man alive’, he has specialised in finding humour in darkness and speaking truth to power. As he turns 100 years of age next Sunday, it is fitting that one of his most famous creations, The Producers, is up for a clutch of Olivier Awards.
Rik Mayall: Magnificent B’Stard (Sky Documentaries, Thursday 25th, 9pm)
A celebratory documentary that looks back on the life and career of Rik Mayall, one of the most anarchic and influential comedians. Through archive footage and tributes from those closest to him, it charts Mayall’s rise from the alternative comedy scene of the 1980s to mainstream success in hit shows like The Young Ones, Bottom and The New Statesman, and his fearless, larger than-life performances.
WATCH OF THE WEEK
Teen Predator/Online Killer (RTÉ 1, Wednesday 24th, 10.35pm)
In March 2024, 26-year-old Alexander McCartney from near Newry admitted the manslaughter of a 12-year-old girl who killed herself in 2018 after being a victim of his online abuse – one of many children McCartney befriended online, tricking them into sending him compromising images before he sexually exploited and blackmailed them. The series examines how a young man from a rural town in Northern Ireland became one of the world’s most prolific online predators.
BEST FILMS
Bad Teacher (CH4, Friday 26th, 12.10am)
Comedy starring Cameron Diaz as a reluctant and irresponsible teacher who gets dumped by her rich fiancé, and then sets her sights on wealthy supply teacher Scott (Justin Timberlake) – deciding to win her man by surgically enhancing her figure. Result? She discovers her intended path to true love doesn’t come cheap or easy.
Ticket To Paradise (CH4, Saturday 27th, 8pm)
Julia Roberts and George Clooney star as a divorced couple who are reunited in their desire to stop their daughter’s wedding in Bali. Both are super successful in their respective careers, but unfortunately less than successful at their marriage, to the point they disagree on everything, except their daughter’s choice of life partner.
The Creator (CH4, Saturday 27th, 9.55pm)
Futuristic sci-fi extravaganza stars John David Washington as an undercover operative tasked with destroying a super-weapon in a war against AI. It’s 2065 and The West has been at war with AI since a nuclear bomb blew up LA. The world is in chaos, except for peaceful New Asia – an idyllic sanctuary in which humans and simulants live peacefully together. That is until the day the clouds part and an invasion force sets about colonising their peaceful territory.
CLASSIC MOVIE
Next Goal Wins (RTÉ 2, Friday 26th, 10.35pm)
Timely for the ongoing Fifa World Cup, the story follows the American Samoa soccer team, infamous for their brutal 31-0 loss in 2001. With the World Cup Qualifiers approaching, the team hire down-on-his-luck, maverick coach Thomas Rongen (Michael Fassbender), hoping he will turn the world’s worst soccer team around, in this heartfelt underdog comedy.
KIDS STUFF
The SpongeBob Movie: The Search for Squarepants (Sky Cinema Premiere, from Thursday)
SpongeBob and his Bikini Bottom friends set sail in their biggest, all-new, can’t miss cinematic event ever. Desperate to be a big guy, SpongeBob sets out to prove his bravery to Mr Krabs by following The Flying Dutchman, a mysterious swashbuckling ghost pirate, on a seafaring comedy adventure that takes him to the deepest depths of the deep sea, where no Sponge has gone before.
Madonna and Graham (BBC 1, Friday 26th, 10.40pm)
Graham Norton welcomes Madonna in a world exclusive special recorded at the legendary Koko club in Camden, London, the stage that hosted Madonna’s first-ever UK show in 1983 as well as where the launch of her landmark 2005 album, Confessions on a Dance Floor, happened. She gives Norton an in-depth discussion about her celebrated career, ahead of the release of her much-anticipated new album Confessions II in July.
ON DEMAND
In The Hand Of Dante (Netflix)
Follows the parallel lives of a New York author (Nick Tosches) in the 21st century who embarks on a violent journey after he is recruited by a mafia don to steal Italian poet Dante Alighieri’s The Divine Comedy, written in the 14th century – each man unknowingly connected through time and their obsessive quest for love, beauty, and the divine.
Silo (Apple TV)
Season three of continues the saga of a dystopian society of 10,000 people living underground under mysterious circumstances, while revealing an origin story set centuries earlier. In the present, Juliette Nichols survives her forced ‘cleaning’ but returns with memory loss as the silo residents recover from rebellion and face a dangerous new conspiracy that pulls them into a chain of events with catastrophic, irreversible consequences.
Avatar: The Last Airbender (Netflix)
Aang, the young Avatar, learns to master the four elements – Water, Earth, Fire, Air – to restore balance to a world threatened by the terrifying Fire Nation. After a bittersweet victory saving the Northern Water Tribe from the invading Fire Nation, Avatar Aang, Katara and Sokka regroup and set off on a mission to convince the elusive Earth King to aid in their battle against fearsome Fire Lord Ozai.
SPORTS CENTRE
Fifa World Cup 2026 – Norway v France (RTÉ 2, Friday 26th, 7.30pm)
While the early rounds have been largely predictable affairs, this one promises a change of gear in a classic case of the underdog versus probably the favourite team to win the tournament outright. They last met in 2014 when France won easily, but the 2026 opposition does have Erling Haaland and his magic boots this time around, as he squares off against France’s Kilian Mbappe. It promises to be quite a battle.