{"id":503931,"date":"2026-06-21T12:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T12:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/503931\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T12:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T12:26:11","slug":"tv-guide-the-best-new-shows-to-watch-starting-tonight-the-irish-times-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/503931\/","title":{"rendered":"TV guide: the best new shows to watch, starting tonight \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pick of the WeekHouse of the DragonMonday, Sky Atlantic & Now, 9pm <\/p>\n

Forget Spain, Portugal and Greece: for Game of Thrones fans, there is only one holiday destination this summer, and that\u2019s Westeros. Getting sunburned is the least of your worries, though: getting your face burnt off by a dragon or your head chopped off by a mad monarch is a more common hazard round these parts. The third season of House of the Dragon brings us back 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, and tells the story of the Targaryen wars, as the children of King Viserys I Targaryen battle for the Iron Throne. No space here to summarise the entire saga, alas, but you know the score: swords, sex, betrayal, royal intrigue and mythical fire-breathing beasties. As we rejoin House Targaryen, Rhaenyra\u2019s rule is coming under attack from all sides, as her enemies gather strength, but how far is she willing to go to keep her grip on power? Matt Smith returns as Daemon Targaryen, with Emma D\u2019Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon and Olivia Cooke ad Alicent Hightower. Among those joining the already huge cast for series three are James Norton as Ormund Hightower and Tommy Flanagan as Roderick Dustin. The series is based on George RR Martin\u2019s Game of Thrones prequel Fire & Blood. <\/p>\n

HighlightsMuseum of MeSunday, RT\u00c9 One, 8.30pm\"MuseumMuseum of Me: Mary McEvoy with presenter Dermot Whelan. Photograph: RT\u00c9 <\/p>\n

If Biddy Byrne from Glenroe was putting on an exhibition of items that told the story of her life, what would she choose? Her aul\u2019 wellies, perhaps? Or an aul\u2019 jumper belonging to Miley? In this series presented by Dermot Whelan, celebrities are tasked with gathering together personal items for a one-night-only exhibition that encapsulates their lives, and this week it\u2019s the turn of actor Mary McEvoy<\/a>, who played Biddy for nearly 20 years in the popular Sunday night soap. McEvoy has a rich life and career beyond Glenroe, having starred in such celebrated theatre productions as Sive, Big Maggie and Dancing at Lughnasa \u2013 not to forget that famous washing powder ad \u2013 but she does share a farming background with Biddy, so some of her chosen objects will reflect her connection with the land along with her life on stage and TV. <\/p>\n

Dover 24\/7: Britain\u2019s Busiest PortMonday, Channel 4, 8pm\"DoverDover 24\/7: Britain’s Busiest Port. Photograph: Channel 4 <\/p>\n

There\u2019s no rest for officials at the port of Dover, and this documentary series demonstrates how one of Britain\u2019s main transport hubs is under constant pressure \u2013 from smugglers, criminal gangs and a decade of unprecedented migration, as asylum seekers fetch up at the port and human traffickers trade on the misery of migrants by smuggling them in to the country in deathtrap containers. The series focuses on the hardworking crews who keep the port moving 24-7, and on the hard-pressed officers of Border Force as they try to hold back the tide of drugs and contraband, and manage the constant flow of people travelling in and out of the country. In the first episode, pop star Yungblud is on his way to Europe for the next date of his tour, when a crisis threatens to pull the plug. Meanwhile, Border Patrol intercepts a huge drug consignment in one of its biggest drug hauls of the year. <\/p>\n

Secrets of Celebrity Sex TapesMonday, Channel 4, 11.05pm\"PamelaPamela Anderson and Tommy Lee. Photograph: S Granitz\/WireImage <\/p>\n

There was a time back in the 1980s and 1990s when you were nobody if you didn\u2019t have your own sex tape. What\u2019s a sex tape, asks Gen Z \u2013 is it some kind of kinky adhesive strip only available on the top shelf of hardware stores? They were old-fashioned VHS tapes, and with the rise of home videotaping, stars were now able to film themselves having sex without having to send the film off for developing, preserving their posteriors for posterity in private. The most famous sex tape featured Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee, but the first big sex tape scandal involved Rob Lowe in the late 1980s. Other famous sex-tapers include Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian. In the age before the interweb, stars thought they could just hide their tape behind the Jane Fonda fitness videos, but they were inevitably stolen and released to a slavering public. Innocent days. This series looks at some of the most notorious sex tapes of the times \u2013 better hope your one isn\u2019t included. <\/p>\n

