{"id":580019,"date":"2026-08-02T08:30:12","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T08:30:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/580019\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T08:30:12","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T08:30:12","slug":"tv-guide-the-best-new-shows-to-watch-starting-tonight-the-irish-times-9","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/580019\/","title":{"rendered":"TV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonight \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pick of the WeekCreedon\u2019s Musical Atlas of IrelandSunday, RT\u00c9 One, 6.30pm<\/p>\n

One of our finest broadcasters and a music nut to boot, John Creedon<\/a> is certainly the kind of person you would trust to guide you on a tour around the music of Ireland. His series Creedon\u2019s Musical Atlas of Ireland, which explores how music shapes the identity of the country, returns on Sunday for a new series. Across three episodes, Creedon will look at the impact that music<\/a> has on Irish culture<\/a>. He will travel across the country and across centuries, meeting musicians, historians and cultural experts to understand how music has influenced Irish identity. <\/p>\n

Along the way there will be interviews with musicians Sib\u00e9al N\u00ed Chasaide, Maighread N\u00ed Dhomhnaill and R\u00f3is, and composer E\u00edmear Noone. In this first episode he looks at the myth of the Dagda\u2019s magical harp.<\/p>\n

HighlightsRichard E Grant\u2019s Very Modern Odyssey Sunday, Channel 4, 8pm<\/p>\n

We\u2019re all Odyssey-mad at the moment thanks to Christopher Nolan\u2019s new film<\/a>, which will be plonked at number one in the box office for the next few weeks. If you\u2019d like to venture more into the world of Homer\u2019s epic poem, then try this new four-part travel series presented by the always charming Richard E Grant. The actor follows the route taken by Odysseus on his 10-year voyage home \u2013 which means travels around Europe, Asia Minor and North Africa, from Turkey to Tunisia, through Sicily and Italy and on to Greece before arriving at the island of Ithaca. <\/p>\n

Seeing as this journey will be full of modern conveniences and free from Sirens and one-eyed monsters, this will probably be a very relaxing trip for Grant. But expect many beautiful sights, some mythical tales and inspiration for your next holiday in the sun. <\/p>\n

Celebrity Hunted Monday, Channel 4, 9pm<\/p>\n

In the TV show Hunted, ordinary folks go on the run in Britain, trying to stay one step ahead of a team of \u201chunters\u201d trying to track them down. For us mere mortals, this isn\u2019t easy \u2013 but it\u2019s certainly a lot easier than it is for celebrities, who might find fans around every corner. All of which makes Celebrity Hunted good craic to watch and on Monday it returns (in aid of Stand Up To Cancer) with a new line-up: Strictly Come Dancing stars and professional dancers Amy Dowden and Carlos Gu; actor Brian Conley and comedian Lucy Conley; Love Island duo Chris Taylor and Toby Aromolaran; TV presenter JJ Chalmers and TV presenter and disability advocate Sophie Morgan; TV presenters and siblings Scarlette and Stuart Douglas; and stand-up comedian Jen Brister and comedian Laura Smyth. <\/p>\n

These celeb pairs will go on the run for 14 days, trying not to leave a trail or get tracked down by Ray Howard and his elite team of Hunters, who come from policing, military and intelligence backgrounds. While the show is fun, it\u2019s also a reminder that in today\u2019s world, almost every step we take might leave a footprint. <\/p>\n

The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bTuesday, Sky Documentaries, 9pm\"FormerFormer British prime minister Theresa May in The Salisbury Poisonings: A Spy Next Door <\/p>\n

In 2018, former Russian military officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found unconscious on a bench in the town of Salisbury. Incredibly, it transpired they had been poisoned by a Novichok nerve agent. This programme uses first-hand testimony from former British prime minister Theresa May, former home secretary Amber Rudd, former MI6 chiefs Richard Dearlove and John Sawers, journalists and victims to tell the full story of what happened. <\/p>\n

It looks at the race to identify the perpetrators and to contain a deadly chemical weapon in the town, and what happened when the British government accused Russia of attempted murder. It also includes an interview with Charlie Rowley, whose partner Dawn Sturgess died after Rowley unknowingly discovered a perfume bottle containing the nerve agent months after the Skripals were targeted.<\/p>\n

The Disappearance of Captain NairacWednesday, RT\u00c9 One, 9.35pm\"TheThe Disappearance of Captain Nairac was filmed along the Border area <\/p>\n

In May 1977, a British army captain named Robert Nairac set out on an undercover mission. He drove from his military base to a rural bar near the Irish border, where his singing of Irish rebel songs aroused suspicion among some men. That night, Nairac was abducted, driven over the Border and shot by the IRA before being secretly buried. His remains have never been found. <\/p>\n

This documentary, filmed along the Border area, was made by Bafta-winning director Alison Millar and journalist Darragh MacIntyre. It follows the search for Captain Nairac\u2019s body by someone unexpected: the former IRA prisoner Martin McAllister, who says that it is \u201ca matter of honour\u201d for him to return Nairac\u2019s remains to his family for a Christian burial. <\/p>\n

PossessionThursday, Sky Atlantic, 9pm\"GuguGugu Mbatha-Raw as British lawyer Claudia McKenzie in Possession <\/p>\n

In this brand-new supernatural thriller series about the impact and aftermath of slavery, Gugu Mbatha-Raw plays Claudia, a bi\u2011racial lawyer who travels to Jamaica to challenge an inheritance claim made by a local man, Cudjoe East (Sheldon Shepherd), against the wealthy aristocrat Oliver Connaught (Jonny Lee Miller). But Claudia soon discovers that the disputed estate at the centre of the claim is a building that has been haunting her nightmares. It\u2019s called Hope Hill, and is the Connaught family\u2019s former plantation. Claudia and Oliver dig into the case and discover a link between the plantation\u2019s brutal past and injustices in the present. <\/p>\n

