TV guide: The best shows to watch this week, beginning tonight

Raising the Mary Rose: The Lost Tapes

Sunday, Channel 4, 7pm

Forty years ago, the British public was gripped by a huge archaeological event as Henry VIII’s navy flagship, the Mary Rose, was raised from the seabed where it had lain since 1545. This new documentary uncovers a treasure trove of footage thought to have been lost, detailing the planning and execution of this gargantuan excavation project, and looking at the logistical (and political) problems that almost scuppered the project and the part played by Prince Charles — now King Charles — in the event

North Sea Connection

Sunday, RTÉ One, 9.30pm

The final episode of the thriller series set in a small fishing village in Connemara sees Aidan being banished from his house by Adamma, and Moira being forced to take drastic action to save her family. It’s a stormy climax for this series about a fishing family caught up with a ruthless international drug-smuggling ring and who now have to find a way to disentangle themselves from their new masters without getting killed. The cast includes Lydia McGuinness as Ciara Kenny, Kerr Logan as Aidan Kenny and Sinead Cusack as Moira Kenny.

The Tuskar Rock Tragedy

Monday RTÉ One, 9.35pm

It was the worst disaster in Irish aviation history, but the mystery of what happened to Aer Lingus flight 712 on March 24th, 1968 remains unsolved. The plane was en route from Cork Airport to London Heathrow when it crashed into the sea off the Co Wexford coast, near the Tuskar Rock lighthouse, with the loss of all 61 passengers and crew. This documentary revisits this terrible tragedy through the eyes of the families and loved ones of those who were on the doomed flight.

Lucy Investigates

Monday, Virgin Media One, 9pm

Not to be confused with Lucy Worsley Investigates, this new series features fearless presenter Lucy Kennedy, best known for crashing at celebrities’ gaffs and getting a glimpse into their lives. Here she goes one further, embedding herself in an entire scene, and meeting groups of people who share a common passion, pastime or cultural identity. The series will see her going to a sex party (although just as a neutral observer), learning how to be a social influencer and hanging out with young Traveller women.

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What Planet Are You On?

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday, RTÉ One, 7pm

Maia Dunphy presents the new series of the climate change challenge, in which three families from around Ireland work to reduce their carbon footprint and live a more sustainable life. At stake is not just a €5,000 prize, but the future of the planet as the families learn how small changes can make a big difference to the environment. There’ll be a panel of experts on hand to set challenges including foregoing red meat, reducing plastic waste and cutting down on unnecessary car journeys.

Trump: The Comeback?

Tuesday, BBC Two, 11.15pm

We are living with the threat of Putin using nuclear weapons against Ukraine, and with climate change causing untold global catastrophe. But the thing that has some people most worried is the possibility of Donald Trump returning to the White House in 2024. Could it happen? US-based British journalist and broadcaster Katty Kay takes a road trip around the US to find out is there an appetite for another four years of Trump turmoil, or has the US had him up to here.

Candy

Wednesday, Disney+

To say Jessica Biel kills it in this new true crime series is no exaggeration. Not only does she deliver a tour de force performance as “normal” housewife Candy Montgomery, she’s pretty nifty with a murder weapon too. It’s 1980 and Candy is the seemingly perfect wife and mom, straight out of Good Housekeeping. Even when having an affair with her neighbour’s husband, she does it with the same meticulous care she gives to planning Thanksgiving dinner. But when her friend begins to suspect something’s going in, the scene is set for some serious suburban carnage.

The Elon Musk Show

Wednesday, BBC Two, 9pm

Sometimes watching the Tesla boss’s carry-on, you’d think he was the star of his own mad virtual reality show. That’s not so far from the truth, as this new documentary on Musk demonstrates. Friends, family members, colleagues and sworn enemies give their tuppence worth on how Musk rose to become the richest man in the world — and one of its most colourful characters. No doubt about it: this is Elon’s world and we’re just subscribing to it.

TS Eliot: Into The Waste Land

Thursday, BBC Two, 9pm

TS Eliot’s epic poem is 100 years-old, and to celebrate the centenary this documentary looks at his state of mind when writing the poem, based on revelations uncovered in 2020 when 1,000 of his letters to his muse, Emily Hale, held at Princeton University Library for 60 years, were unsealed. The letters show how Eliot was torn between his first love, Hale and his wife, Vivien, and how his emotional turmoil drove the poem. Fiona Shaw and composer Max Richter contribute, with recorded readings of the poem by Simon Russell Beale and by Eliot himself.

I Hate You

Thursday, Channel 4, 10pm

Elevator pitch: Peep Show with women. This new comedy series by Robert Popper, the man behind Friday Night Dinner (he also worked on Peep Show) stars Tanya Reynolds and Melissa Saint as best friends Charlie and Becca, who can’t decide if they love each other to death or just want to kill each other. They share a flat (one half is spotless; the other half is a mess) and are constantly bickering. In episode one, the friends compete to see who can date the oldest swinger.

Shantaram

Friday, Apple TV+

Charlie Hunnam stars as a drug addict on the run from the law in this thriller series set in 1980s Bombay. Lin Ford has been banged up for robbery, but escapes from prison and heads to India where he reckons he can stay under the radar. But it’s not long before his criminal ties bind him again, and he finds himself in Afghanistan, helping a local mob boss go up against Russian gangsters. When Lin falls for a mysterious woman named Karla, however, things get really complicated, and soon his entire edifice is in danger of falling down around him. It’s based on the best-selling novel by Gregory David Roberts.

Babylon Berlin

Friday, Sky Atlantic & Now, 9pm

Need a break from watching the world sliding inexorably into recession and full-blown fascism? The fourth series of Babylon Berlin will bring us back to more innocent times, when the world was in the grip of the Great Depression and the Nazis were goose-stepping into power in Germany. Once again, the series revolves around the criminal investigations of detective Gereon Rath — and this time his work brings him dangerously close to Hitler’s growing army of supporters.