{"id":630306,"date":"2026-09-20T08:12:15","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T08:12:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/630306\/"},"modified":"2026-09-20T08:12:15","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T08:12:15","slug":"tv-guide-the-best-new-shows-to-watch-starting-tonight-the-irish-times-16","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/630306\/","title":{"rendered":"TV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonight \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pick of the weekCeol le Ch\u00e9ileFriday, RT\u00c9 One, 8pm <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a smorgasbord of music programming on the small screen this week, and the pick of the bunch might be Ceol le Ch\u00e9ile, a four-part music series exploring the evolving worlds of collaboration, identity and Irish culture. Presenter and musician Liam \u00d3 Maonla\u00ed (he of the Hothouse Flowers), as well as musicians Aoife N\u00ed Bhriain and Cormac de Barra, perform each episode alongside artists from migrant communities. Music, after all, transcends all borders. Tonight \u00d3 Maonla\u00ed is joined by Indian singer Pooja Sethi Khanna and her band Mehfil for a performance at Lismore Castle. <\/p>\n

HighlightsCeol \u00f3n gCr\u00e9 Sunday, TG4, 9pm\"PresenterPresenter Nell N\u00ed Chr\u00f3in\u00edn in Ceol \u00f3n gCr\u00e9. Photograph: TG4 <\/p>\n

Singer and musician Nell N\u00ed Chr\u00f3in\u00edn is back for a second season of travelling through Ireland and exploring traditional music\u2019s relationship with our lives. This series, the themes are: the woman, the child, emigration and work. N\u00ed Chr\u00f3in\u00edn will discuss these themes each week with the musicians, singers, dancers, craftspeople and cultural commentators she meets on her travels. We can also expect live performances during this full-bodied celebration of Irish trad. In this first episode celebrating the role of women within Irish traditional music, she meets her mentor, sean-n\u00f3s singer M\u00e1ire N\u00ed Ch\u00e9illeachair, in Cork.<\/p>\n

Donncha\u2019s Away Games Sunday, RT\u00c9 One, 7.30pm\"Donncha’sDonncha\u2019s Away Games: Donncha O\u2019Callaghan and Kellie Harrington in Iceland <\/p>\n

Donncha O\u2019Callaghan<\/a> is back dragging willing celebrities around the world to try some unusual sports. He kicks things off by heading to Iceland with champion boxer Kellie Harrington to try out Glima Wrestling. Later in the series he\u2019ll head to the Wife Carrying World Championships in Finland, the Bathtub Regatta in Belgium, and the Highland Games in Scotland. Other participants will include Ireland Rugby 7s star Jordan Conroy, comedian Emma Doran, former Ireland rugby international Tommy Bowe, Young Offenders actor Hilary Rose and Dancing with the Stars judge Oti Mabuse. As well as the unusual sports, those of us at home will learn about local culture and traditions to boot. <\/p>\n

The Split Up Sunday, BBC One, 9pm\"TheThe Split Up: Jane Horrocks and Shalini Peiris <\/p>\n

If you enjoyed the great screenwriter Abi Morgan\u2019s series The Split, which ran from 2018 to 2022, then check out this spin-off. The original series focused on the Defoe family, who ran a legal firm specialising in divorce. In this latest series, created by Ursula Rani Sarma, we meet the Kishans, a Manchester-based British-Asian family of lawyers. They also deal with marriage break-ups, and daughter Aria is set to take over from her dad Dhruv and run the firm … until he starts questioning the decision. The cast includes Ritu Arya and Sanjeev Bhaskar, while guest stars include Lenny Henry and Jameela Jamil.<\/p>\n

The WargameMonday, Sky One, 9pm\"TheThe Wargame: Christopher Steele, Michael Gove, Harriet Harman, Nicola Sturgeon, Jim Murphy, Richard Barrons, Penny Mourdant, Sayeeda Warsi and Kim Darroch <\/p>\n

What does it take to get Michael Gove, Nicola Sturgeon and Penny Mordaunt into a room together these days? A reality show based on a fake attack on the UK by Russia, apparently. They\u2019re among the participants in this simulation of what could happen after a Russian attack takes place on UK soil. The show is, somewhat alarmingly, set six months in the future and sees the team of politicians, military leaders and intelligence chiefs face an opposing team of Russian experts, led by Keir Giles. The Cabinet will gather in a crisis room to decide how to deal with the situation, and will have to deal with rolling news, social media updates, military and intelligence reports and unexpected happenings. It\u2019ll be very interesting to see how they deal with what\u2019s thrown at them. The Wargame airs daily Monday-Thursday, September 21st-24th.<\/p>\n