Tradfest \u2013 The Dublin Sessions Friday, RT\u00c9 One, 8.30pm\"HothouseHothouse Flowers perform in Tradfest \u2013 The Dublin Sessions. <\/p>\n

Musician and broadcaster Fiachna \u00d3 Braon\u00e1in is at the helm of Tradfest: The Dublin Sessions, which this Friday comes to us from the GPO and St Patrick\u2019s Hall in Dublin Castle. The musicians featured are Hothouse Flowers, who are joined by Clare Sands on fiddle for one night only. Together, Sands, Liam \u00d3 Maonla\u00ed, \u00d3 Braon\u00e1in and Peter O\u2019Toole rework Hothouse Flowers classics like Give It Up for the live event. Making things even more interesting is that there\u2019s no set list, with the band only deciding what to play on the night itself. If you\u2019re looking for some live music on screen, but you\u2019d prefer it with a twist, give this a spin.<\/p>\n

StreamingLionessFrom Sunday, August 2nd, Paramount+<\/p>\n

Zoe Salda\u00f1a, Nicole Kidman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Kelly are reporting back for duty in the third series of the all-action espionage thriller and you probably wouldn\u2019t be far off the mark to guess that the stakes are getting higher and the danger is getting perilously closer to home. Salda\u00f1a is soldier and CIA operative Joe McNamara, whose job it is to recruit women for the agency\u2019s Lioness programme, teach them the skills of spycraft and close-quarters combat, and send them out to befriend the wives and girlfriends of the world\u2019s most wanted criminals and terrorists and infiltrate their operations. Kidman returns as Kaitlyn Meade, Joe\u2019s boss within the CIA, with Freeman reprising his role as US secretary of state Edwin Mullins. \u2013 Kevin Courtney<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Cover bands: The serious business of pretending to be someone elseOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Ted LassoFrom Wednesday, August 5th, Apple TV<\/p>\n

Fresh from his appearance on the sidelines at the World Cup final in New Jersey last month, when he brought Justin Bieber on as a surprise substitute during the half-time show, Ted Lasso is back at AFC Richmond, but things have changed utterly in the three years since he left the London soccer club and returned home to Kansas. Instead of managing the men\u2019s team he\u2019s now coaching the club\u2019s women\u2019s soccer team \u2013 the Lady Greyhounds, who are in the second-division doldrums \u2013 but his annoyingly positive, can-do attitude has not diminished and his Marty moustache is as gloriously luxuriant as ever.<\/p>\n

We thought we\u2019d seen the last of Ted following the end of the third season, which seemed to close things off neatly, but star and executive producer Jason Sudeikis couldn\u2019t resist reprising the role (he says it\u2019s good for his own mental wellbeing), so he\u2019s back on the AFC Richmond sidelines, tasked with turning the women\u2019s side into a winning outfit. Impossible? It might take more than putting an apostrophe after the \u201ci\u201d to keep these girls out of the relegation zone. Hannah Waddingham is back as the club\u2019s owner Rebecca Welton, with other returning cast members Brett Goldstein, Brendan Hunt, Juno Temple and Jeremy Swift, and new cast members including Tanya Reynolds, Jude Mack, Faye Marsay, Rex Hayes and Aisling Sharkey. \u2013 KC <\/p>\n

Sterling PointFrom Wednesday, August 5th, Prime Video<\/p>\n

Streaming networks know their teen viewership needs characters they can really relate to, and what could be more relatable than a coming-of-age drama featuring a gorgeous 17-year-old dealing with the burden of having just inherited an entire island from her mysterious grandad? Ella Rubin stars as New Yorker Annie Jacobson, with Keen Ruffalo as her twin brother Connor. Both are being raised in New York by their adoptive dad, Steven (Jay Duplass), but Annie\u2019s world is shaken when she learns the grandfather she never knew has left her a prime piece of real estate in Canada, complete with boat dock and holiday cottage. Heading up to explore her new asset, she makes new friends, meets new crushes and discovers a sister she never knew existed. Just to lock in that relatability, the trailer features a new song from pop star Gracie Abrams, Look at My Life. \u2013 KC<\/p>\n

The ShardsFrom Thursday, August 6th, Disney+<\/p>\n

It\u2019s summer in Los Angeles in the early 1980s and a bunch of beautiful, rich, privileged high school seniors are getting on with their usual sex, seduction and social climbing. But this isn\u2019t your usual steamy teen drama \u2013 The Shards is based on the 2023 novel by Bret Easton Ellis, veteran chronicler of Gen X teen nihilism. It\u2019s a metafictional story loosely based on Ellis\u2019s own adolescence, with added layers of lust and obsession, plus a big dollop of horror. Bret is a young student and aspiring writer at the exclusive Buckley prep school, trying to navigate his fluid sexual identity, when a charismatic new transfer student, Robert Mallory, changes the dynamics of his tight-knit friend group. His arrival coincides with a spate of murders and soon LA is in the grip of terror as it becomes clear a serial killer is on the loose \u2013 and he\u2019s targeting the teens in Bret\u2019s social circle. Could there be more to the mysterious Robert than meets the eye? \u2013 KC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pick of the WeekCreedon\u2019s Musical Atlas of IrelandSunday, RT\u00c9 One, 6.30pm One of our finest broadcasters and a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580020,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[244654,93,61,60,73166,31237,168290,282],"class_list":["post-580019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-creedons-musical-atlas-of-ireland","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-lioness","tag-ted-lasso","tag-the-shards","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580019\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580020"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}