Weekend TV guide: 11 of the best shows to watch

Line of Duty's Adrian Dunbar on The Late Late, Anne Hathaway, Rebel Wilson and Killing Eve Jodie Comer on Graham Norton and a new Irish thriller for TG4


The Late Late Show
Friday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
With his starring role as Supt Ted Hastings on the hit BBC drama Line of Duty, Adrian Dunbar joins Ryan Tubridy to look back on his career and reflect on what it was like growing up in Northern Ireland. Also: An action plan to positively develop rural Ireland was launched in 2017, with former Kerry footballer Pat Spillane appointed to work with local communities and relay concerns back to the Government. Two years on, Spillane discusses if enough is being done to save rural Ireland. As well: Editor-in-chief of US Glamour Samantha Barry and TV presenter Laura Whitmore have gained international notoriety through their work in the media industry. They will join Ryan to chat about everything from their beginnings in Ballincollig and Bray to why it's so important to them that women support each other. Also: turning to the priesthood and religion late in life; former hurler Dessie Fitzgerald on moving forward after a spinal cord injury on the field; World Naked Bike Ride celebrated with  16 cyclists in their birthday suits riding through the Late Late Show studio; and music from Gavin James and Cork band True Tides.

The Graham Norton Show
Friday, BBC1, 10.35pm; Saturday, Virgin One, 9.20pm; Sunday, Virgin Two, 10pm
Oscar winner Anne Hathaway and the hilarious Rebel Wilson discuss The Hustle, a new big-screen comedy in which they play scam artists, one low-rent and the other high-class, who team up to take down the low, mean men who have wronged them. Jodie Comer discusses returning as Villanelle in hit action thriller Killing Eve, while Daniel Radcliffe chats about lending his voice to new animation Playmobil: The Movie.

Entombed
Friday, RTÉ2, 2.30pm
In the midst of a ferocious thunderstorm, no-nonsense Irishmen Joe (Jim Norton) and Nick (Michael Quinlan) are carrying a body into a cave for burial. But their relief at getting out of the rain is short-lived when an earthquake traps them inside the tomb. Father Ted star Norton heads the cast of the first broadcast of new Irish playwright Brendan Devitt's Easter drama from CTVC, directed by Paul Arnold. With Daryl McCormack and Ayesha Antoine.

Aithrí
Saturday, TG4, 8.55pm

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Derry-based film-maker Tom Collins’s Irish-language feature, debuting on TG4, begins in 1916, when a priest (Peter Coonan) recruits an impressionable teenager, Antaine, to fight the British in 1916. Fifty years later violence travels full circle when Antaine, now a veteran gunman, returns seeking vengeance. Shot on location in Derry and Donegal, Aithrí (Penance) also stars Barry Barnes, Barry McGovern, Gerard McSorley and Mimi Carroll, alongide rising star Diona Doherty of Derry Girls and newcomer Padhraig Parkinson. Pól Brennan of Clannad fame composed and arranged the atmospheric soundtrack.

Britain's Got Talent
Saturday, Virgin One, 8pm
Ant and Dec return to host the 13th series of the nationwide talent search, joined by judging panel Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams. An assortment of acts from across the UK will be displaying their talents, hoping to win the grand prize of £250,000 and the opportunity to appear at the Royal Variety Performance. As in previous years, in each episode all of the judges, as well as Ant and Dec, have the option to send one contestant straight through to the live semi-finals as their Golden Buzzer act.

The Importance of Being Oscar
Saturday, BBC2, 9pm

This mix of doc and drama charts the meteoric rise of brilliant young Irish writer Oscar Wilde, focusing on his great success as well as his tragic fall from grace, and promises to bring a new perspective to his oft-told tale. Freddie Fox, Claire Skinner, Anna Chancellor and James Fleet perform dramatic excerpts from Wilde’s best-known works, including The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray and The Canterville Ghost. Wildean scholars including actor Stephen Fry (who has played the great man in the past) shed some light on Wilde’s life and works, and highlight the man behind the fey caricature.

Extreme Chocolate Makers at Easter
Sunday, Channel 4, 6pm
There are Easter eggs and bunnies galore in this special episode of the documentary series. In Yorkshire, Ashley makes a giant chocolate shop for local children to destroy and devour, while Paul risks causing flavour controversy with a blue cheese and chocolate egg. Emma and Mark face the perils of transporting a giant modern art egg from north Wales to a London department store. Up in Scotland, Ruth creates a 5ft dog-themed display,Nicky makes a Cornish-themed centrepiece for an Easter fundraiser, and Aggy sculpts five chocolate statuettes for a Mad Hatter-themed awards ceremony.

Britain's Viking Graveyard
Sunday, Channel 4, 8pm
During the ninth century, a massive army of Vikings stormed British shores. Several thousand strong, it was one of the biggest fighting forces ever to invade the UK, but it left little trace of its bloody conquest on the landscape. Now, a team of archaeologists are out to prove that a mass grave discovered in a vicarage garden in Derbyshire is the last resting place of this great Viking army. Using the latest forensic techniques, they piece together extraordinary stories of women warriors and a Viking king reunited with his son in death.

Undiscovered Worlds with Steve Backshall
Sunday, BBC2, 8pm
The naturalist explores some of the world's most dangerous environments, beginning with the Arctic. The objective is to discover how rising temperatures are affecting the environment, wildlife and the local people. Backshall begins his expedition on the east coast of Greenland and kayaks across the world's largest fjord. The explorers braves lethal and ever shifting sea ice, vast icebergs and hungry polar bears.

Miriam's Dead Good Adventure
Sunday, BBC2, 9pm
Appearing in the first series of The Real Marigold Hotel seems to have given actor Miriam Margolyes an entirely new career. Last year she appeared in Miriam's Big Adventure, in which she explored the US; now she's investigating a subject many of us are uncomfortable with: death. In the two-part documentary she confronts her own fear of the topic by visiting a care home and discovering how Americans are attempting to prolong their lives.

The League of Gentlemen – Live Again!
Sunday, BBC2, 11.30pm

In 2017, Mark Gatiss, Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith reteamed with their non-performing friend Jeremy Dyson for a three-part special edition of their dark comedy series The League of Gentlemen, designed to celebrate its 20th anniversary. A year later they revived their most popular characters once again for a sell-out UK tour. Here it is, recorded live in front of an audience. Among the highlights are local shop owners Edward and Tubbs Tattsyrup, theatre company Legz Akimbo, hapless vet Dr Chinnery, and job centre trio Pauline, Mickey and Ross.

Contributing: PA