TV & Radio

Johnny Giles, Nathan Carter, The Leftovers: what’s on TV this week

The Irish football legend takes a first-hand look back at his extraordinary career

Johnny Giles playing for Leeds. Photograph: Inpho/Allsport

Kevin Courtney
John Lane
Sun Jul 2 2017 - 14:00

Giles
Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm

John Giles at his old Manchester United stomping ground. Photograph: RTE

The story of Irish football legend and pundit extraordinaire John Giles is worth hearing whether you're a sports fan or not. This new documentary, narrated by the man himself, revisits key places in his life and career: inner city Dublin, where he was raised; Dalymount Park, where he shone as a player for Drumcondra club Stella Maris; Old Trafford, where he signed for Manchester United; and Elland Road, where he went on to enjoy a glittering career as midfielder with Leeds United. KC

The Betrayed Girl
Monday, BBC One, 8.30pm

Following on from the superb, harrowing BBC drama Three Girls, this one-off documentary returns to some of the victims and many of the key players involved in the Rochdale child sex abuse ring, including Sara Rowbotham, manager of the Rochdale crisis intervention team, former detective constable Maggie Oliver (above) and chief prosecutor Nazir Afzal. JL

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50 Shades of Gay
Monday, Channel Four, 10pm

Part of Channel Four's season of programmes to mark the 50th anniversary of the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in the UK (we had to wait a few more decades in Ireland for that step forward), this documentary sees Rupert Everett (with Paul Burrell, above) offers his personal take on the developments in gay life over the past half-century. JL

The Leftovers
Tuesday, Sky Atlantic, 10pm

Justin Theroux in The Leftovers season 3

When it first arrived, this seemed a bit unappetising. A dour, sombre series revolving around the sudden disappearance of 2 per cent of the world's population, it sounded like just another high-concept folly. But The Leftovers crept up on viewers and by the second series had firmly established itself as a gripping, inventive psychological thriller. Now, the third and final series is about to begin, and the scene is set for a mindblowing finale. As the seventh anniversary of The Departure approaches, rumours are flying that another cataclysmic global event is imminent. KC

Nathan Goes to Nashville
Tuesday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm

Nathan Carter (above) has become one of Ireland's biggest country stars (Daniel is still, of course, the king), and it's no secret that the Liverpool lad has a huge gra for Nashville, the cradle of country music in the US. This film sees the young buck take off for Tennessee, where he meets up with country legend Crystal Gayle and accompanies her on piano as she sings her hit Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue. He also tries on a rhinestone jacket made by Manuel Cuevas, the man behind Elvis Presley's iconic gold lame suit, and meets up with John Carter Cash, son of Nathan's idol Johnny Cash. He also gets to record with some of Nashville's veteran session musicians. KC

Who Do You Think You Are?
Thursday, BBC1, 9pm

Charles Dance. Photograph: Stephen Perry/BBC

The always-entertaining, occasionally teary, sometimes-hilarious genealogy series returns for another 10-part run, beginning tonight with none-more-aristocratic actor Charles Dance - whose mother was a parlour maid. JL

Vermeer, Beyond Time
Thursday, RTÉ One, 10.15pm

Johannes Vermeer is acknowledged as a great Dutch Master, and his iconic painting, Girl with a Pearl Earring (above) is almost as recognisable as the Mona Lisa. This film, which chronicles the 17th-century painter's life and times, and looks at how he became the figurehead of the so-called Dutch Golden Age, coincides nicely with an exhibition at Dublin's National Gallery, Vermeer and the Masters of Genre Painting: Inspiration and Rivalry, which continues until mid-September. KC