The Great British Bake Off Tuesday, Channel 4, 8pm<\/p>\n

Looking for a cosy evening watch? Well, you\u2019ll be glad to hear that The Great British Bake Off is back. All the wholesome TV you could want on a Tuesday night. You probably already know that Prue Leith is no longer on the show, and has been replaced by Nigella Lawson. Paul Hollywood is still a judge, and Noel Fielding and Alison Hammond are still the presenters. You know the drill: tonight we\u2019ll meet the hopeful bakers, but one of them will be given the heave-ho before the episode is done. And no, we are not allowing soggy bottom jokes this time around, sorry.<\/p>\n

AperitifWednesday, TG4, 9.30pm\"Aperitif:Aperitif: presenters C\u00fa\u00e1n de B\u00farca and Mair\u00e9ad N\u00ed Chuaig <\/p>\n

TG4 is looking to appeal to a wider spread of younger viewers, and what better way than with a dating show? After all, First Dates Ireland has been a humongous hit here. Enter TG4\u2019s new dating show, Aperitif, which sees its sparkling presenters, C\u00fa\u00e1n de B\u00farca and Mair\u00e9ad N\u00ed Chuaig, gathering a gang of would-be love birds and sending them on dates with a twist. Aperitif\u2019s contribution to the world of romance is to send three singletons to enjoy blind dates in a restaurant, but instead of eating with one person they get do it speed-dating style, and meet a new person at each course. At the end they decide if any of the dates deserve a second date. What we\u2019ve seen so far indicates that this will be a sweet watch, with very few bells and whistles, instead harnessing the cute awkwardness that\u2019s natural when your date is being filmed for an audience. This is all as Gaeilge too of course. Iontach! <\/p>\n

The Graham Norton Show Friday, BBC One, 10.40pm\"TheThe Graham Norton Show <\/p>\n

Another stalwart returns: Graham Norton is back to host his regular chat show. He\u2019s a dab hand at hooking in the A-list stars, and this new series opens with one of the biggest in Hollywood: Tom Cruise. The smiley actor will be there to chat about his latest film Digger, which sees him transformed with the aid of prosthetics into the oil tycoon Digger Rockwell. Also on Norton\u2019s couch will be actor Florence Pugh to chat about the new series East of Eden (based on John Steinbeck\u2019s novel), Lolly Adefope to tell us about the wonderfully absurd play Oh, Mary!, and John Bishop to talk about his entertainment quiz, Wisdom of the Crowd. Emeli Sande will perform live. <\/p>\n

StreamingBrothersFrom Wednesday, September 23rd, Apple TV<\/p>\n

Woody and Matthew are lifelong friends with an unshakeable bond. When Matthew\u2019s mom lets slip that the two may actually be brothers, they face an identity crisis that upends their lives and forces them to reassess who they really are. To add to the confusion, the pair are two of Hollywood\u2019s most recognisable faces, Woody Harrelson<\/a> and Matthew McConaughey<\/a>, playing fictionalised versions of themselves. The show was inspired by the real-life rumour that the two A-listers were actually brothers.<\/p>\n

The Final ProblemFrom Friday, September 25th, Netflix<\/p>\n

Are you ready for a Spanish Sherlock Holmes? Based on a bestselling novel by Arturo P\u00e9rez-Reverte, this new series is set on a small island off Mallorca. The year is 1959, and 13 people are holidaying at a secluded hotel on the island \u2013 among them a retired actor, Basil, whose most famous role was playing Sherlock Holmes on the big screen. When, after a big storm that makes travel to or from the island impossible, an English tourist is found dead, the task of solving the crime falls to Basil. He\u2019s going to have to seriously get in character if he\u2019s to expose the killer. But the murder soon proves more complex than Basil could have imagined. You may need to be fast at reading subtitles if you\u2019re going to follow this twisty plot. <\/p>\n

American Horror Story: 13 From Friday, September 25th, Disney+<\/p>\n

Ryan Murphy<\/a> and Brad Falchuk\u2019s Emmy-winning anthology series is back for a 13th series, and boy is Disney+<\/a> going to milk the number 13 for all its worth. The latest season features 13 episodes, with the finale scheduled for October 30th, just in time to get everyone\u2019s nerves frazzled for Halloween. The series will also bring back some of the most popular characters from previous series, including Constance Langdon, Cordelia Goode, Madison Montgomery, Rubber Man and Twisty the Clown, and a big scary surprise is promised somewhere along the way. The all-star casts includes Sarah Paulson<\/a>, Angela Bassett<\/a>, Kathy Bates, Evan Peters, Jessica Lange<\/a> and Mena Suvari.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pick of the weekCeol le Ch\u00e9ileFriday, RT\u00c9 One, 8pm It\u2019s a smorgasbord of music programming on the small…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":630307,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[45133,267607,93,61,60,63491,282],"class_list":["post-630306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-dolly-parton","tag-donncha-o-callaghan","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kellie-harrington","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630306","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=630306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/630306\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/630307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=630306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=630306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=630306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}