Pick of the Week
Impact: The Anatomy of a Crash
Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35am
Back in the early noughties, road safety ads on TV became so graphic and visceral they would have merited an R rating. The idea was to shock viewers into slowing down behind the wheel but, even more shockingly, the ads didn’t seem to have any significant impact on road death figures, which just kept going in one direction. It appeared that viewers became desensitised to the televised recreations of horrific road collisions, and just carried on with their bad driving habits. Impact – The Anatomy of a Crash is a new one-hour documentary that revisits one of the country’s worst crashes, forensically reconstructing the events, gathering testimony from survivors, witnesses and first responders, and unflinchingly laying out the devastating lifelong consequences and the physical, emotional and psychological scars left behind. The crash happened 10 years ago in Waterford, when a family of six from Cork, on their way to see Santa at the Winterval festival, had a head-on collision with a car carrying three young men. The men’s car exploded in a fireball, killing them instantly, but the family miraculously survived. Viewers are warned that this will be harrowing stuff, but will watching it change driving habits one whit?
Highlights
Pray for Our Sinners
Wednesday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
When Sinéad O’Shea went back to her hometown of Navan, Co Meath, she was determined to reawaken old ghosts and dig up buried secrets. In this film, she explores the toxic effects of the Catholic Church on her community in the past, a malevolent influence that poisons to this day. She interviews locals about the cruel treatment of young, unmarried mothers at the time, as they were banished to mother-and-baby homes, and the sickening violence committed against children in Catholic schools. She also learns about a small number of people who fought back against the all-powerful men of the cloth, including a woman who refused to hand over her baby to the priests for adoption, and a young boy who decided he’d had enough of the physical abuse he and his classmates suffered daily at the hands of sadistic teachers. O’Shea also hears the story of a couple who dared to set up a family-planning service and run a campaign against corporal punishment.
Destination X
Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm
Have you ever looked around you and wondered, “Where the hell am I?” Well, the contestants in this new adventure game series will be finding themselves in various mystery locations around Europe, and it will be up to them to guess their whereabouts if they want to progress and win the ultimate prize. Rob Brydon is the mastermind in charge of the mystery itinerary, as contestants must use all their wits to work out where they are. “It’s a show that turns the whole of Europe into a board game – manipulating the players and the audience at home along the way,” says Brydon, and contestants will have to take on a number of challenges in order to pick up clues as to their location. But beware – there’ll be a few misdirections along the way, and everything isn’t always as it seems.
Football Families
Thursday, RTÉ One, 10.10pm
What does it take to play elite-level soccer under the guidance of Shelbourne head coach Damien Duff? For many youngsters hoping to make it in soccer’s big league, they need their family to get behind them and support them in their dream of playing professional football. In this three-part documentary, we meet some of Shelbourne’s talented young players as they deal with the pressures and setbacks on their path to the top tier, and get an insight into how Duff has transformed the club and fostered a culture of mentorship for young recruits, and cemented the bonds between players and fans. The series was filmed during Shelbourne’s 2024 season, which culminated with them becoming League of Ireland champions.
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Tradfest – The Fingal Sessions
Friday, RTÉ One, 8pm
Broadcaster Fiachna Ó Braonáin, whose other job is guitarist with the Hothouse Flowers, presents another series featuring top trad musicians and spoken-word artists, performing in a venue in the north Dublin district of Fingal. This time, the 200-acre Ardgillan Castle and Demesne near Balbriggan is the setting for another round of rousing musical and spoken-word sessions, and this first episode celebrates the huge contribution made by the Travelling community to Ireland’s rich musical heritage. Guests are singer and storyteller Thomas McCarthy, from Birr, Co Offaly, winner of the 2019 Traditional Singer of the Year in the Gradam Ceoil Awards 2019; Sharyn Ward from Longford, whose performance blew away the audience and judges on Ireland’s Got Talent; and gritty Dublin singer-songwriter Steo Wall, who is now based in Clare.
Mrs Brown’s Boys
Friday, BBC One, 9.30pm; RTÉ One, 9.35pm
Christmas has come early for fans of Finglas matriarch Agnes Brown, as the mammy of them all is back in a brand new series, with the whole gang – including Winnie, Birdy, Buster, Dermot and Father Damien – in tow. The show has had more Christmas specials than actual series, and writer and star Brendan O’Carroll says he’s enjoyed coming up with non-festive-themed gags for this fifth series. “Unlike the specials, we can focus on anything – within reason.”
So what can fans of Ireland’s rudest mammy expect from this new series? In the first episode, Agnes becomes a podcast sensation after hijacking her daughter Cathy’s latest media project. In other episodes, Agnes helps Granddad pack for his move into a nursing home, helps Winnie pass her driving test and discovers the joys of erotic fiction – all with disastrous and, we are told, hilarious results. “I honestly don’t know the secret to the enduring success of Mrs Brown’s Boys,” says O’Carroll. “I write and perform what I think is funny and just hope that somebody somewhere watching gets a laugh out of it.” Nice to see niche viewing being catered to by the two national broadcasters.
Streaming
Leanne
From Thursday, July 31st, Netflix
There’s a grand tradition of sitcoms named after their stars – Roseanne, Seinfeld, Ellen, Miranda, Newhart – and here’s another one, this time starring the Tennessean comedian Leanne Morgan as the kooky matriarch of a modern southern family. After 33 years of marriage, Leanne has been dumped by her husband for another woman, and now she must start all over again as a single, menopausal grandmother. “When I started comedy 25 years ago, my goal was to be a part of a sitcom,” says Morgan. “It just goes to show you it’s never too late, and dreams do come true. I’m a grandmama from Tennessee, and now I have a TV show with Chuck Lorre and Netflix. What in the world?”
Chief of War
From Friday, July 1st, Apple TV+
Jason Momoa is the star, writer and executive producer of this series telling the turbulent story of the Polynesian kingdom of Hawai’i in the late 18th century. This is a passion project for Momoa, who has Hawaiian heritage, and the story, based on historic events, is told from a the perspective of indigenous people as they face colonisation by western armies and are forced to unite to protect their culture and heritage. Momoa stars as the warrior Ka’iana, who sets out to bring the warring factions of Hawai’i together so they can defend themselves against the white marauders, with a mostly Polynesian supporting cast.
