Bill Murray and friends swing for Ireland in new series
TV WEEK (Wednesday 21st to Tuesday 27th)
TOP SPECIALS
Nationwide (RTÉ 1, Wednesday 21st, 7pm)
Ahead of the SuperValu Tidy Towns Awards 2026, being presented in Dublin this Friday, the team visit Enniscorthy in County Wexford to meet a Tidy Towns volunteer who won international recognition at the Ms Planet environmental awards last year. Cambodian native Selin Kim, who has lived in Wexford for a number of years, is an active member of Enniscorthy Tidy Towns.
John le Carré: A New Life (Sky Arts, Wednesday 21st, 9pm)
A documentary exploring how author David Cornwell, the man behind the John le Carré name, transformed spy fiction in his six-decade career by replacing glamour and heroism with moral ambiguity. He drew on his troubled childhood, career in British intelligence, fascination with deception and complex personal life, and the film examines how those experiences informed classic novels such as The Spy Who Came in from the Cold, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and A Perfect Spy.
Aistear an Amhráin – Carrickfergus (RTÉ 1, Saturday 24th, 8.20pm)
Garry Mac Donncha presents an exploration of Carrickfergus, one the most haunting and enduring songs in the Irish tradition. Joining him are renowned singer and musician Iarla Ó Lionáird, singer Brian Kennedy, legendary singer-songwriter John Spillane, and the late, great Seán Ó Sé. Together they trace the song’s remarkable journey across centuries, genres and borders – and unravel the mystery of its origins.
The Handel Scandal: The Making of the Messiah (Sky Arts, Tuesday 27th, 9pm)
The Handel Scandal looks at the iconic oratorio, The Messiah, and its connection to disgraced English actress and singer Susannah Cibber, whose revered opening night performance was the first time she had sung in public following a sex scandal that made global headlines. The world premiere of The Messiah was on April 13, 1742, at Mr Neale’s Music Hall on Fishamble Street in Dublin. Operatic soprano Dianelle de Niese, who is due to star in a new West End’s production, presents the documentary.
WATCH OF THE WEEK
A Course Called Ireland (BBC 1, Friday 23rd, 10.40pm)
Hollywood legend Bill Murray and a select group of friends swing for Ireland in this new six-part series – an unpredictable road trip around the Republic and Northern Ireland. This isn’t just about golf; it’s a celebration of life going gloriously off course as Bill and his buddies Chris O’Dowd and Joanne McNally play their way across some of the country’s legendary golf courses, regularly veering into the rough to meet the people who give the game its unique Celtic soul.
BEST FILMS
Ghostbusters (Sky One, Wednesday 21st, 10pm)
After scientists, played by Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd and Bill Murray, lose their cushy positions at New York University, they set themselves up as ‘ghostbusters’ – clearing out pesky alien and supernatural creatures for big money. But when they stumble upon a gateway to another dimension that will release evil upon the Big Apple, the ghostbusters are called upon to save their home city from destruction.
Entrapment (Film4, Friday 23rd, 6.40pm)
Insurance investigator Catherine Zeta-Jones, looking into the theft of a Rembrandt painting, suspects that accomplished thief Sean Connery is responsible. Going undercover and posing as a thief, she befriends the supposed culprit with a plan to steal something much bigger – in the hope of catching him red-handed.
A Perfect Murder (RTÉ 2, Friday 23rd, 9.20pm)
Michael Douglas plays a Wall Street moneyman who discovers that his young wife, Gwyneth Paltrow, is cheating on him. What concerns him more than her infidelity is the hope of profiting from her untimely death – as he has hired somebody to kill her – carefully staging a burglary to look like a random murder. But his attempt at the perfect crime turns out to be far from perfect.
CLASSIC MOVIE
Halloween (BBC 2, Friday 23rd, 10pm)
For the week that’s in it, the classic ‘scream queen’ horror flick with Jamie Lee Curtis has worn well since its premiere almost 50 years ago. It’s set on Halloween night in 1963, when six-year-old Michael Myers brutally murdered his 17-year-old sister, Judith. Having been sentenced and locked away for 15 years, the 21-year-old Myers escapes his asylum incarceration and returns to his quiet hometown of Haddonfield hungry for his next victims.
KIDS STUFF
The Rolling Stones: Live At The Max (Sky Arts, Friday 23rd, 9pm)
A feature-length, large-format concert film features the Rolling Stones in top form during their highly acclaimed Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle 1990 Tour. Shot on location in Turin, Berlin and London, the electrifying 15-song performance features the classics ‘Satisfaction,’ ‘Ruby Tuesday’ and ‘Brown Sugar,’ as well as ‘Rock and a Hard Place’ and ‘Start Me Up.’
The Unreal (RTÉ 1, Sunday 25th, 4.40pm)
The Kelly family’s happy life is threatened when they receive a postcard threatening to expose the secret that they actually escaped from an old sitcom into the real world. In this third series, they travel to a spooky island to discover who is out to get them, leading to a supernatural mystery where the line separating reality from fiction becomes blurred.
ON DEMAND
Nocturne (Apple TV)
The series tells the story of Jonah Lynn (Liev Schreiber), an ex-soldier turned homicide detective who is tired of working the tough streets of Philadelphia, and decides to move to a small town in Pennsylvania for a quiet life. But, as the town and his family come under attack from the diabolically cunning serial killer Jurek Walter (Stephen Graham), Jonah calls on all of his street smarts to protect the lives of those he holds dear.
The One About Matthew Perry (Netflix)
Told through intimate testimonies from close family and friends, this documentary event reveals the real Matthew Perry – generous, funny, vulnerable, larger than life – and the battles he fought to become the man behind the icon. A raw record of a life lived in full, and the honesty that became his greatest legacy.
The Terminal List (Amazon Prime)
Adapted from the best-selling novels, The Terminal List centres on Navy Seal Commander James Reece (Chris Pratt) as he battles unknown conspiratorial forces seeking to upend the world order. Season two is a journey of violent redemption – a globe-trotting espionage thriller taking him across the Indian Ocean, southern and northern Africa, the Middle East, and Europe to uncover a conspiracy that reaches from Moscow to CIA HQ at Langley.
SPORTS CENTRE
Six Kings Slam (Netflix)
Netflix will broadcast the Six Kings Slam live on October 21, 22 and 24. The highly anticipated tennis event brings together six of the greatest champions on the ATP circuit – Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Alex de Minaur. Three nights of world-class tennis brings some of the biggest names in the game back to the court at the ANB Arena, Riyad, Saudi Arabia.