TV preview: Fake News Week, After the Crash, Gogglebox and more

The Fake News Show
Monday, Channel 4, 8pm
It's fake news week on Channel Four, and to celebrate the new post-truth world, Stephen Mangan hosts The Fake News Show, chairing a comedy panel which dissects the outlandish claims and outright lies that seems to pass for real news these days. Then, ay 9pm, it's Confessions of the Paparazzi in which paparazzo George Bamby reveals the dark arts of snapping celebrities. Britain's Greatest Hoaxer (Tuesday, Channel 4, 10pm) profiles Simon Brodkin, whose stunts include giving Sepp Blatter a banknote shower, and stage-invading Kanye West at Glastonbury.

The Moorside
Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm
In 2008, the UK was gripped by the search for missing schoolgirl Shannon Matthews, and the community in Dewsbury rallied behind her distraught mother Karen Matthews. When no trace of Shannon is found, police fear she has been abducted and murdered. This two-part miniseries focuses on the efforts to find Shannon, and the sense of betrayal when they suspect Karen may not be telling the truth about what happened to her daughter.

Roots
Wednesday, BBC Four, 9pm
Back in the 1970s, Roots was one of the biggest things on the telly. The mini-series, based on the novel by Alex Haley and starring LeVar Burton as enslaved Mandinka warrior Kunta Kinte, broke ratings records, and won Emmy and Golden Globe awards. Could any remake possibly improve on the original? This remake features Malachi Kirby in the iconic role of Kunta Kinte, with Forest Whitaker, Anna Paquin and Jonathan Rhys Meyers providing some star power, and Laurence Fishburne delivering a voiceover as the book's author Alex Haley. It was positively received when it aired in the US last year, so could be worth a revisit.

Gogglebox Ireland
Wednesday, TV3, 9pm
The hit TV3 series is back on the couch for another series.

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Pat Kenny Tonight
Wednesday, TV3, 10pm
Kenny and Colette Fitzpatrick return for another series of current-affairs discussion and horns-locking with public figures in front of a studio audience.

After The Crash
Wednesday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
Every week, another horrific car crash hits the news headlines, as more lives are lost on Irish roads. The tragedy soon becomes yesterday's news, but for the families and friends of the victims, the struggle to deal with their loss is only beginning. This harrowing documentary sees loved ones tell their personal stories of loss and grief. Among the interviewees are the families of Andrew Roche Mason and Andrew Madigan, two care assistants in Limerick who died in March 2016 when the car they were travelling in crashed into a van. We also meet Tom and Margaret Kelly, whose daughter Tina and grandson Joey were killed when their car hit a tree near their home in Ballygar, Co Galway.

Late Late Valentine's Special
Friday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
Ryan Tubridy hosts another Late Late Show special featuring an audience of singletons in search of sweet love. Don't call it the Sex Toy Show – this is good, clean, flirtatious fun, as Tubridy plays Cupid (or Cilla) and leads the audience of hopeful romantics through a series of fun dating games, with some chat, music and "craic" thrown in just to loosen the inhibitions. "What better way to find the person you are going to spend the rest of your life with than live in front of the nation?" says Tubridy. I'll stick with Coppers.

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney

Kevin Courtney is an Irish Times journalist