Gripping thriller set during chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan

TV WEEK (Wednesday 14th to Tuesday 20th)

TOP SPECIALS

The Graham Norton Show (BBC 1, Friday 16th, 10.40pm)

It must be autumn if the legendary Bandon celebrity is back with his star-filled sofa for another season. On this night, he has fellow Irish star Colin Farrell and Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino to talk about their work, career directions and lives in Tinseltown. And there’s the Big Red Chair for dessert.

The Eagles: Live From The LA Forum (Sky Arts, Saturday 17th, 6.05pm)

A legendary concert by The Eagles filmed at the Los Angeles Forum, where their timeless tunes rang out to a rapt audience. Guest musicians include Vince Gill and Deacon Frey, son of the late band member Glenn Frey.

The Zoo (RTÉ 1, Monday 19th, 8pm)

It’s a season of new beginnings, as a host of new arrivals settle in to their Dublin Zoo homes for the first time, including a giant anteater, a tamandua, and a six-banded armadillo, alongside a new mob of meerkats and Tony the lowland paca. The season also brings some of its most emotional moments yet, when much-loved orangutan Leoni and 22-year-old ring-tailed lemur Iggy are each given the best of care from the team who know them best. Beyond the zoo gates, this season shines a light on conservation work at home and abroad.

Soviet Jeans (CH4, Monday 19th, 12.05am)

This Latvian comedy series is set in the late 1970s during intense Soviet propaganda against Western culture. When Renārs, a theatre costume worker and black marketeer, is confined to a psychiatric hospital by the KGB, he teams up with ward-mates and medical staff to build a secret underground factory making counterfeit Levi jeans – a high-stakes challenge against authority and a celebration of personal freedom.

WATCH OF THE WEEK

Kabul (RTÉ 2, Wednesday 14th, 11.05pm)

A gripping, six-part thriller set during the chaotic August 2021 Western withdrawal from Afghanistan and the return of the Taliban. In those desperate final days of the US and allied pullout, the series tracks former government prosecutor Zahara Nazany and her family as they attempt to flee the certain execution under the new regime. With the Taliban at the gates of the city, hundreds of Afghans have a choice: to kneel before ruthless new masters or try to escape.

BEST FILMS

London Has Fallen (Sky One, Wednesday 14th, 10pm)

Gerard Butler stars as a secret service agent tasked with protecting the US president who once again finds himself in the direct line of fire and looking for an escape route when terrorist Aamir Barkrawi unleashes his plan to kill all the world leaders attending the funeral of the British prime minister.

One Last Shot (Sky Cinema Premiere, from Friday)

Navy SEAL Jake Harris battles a team of mercenaries led by a former comrade who plans to seize control of the US missile defence network. Scott Adkins builds further on his action man persona in a fast-paced thriller where acting takes second place to frenetic combat scenarios that are mostly expertly delivered.

American Reunion (CH4, Friday 16th, 11.10pm)

Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan and Seann William Scott star in the fourth feature in this successful comedy franchise. The characters from the original American Pie are now in their early 30s, and Jim and Michelle are married with a young son, but their love life isn’t great. That tells you a lot about what’s coming next.

Knight and Day (CH4, Saturday 17th, 6.55pm)

Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise star in this jet-setting action-comedy. When their paths cross at an airport, she doesn’t know that he’s a CIA assassin whose colleagues believe has turned rogue and are attempting to put him permanently out of the game. In a ‘cute meet’ scenario, he kidnaps her to save her life, as they’re chased around the globe, including stops in the South Pacific, Seville and Salzburg.

CLASSIC MOVIE

Mother’s Pride (Sky Cinema Premiere, from Saturday)

Bad enough that the grieving Harley family have to mourn their departed matriarch, but struggling landlord Mick Harley and his sons face the repossession of their failing local pub, the Drovers Arms. That is until prodigal son Cal suggests they brew their own real ale to enter the Great British Beer Awards and save the business. Martin Clunes and Jonno Davies star.

KIDS STUFF

Hitsville: The Makings Of Motown (Sky Documentaries, Saturday 17th, 4.50pm)

Motown Records, formed in 1958 Detroit amid racial tension and the burgeoning civil rights movement, becomes the most successful label of all time after. The story is told through interviews with the label’s visionary founder, Berry Gordy, and many of its superstar artists and creative figures, as well as rare performances and behind-the-scenes footage unearthed from Motown’s vaults and Gordy’s personal archives.

Love Is Blind (Netflix)

Singles who want to be loved for who they are sign up for a less conventional approach to modern dating – where they will choose someone to marry without meeting them. Over several weeks, the newly engaged couples will move in together, plan their weddings, and find out if their physical connection matches their strong emotional bond developed in the pods.

ON DEMAND

The Diplomat (Netflix)

In season four of this hugely popular political drama series, two marriages threaten to eat each other alive. One catastrophic moment shatters the fragile peace Kate Wyler brokered between the US and UK, as well as the crumbling marriage she’s trying to save. While she fights to stem the bleeding, President Grace Penn and VP Hal Wyler’s conspiracy to steal Russia’s most powerful weapon hurtles the United States toward war. Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell star.

Where’s Wanda? (Apple TV)

In season two, the Klatts are back! But just as they thought their lives were finally returning to normal, their daughter, Wanda, is caught seemingly red-handed standing over a dead body. They will need to do everything in their power to prove her innocence and avoid losing her again, as their investigation to find the real murderer takes them into the criminal underbelly of their sleepy suburban town.

The Storm (Netflix)

Filip is turning 45, and has invited his closest friends for dinner at his wife’s lavish estate in northern Sweden. When an unexpected storm erupts, the couples are trapped together, and their polished acts fall in various unfiltered meltdowns when they all realise the seriousness of the situation, forcing them to let secrets spill out.

SPORTS CENTRE

Hometown Giants (Amazon Prime)

Hometown Giants follows singer Michael Bublé and TV personality Drew Scott as they become joint owners of the Vancouver Giants, a junior hockey team where teenage players chase their shot at the big time with the NHL. For the players, hockey is only part of the story. They’re teenagers living away from home, finishing high school, navigating first relationships, and chasing the dreams they’ve built their lives around – even though only a few will ever make it.