Rik Mayall: Magnificent B\u2019stardThursday, Sky Documentaries & Now, 9pm \"RikRik Mayall in a scene from Blackadder Goes Forth, 1989. Photograph: Don Smith\/Radio Times\/Getty <\/p>\n

The world of comedy was rocked by the death of Rik Mayall<\/a> in 2014 at the age of 56. The comedian was loved by fans of hit TV shows such as The Young Ones, Bottom and The New Statesman, and he was also loved by his friends and fellow comedians, many of whom contribute to this documentary celebrating his life and career, including Adrian Edmondson, Ben Elton, Nigel Planer and Stephen Fry. The film follows Mayall\u2019s rise through the alternative comedy scene of the 1980s, and looks at his larger-than-life comic creations, including the amoral Tory MP Alan B\u2019Stard. <\/p>\n

Madonna & GrahamFriday, BBC One, 10.40pm \"MadonnaMadonna and Graham: Madonna and Graham Norton. Photograph: Ricardo Gomes\/BBC One <\/p>\n

You don\u2019t even need to ask. Madonna<\/a> is of course Madonna Louise Ciccone, the mother of all pop queens, and Graham is fab Irish presenter Graham Norton, the lucky man who gets to spend an evening with the 67-year-old US star in the intimate setting of London\u2019s legendary Koko venue in Camden. What on earth will they find to talk about? There will be no shortage of material from Madonna\u2019s incredible career at the forefront of pop culture, and in this in-depth interview, she will discuss some of the key moments in her life, from her early days building her brand in New York\u2019s clubland to her stratospheric rise to stardom, her fascination with all things English, and her enduring love affair with dance music, which continues with her latest album Confessions II, released on July 3rd. Will sex come up in the conversation? We\u2019re banking on it. \u201cAs a lifelong fan, it is always a thrill to interview Madonna,\u201d says Norton, \u201cbut to meet her on the dance floor where she first performed in London over 30 years ago felt incredibly special.\u201d<\/p>\n

StreamingThe Bear, season fiveFrom June 25th, Disney+\"JeremyJeremy Allen White as Carmy. Photograph: FX <\/p>\n

Season four of the hard-boiled restaurant drama ended on a bombshell, as Carmy (Jeremy Allen White) announced he was quitting the catering business, leaving the titular restaurant in the hands of Sydney (Ayo Edebiri), Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) and Natalie (Abby Elliott). But have The Bear\u2019s new proprietors been sold a pup? There\u2019s no money in the kitty, the backers are threatening to sell up and, just to put the icing on the cake, there\u2019s a big storm on the way. Despite these challenges, the trio are determined to rally the team for one last service and finally nail that elusive Michelin star. But what makes a great restaurant, its food or its people? The staff of the Bear are about to find out in this final series of the Emmy-winning drama.<\/p>\n

Would You Rather: Decide to SurviveFrom June 26th, Prime Video<\/p>\n

Some of the internet\u2019s most famous faces are whisked off to a sunny location where they have to make some hard choices \u2013 is this Love Island for influencers? It\u2019s more like Taskmaster for TikTokers, as the digital stars are divided into two teams and given such bewildering choices as \u201cwould you rather be invisible or have the power of flight?\u201d and \u201cwould you rather fight one giant duck or 1,000 tiny ducks?\u201d Romesh Ranganathan is the host of this madcap game show, and among the contestants are Chunks, Nella Rose, Chloe Burrows, Max Fosh, Elz the Witch, King Kenny and Ayam\u00e9 \u2013 all household names among digital natives, we are assured. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Pick of the WeekHouse of the DragonMonday, Sky Atlantic & Now, 9pm Forget Spain, Portugal and Greece: for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":503932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[146,85,46,2004,231688,231689,411],"class_list":["post-503931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-madonna","tag-mary-mcevoy","tag-rik-mayall","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=503931"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/503931\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/503932"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=503931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=503931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=503931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}