Pick of the weekThe Traitors Ireland Series 2Sunday, RTÉ One, 9.30pm
The first season of The Traitors Ireland was an unqualified success for RTÉ last year, with more than 600,000 people tuning into the first episode alone. Siobhán McSweeney made a fantastic host, harnessing her dramatic side while also keeping a bit of warmth intact – perfect for keeping the contestants on their toes. Now comes series two and a new group of strangers heading to Slane Castle to play a murder mystery game that will net the winner €50,000. We’re told that there’s a twist early on that “causes immediate confusion amongst the group”. Ordinarily that might sound bad, but with The Traitors the more drama the better. Tonight the new contestants meet for the first time, and are sorted into Traitors and Faithful. Will this reach the heights of series one? Here’s hoping.
HighlightsVigil Sunday, BBC One, 9pm
Vigil: Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie. Photograph: Mark Mainz/World Productions/BBC
The third season of Vigil kicks off this week, which means the return of the always compelling Suranne Jones and Rose Leslie as DCI Amy Silva and DI Kirsten Longacre. In this six-part crime thriller series, they’re sent to the chilly confines of a remote Arctic research station to investigate the fatal shooting of a member of a secret British special forces mission. Because the weather is so bad, the presumption is that the killer is still afoot locally. This leaves just a small number of suspects. But – surprise! – the seemingly easy task turns out to be anything but. There are definite True Detective series four vibes here, but without the supernatural twist.
Trigger Point Sunday, ITV1, 9pm
Trigger Point: Vicky McClure and Eric Shango. Photograph: ITV
Trigger Point has been a huge success for ITV to date – the previous three series have been streamed a whopping 91 million times. Now comes the six-part fourth series focusing on bomb disposal expert Lana Washington (the great Vicky McClure) and her colleagues. This time the new threat is posed by professional mercenaries intent on sowing chaos in London. If you’re a fan of tense thrillers, or series like Slow Horses and Line of Duty (Jed Mercurio, executive producer of Line of Duty, is also an EP here), this will be right up your street.
Tea with Judi Dench Featuring Sir Ian McKellenMonday, Sky Arts, 9pm
Tea with Judi Dench Featuring Sir Ian McKellen. Photograph: Sky
Two acting legends – Judi Dench and her long-time pal, Ian McKellen – meet over a cuppa to discuss their careers and memories. You might remember that, back in December, Dench sat down for a similar chat on screen with Kenneth Branagh – it must have been a hit, because she’s getting another go at the format. We’re promised a warm, candid conversation about the pair’s lives on stage and off. So expect chats about Shakespeare, stage fright and the insecurities of acting. They’ll also talk about worldwide fame, their successes and failures, and why McKellen regrets not being able to tell his parents, who died when he was young, that he was gay.
Cheap Irish HomesTuesday, RTÉ One, 7pm
Cheap Irish Homes. Photograph: RTÉ
If you thought the phrase “cheap Irish home” was an oxymoron, this series aims to set you straight. Each week (across seven episodes), experts Maggie Molloy and architect Tadhg Casey travel the country to uncover affordable homes that need a bit of love. Episode one of the latest season sees them help 27-year-old Marie Kinane search for a house in Co Sligo. The Tipperary native moved there three years ago to work in pharmaceuticals, but wants to get out of her rented home and buy her own house. Her budget is €190,000, and she’s looking for at least two bedrooms, close to the water and near her job. Luckily Maggie has her eye on three houses that might just fit the bill.
Donal’s Italian Kitchen Wednesday, RTÉ One, 8.30pm
Donal’s Italian Kitchen. Photograph: RTÉ
The cheery and entertaining Donal Skehan must have had a fine time travelling around Italy for this latest series of his show. Talk about the dream job. He’ll share with us what it was like to revisit honeymoon memories in Florence before going on to learn all about pasta in its many forms. In the first episode, he also shows us how to make Marry Me Chicken in a creamy sun-dried tomato sauce and a squash risotto with crispy prosciutto. As for dessert? That will be a rhubarb and orange panna cotta. Yum.
RTÉ 100: Points of ViewWednesday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
Gay Byrne presenting The Late Late Show
RTÉ takes a look at itself in this new documentary about how 2RN, Raidió Éireann and RTÉ evolved over the years. Its shows and presenters helped to tell the story of Ireland, and also charted changing trends. We’ll hear from experts including historian Donal Fallon, history professor Lyndsey Earner-Byrne, activist Colm O’Gorman and journalists Sinéad O’Carroll and Fintan O’Toole as they unpick the story of the stations and how public media reflects Ireland in all its forms.
Sandi’s Ireland: A Literary Journey Thursday, More4, 9pm
Sandi Toksvig visited Ireland to film this two-part journey where she follows in the footsteps of some of Ireland’s literary greats and surveys the landscapes, places and people that have inspired them. Things kick off in Dublin, where she meets Marian Keyes and finds out about where the Irish storytelling grá comes from. She also pops into St Patrick’s Cathedral and the Abbey Theatre in the city centre before heading to the countryside to venture through the landscapes that proved inspirational to William Butler Yeats.
Live from the Lycett Arms Friday, Channel 4, 10pm
Has comedian and artist Joe Lycett heard of the old RTÉ culture show Nighthawks, which was set in a pub? If not, he’d certainly enjoy it – because his new show sees him become an actual pub landlord. But, like Nighthawks, this isn’t a pub that’s open daily. “I’ve always wanted to run a pub that only exists for an hour a week, for the purposes of a TV concept,” he explained. The show is described by Lycett as “a love letter to the great British pub” and will see a celebrity becoming manager of the east London boozer each week, serving up a cast of people who include regulars and strangers. It’s sure to be a wild ride, knowing Lycett.
StreamingChad PowersFrom Thursday, Disney+
Glen Powell puts on the prosthetics once again to transform himself into college football phenom Chad Powers, in this second series of the sports comedy, a sort of macho Mrs Doubtfire on the gridiron. Powell is former star quarterback Russ Holliday, whose career has imploded following a disastrous on-pitch error. With his name now dirt in the world of college football, Russ decides to don a disguise to get back in the game, becoming good ol’ southern boy Chad Powers, and leading the struggling South Georgia Catfish team to winning glory. But can Russ keep the Chad deception going for a second series? With his off-the-field behaviour raising increased suspicion, it can’t be long before Coach Hudson (Steve Zahn) learns the truth about his star player.
Dark MatterFrom Friday, Apple TV
Joel Edgerton returns as physicist Jason Dessen in the mind-blowing sci-fi thriller series based on the bestselling novel by Blake Crouch, and the second series is guaranteed to have even more time twists and reality tangles than the first series. To recap: Jason is living a perfect family life with his wife Daniela (Jennifer Connelly) and their son Charlie (Oakes Fegley), when he is abducted one night and wakes up in an alternative reality. He has to find a way to get back to his own reality before whoever abducted him takes over his family and his identity. But could the mystery kidnapper be . . . himself? The key lies in a mysterious box about the size of a 40ft container, but it opens the door into so many alternative realities that soon there are multiple Jasons on the loose – and they’ve got more than kidnapping in mind.