Pick of the week
Bad: The Song That Saved My Life
Monday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
It is one of U2’s best-known and most-loved songs, but few know much about inspiration behind the song, a friend of the band named Andy “Guck Pants Delaney” Rowen. Rowen’s face is well-known: as a child he featured on the cover of U2’s debut album Boy and their third album, War. He is the younger brother of Bono’s best mate Derek Rowen aka the artist Guggi, and in this feature documentary by film-maker Maurice Sweeney, Andy tells his own extraordinary story of growing up in Dublin in the 1970s, and surviving trauma, addiction and the worst terrorist atrocity the city has ever experienced. He was just 11 when he and his father Robbie Rowen were caught up it the Dublin bombings in 1974, and his experience informed the lyrics of Bad, and U2’s later song Raised by Wolves. The documentary features contributions from Bono and Rowen’s brothers, and gives an insight into the social history of Ireland in an era of unemployment, repression and rage.
Highlights
Free Nelson Mandela
Sunday, Channel 4, 9pm
He was the world’s most famous political prisoner, and the 27-year incarceration of South African activist Nelson Mandela sparked a global campaign that drew in politicians, musicians and Hollywood stars. Everyone knows the song Free Nelson Mandela by The Special AKA, but how much do we know about what went on behind the scenes in the biggest-ever campaign to secure the release of one single prisoner? This four-part documentary series tells the story this mighty political and cultural battle, from many of the people who were at the forefront of the campaign, and at the centre of the anti-apartheid movement.
Dolly, the World’s Most Famous Sheep
Monday, Channel 4, 10pm
In 1996 scientists succeeded in creating the world’s first mammal cloned from an adult cell, a sheep named Dolly, and the world, to paraphrase Bart Simpson, had a cow. Dolly became a global sensation, featuring on the cover of Time magazine, but also sparking panic and protests as people anticipated the end of the world as we know it. This was something straight out of science fiction, and not everyone was on board with this brave new world of genetic tinkering-about. There was even an attempt by anti-GM activists to abduct Dolly, but the eco-warriors couldn’t tell her apart from the other sheep in her flock. This documentary tells the story of Dolly and the motley crew of Scottish scientists, working with almost zero budget, who made this world-shattering breakthrough after nearly 300 failed attempts.
Funboys
Monday & Wednesday, BBC3, 10.40pm
The boys of Ballymacnoose are back, as socially awkward, sexually repressed and generally clueless as ever, in the second series of the comedy that knows no taste boundaries. Beware: Funboys will draw you in with gentle comedic charm, then deliver a nightmarish gag that will have you choking on your duck salad. The series is created by and stars Ryan Dylan and Rian Lennon as Callum and Jordan, with Lee R James as Lorcan. We rejoin the trio as they continue to stumble into adulthood while trying to stave off the boredom of this rural backwood. Callum gets a job at the local folk museum, playing a starving peasant during the Famine, with his boss Philip (Steve Coogan) playing the ruthless landlord, but is the method acting getting a little too real? Meanwhile, the sexually voracious Gemma (Ele McKenzie) continues to wreak hormonal havoc while Jordan’s night terrors are making life hell for Callum. Episodes one and two are on Monday, with two more episodes on Wednesday just to give you a day to recover.
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Scamanda
Tuesday, BBC One, 9pm
In 2012 the US was gripped by a heartwarming story of faith and resilience in the face of illness. Amanda Riley, a beautiful and bubbly young mom living in San Jose, had been diagnosed with cancer and, as she wrote in her blog detailing her treatment journey, she didn’t expect to see her 30th birthday. The community quickly rallied round this brave, charismatic young woman, and soon her blog was filled with stories of the generosity shown to her and her family, with cash donations and gifts flowing in from all over the world. To everyone, Riley embodied the American ideal of hope and perseverance, but one person saw something different behind the Hallmark platitudes - all the hallmarks of a good, old-fashioned con job. This four-part documentary series, previously shown on Disney+, tells the story of how Riley built up her vast network of donors and wellwishers, and how the whole edifice began to unravel.
The Light in the Hall: Still Waters
Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm
This was originally a Welsh-language series called Y Golau: Dwr, but its creators have kindly made an English-language version just so the rest of us can keep up with what’s going on. This is the second series of the crime drama set in the fictional Welsh town of Llanemlyn, and brings a new storyline and additional cast of characters to the mix. The story spans two timelines: the mid-1990s and the present day. Sian Reese-Williams is trainee journalist Caryl Huws, and the big story of the day is a plan to expand the town’s reservoir, which is churning up lots of controversy. Meanwhile, Rhys Owen (Mark Lewis Jones) returns to Llanemlyn after serving 30 years in jail for a bombing that killed his cousin Llyr. Will long-buried secrets and tensions resurface as protests against the reservoir project escalate? You don’t need fluent Welsh to guess the answer to that one.
Streaming
Harlan Coben’s I Will Find You
From Thursday, June 18th, Netflix
David Burroughs is serving a life sentence for a murder he did not commit. The victim? His own son. No one believes him, and he’s doomed to rot in jail for the rest of his life. But then he receives word that his son may still be alive, so he vows to find his child and prove his innocence. But first there’s going to have to be a jailbreak. What will Burroughs find when he gets outside? A world of lies, deceit, betrayal and danger, of course, plus all the twisty plots we’d expect from this latest telly adaptation of a Harlan Coben thriller. Sam Worthington stars as Burroughs, with a cast that includes Britt Lower as his sister-in-law Rachel, Milo Ventimiglia as Rachel’s ex-boyfriend Hayden and Madeleine Stowe as the wealthy heiress Gertrude.
Sugar
From Friday, June 19th, Apple TV
John Sugar is a private detective in Los Angeles who also happens to be a bit of a cineaste. So it’s no surprise that his life resembles a neo-noir detective flick in the style of Elmore Leonard. Colin Farrell returns as Sugar in this second series, and he’s still searching for his missing sister, with hope diminishing of ever finding her. But he’s still got to work, so he takes on a new client: a boxer who is trying to track down his troubled older brother. Soon Sugar’s investigation uncovers a wider conspiracy that could see him getting KO’d – and not getting up again.
