TV guide: 12 of the best new shows to watch

The Weakest Link

Saturday, BBC One, 5.55pm

It’s Saturday evening – time for a nice spot of ritual humiliation as a bunch of people gang up on their hapless team-mate and stab them in the back in a bid to win big money. Romesh Ranganathan is back as the host for a new series of the cruellest quiz show on the telly and this week eight celebrities will be coming down off their ivory towers to show their general knowledge skills. At stake is a prize of up to 50 grand which the celebs can win for their chosen charity. But with one player being voted the weakest link by their fellow contestants after each round, the stage is set for some serious discord and disunity. Oh, goody!

What really happened to the young prince Edward, heir to the throne of England

The Princes in the Tower: The New Evidence

Saturday, Channel 4, 8pm

What really happened to the young prince Edward, heir to the throne of England and his younger brother, Richard, who were locked in the Tower of London by their uncle, Richard of Gloucester in 1483? The accepted wisdom is that they were murdered by Gloucester, who then declared himself king, but did Richard III really order the killing of his 12- and eight-year-old nephews? If anyone can learn the truth about this centuries-old murder mystery, it’s the woman who discovered the final resting place of Richard III – writer Philippa Langley, who enlists the help of criminal barrister Rob Rinder.

This year’s celebrity “villain”, following Matt Hancock last year, is none other than arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage. Photograph: Carl Court/Getty Images

I’m a Celebrity… Get Me Out of Here!

Sunday, UTV & Virgin Media One, 9pm

Welcome back to the jungle, as a new batch of celebrities willingly put themselves through the wringer in the hope of winning the big prize – and perhaps revive their ailing brand. The trailer features presenters Ant and Dec as staff of a “luxury” tropical resort, preparing a meal of slimy creatures and a bath filled with maggots for their new arrivals. This year’s celebrity “villain”, following Matt Hancock last year, is none other than arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage, among those who will have to stand being in his company 24/7 are actor Jamie Lynn Spears (sister of Britney) and retired champion jockey Frankie Dettori.

These unlikely partners in crime fall foul of the region’s biggest and most ruthless mob boss. Photograph: Matt Squire

Boat Story

Sunday, BBC One, 9pm

It’s a telly truism that if you come across a big wad of cash or a haul of illegal drugs, it won’t be long before every gangster and cop in the country is breathing down your neck. When complete strangers Janet and Samuel, both down on their luck, discover several bales of drugs in a washed-up boat on a Yorkshire beach, they of course decide to keep them in the hope of turning their fortunes around. After all, who’s gonna know? Pretty soon, though, these unlikely partners in crime fall foul of the region’s biggest and most ruthless mob boss, and they’ll have to have all their wits about them if they’re going to keep their limbs attached.

O’Brien has taken over the presenter’s job from Sharon Ní Bheoláin, who quit the show for pastures new after five years at the helm. Photograph: Naoise Culhane

Crimecall

Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm

Carla O’Brien presents a new series of the monthly crimefighting series, in which RTÉ viewers are asked to help the Garda with their investigations into recent crimes. Each month, the programme uses dramatic reconstructions of crimes, CCTV footage from crime scenes, in-studio appeals to jog the public’s memory and the programme has had a high success rate in helping secure convictions over the last 19 series, says RTÉ. For series 20, which started in September, O’Brien has taken over the presenter’s job from Sharon Ní Bheoláin, who quit the show for pastures new after five years at the helm.

10 Things to Know About

Monday RTÉ One, 8.30pm

This episode of the science and health series will have me glued to the telly with my pipe and slippers: it’s all about ageing well and staying young at heart in your later years. Growing old may be an inescapable fact of life, but that doesn’t mean we have to sit there and do nothing about it. The programme will explore ways of reducing age-related lost of muscle strength and look at research into the causes of delirium and dementia. Kathriona Devereux, Jonathan McCrea and Fergus McAuliffe will also investigate the work being done to combat age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the number one cause of blindness in Ireland.

Best Place to Be

Tuesday, RTÉ One, 7pm

Irish emigrants have put down roots in many different parts of the world and in this series Baz Ashmawy has been visiting some of Europe’s most popular destinations for Irish people looking to make a vibrant life for themselves. In this final episode, Baz is in the bustling metropolis of Berlin, where he meets Limerick chef and entrepreneur Alan Micks, who has lived in the German capital for the past decade. Baz helps out in the kitchen at the hotel where Micks works and he also meets Dublin chef Sam Kindillion and Belfast grocery store owner Neil Calderwood.

