The Microsoft Challengers Trophy (Saturday, 7 a.m., Channel 4) brings together 110 top European companies to battle for the title over four days of competition, with nine stages and 200 miles to conquer.
The consequences of BSE (mad cow disease) are being realised throughout Europe and hundreds of thousands of cattle have been destroyed, reports True Lives - Dead Silence (Tuesday, 10.05 p.m. RT╔1).
Ear To The Ground (Monday, 8.30 p.m., RT╔1) examines how the closure of the General Semiconductor plant in Macroom, Co Cork, will affect local farmers. It also reports on the impact of mariculture in Donegal and visits an open farm in Kerry.
Britain's immigration officers have always had the power of arrest but have never used it. Welcome To Britain (Monday, 11.05 p.m., BBC1) tells of how they are now being trained to go without police back-up to make their own arrests.
The opportunities of work in a city emerged in the Victorian era to create the middle classes between the extremes of the haves and have-nots. What The Victorians Did For Us - Social Progress (Monday, 8.30 p.m., BBC2) relates how this led to the demand for labour-saving gadgets and the development of the consumer industry.
sokelly@irish-times.ie