The Great Climate Fight

Tuesday & Wednesday, Channel 4, 9.15pm

Everyone’s a climate expert these days and if all the world’s hot air about climate change and sustainability could be bottled, we wouldn’t need fossil fuels ever again. In this two-part special, interior designer Kevin McCloud, chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and retail guru Mary Portas combine their expertise to try to identify practical steps people can make to reduce – and perhaps even eliminate – their carbon emissions. But if the three presenters are gonna save the world, they’ll need to enlist some help from higher up, so they’ll be enlisting some of the world’s most respected climate experts to guide them in their quest.

An Gúna Bainise

Wednesday, TG4, 8.30pm

It’s the final episode of the series in which brides (and some grooms) reminisce about the dress they wore as they walked up the aisle on their wedding day. Wedding dresses are usually worn for just the big day and then boxed away and left in a corner of the wardrobe forever. But in this six-part series, dresses from the past 70 years of Irish life are brought back out into the light, along with the quirky stories behind them. In this last episode, we hear all about an island wedding featuring a dress that cost the princely sum of €100.

Rúin na bPortach

Wednesday, TG4, 9.30pm

The series all about bogs and peatlands continues with a look at how Irish history has been shaped by our boglands, and how many important relics from long into the past have been preserved by bogs – including some of our ancestors from the Iron Age. Cormac Ó hÁdhmaill visits Finland (yes, they have bogs too!) to find out how the peat industry and the people who work for it have been impacted by global events, and scientists in Dublin demonstrate how they are developing new medical treatments through research into traditional folk medicines inspired by bogs.

Twentysomething student Aimee, whose dream of being a teacher is shattered simply because deaf people are not taught Irish. Photograph: RTE

Deaf Not Dumb

Thursday, RTÉ One, 10.15pm

This powerful documentary looks at the lives of young people in Ireland struggling to get the same education rights as their hearing peers. Despite promises to improve access to education for young deaf people, many parents of hearing-impaired children still come up against barriers to ensure equal education opportunities for their kids. We meet eight-year-old Eoghan Freeman, deaf since birth, whose parents have been battling to get him the same education his older brothers have, and twentysomething student Aimee, whose dream of being a teacher is shattered simply because deaf people are not taught Irish.

The Works Presents

Thursday, RTÉ One, 11.15pm

John Kelly returns with his acclaimed series, in which he interviews key personalities from the arts world about what motivates and inspires them to create works of lasting cultural value. In the first episode, Kelly meets novelist, screenwriter and playwright Joseph O’Connor for an in-depth discussion about his writing process, his life as Professor of Creative Writing at University of Limerick and his latest novel, My Father’s House. With Kelly’s insightful style of questioning, you can be sure that this will be one riveting chat.

Now comes the ultimate trial by fire: can he handle a bunch of excitable kids high on festive fizz

The Late Late Toy Show

Friday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm

And so it comes, the big Christmas litmus test for new Late Late Show presenter Patrick Kielty. He may think he’s had a smooth enough run-in as the new host, with most agreeing that he is a worthy successor to Ryan Tubridy, Pat Kenny and Gay Byrne, but now comes the ultimate trial by fire: can he handle a bunch of excitable kids high on festive fizz, while also dancing and singing and dressing up in silly costumes? The nation’s children will be casting a critical eye over Kielty as he hosts his first-ever Toy Show, but we predict he’ll prove a big winner with the wee wains.

Celebrity Mastermind

Friday, BBC One, 8pm

Celebrities are not all empty-headed attention hogs, you know. Some celebs have specialist knowledge of stuff, and in this new series, quizmaster Clive Myrie will be putting a bunch of famous people through the Mastermind mill. The first episode features writer and comedian Rosie Jones, radio DJ Gemma Bradley, pop singer Dan Gillespie Sells from The Feeling and broadcaster Andy Goldstein. And what are their specialist subjects? TV series Dinnerladies, the Iron Man films, Elton John’s lyricist Bernie Taupin, and Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. I bow to their superior knowledge.