Preview

Monday

Pot Luck (RTE 1, 5.30 p.m.) Our increasingly sophisticated culinary tastes are exemplified in this four-day week series where top chefs challenge each other in the studio kitchen. Tonight Terry McCoy, head chef of the Red Bank restaurant in Skerries, takes on Margaret Browne of Ballymackeigh House, Killeagh, Co Cork. On Wednesday, catch Michel Flamme of the K Club, Co Kildare and Dublin-based freelance chef, Gail Sinclair. 11830685

True Lives (RTE 1, 8 p.m.)

Screenwriter Stanley Price returns to Ireland to trace his Russian-Irish-Jewish roots. Using dramatic recreations, personal memories and archive material, producer/director Gerry Troyna recalls Price's idyllic early years in Dublin. 98623463

Panorama (BBC 1, 10 p.m.)

The Panorama team looks at whether there is any justification for the the British government's latest attack on the weaker members of its society: are those who claim long-term sickness or disability benefit really unable to work, or are many of them simply pulling a sickie? 395821

Tuesday

Leargas (RTE 1, 7.30 p.m.) Did you know that Ireland has the highest percentage of night workers in Europe? It seems it is now the client, not the machine, which keeps night workers in jobs, Caoimbhe Nic Caba reports. Subtitled in English. 11884406

Shop Till You Drop (Channel 4, 8 p.m.)

In this new series, retail psychologists and industry gurus reveal the tricks used by stores to entice us to spend. And are you just what they are looking for? Ideal shoppers are deemed to include the fashion enthusiasts, thirtysomething shoppers, price-led replacers and interested label seekers. 3970

Cutting Edge (Channel 4, 9 p.m.)

From minor illnesses to traumatic medical emergencies involving air ambulances and foreign operations, holiday dreams can quickly become nightmares according to this new documentary series which looks at how contingency plans unfold when disaster strikes on the well-earned break. 2574

Wednesday

Tomorrow's World (BBC 1, 7.30 p.m.)

A new treatment using drugs activated by laser offers hope to sufferers of pancreatic cancer. Previous trials on proved the treatment is effective on surface tumours, the technique is now being taken to the inner organs. Anya Sitaram reports. 891

Pulse (RTE 1, 8.30 p.m.)

This week's programme focuses on chronic pain and the use of an internal morphine pump to relieve it when all else fails. Plus, an innovative multi-sensory centre in Co Carlow where bubble tubes, ball pools and jacuzzis are used in the care of the profoundly disabled, Keelin Shanley reports. 62077655 Cead Cheadaoin (TnaG, 9.30 p.m.)

Historian and writer Dr Margaret McCurtin is interviewed live by Alan Dukes TD and columnist Maire Geoghegan-Quinn. Broadcast the first Wednesday of each month, this programme is produced by RTE for TnaG. 64256891

Thursday

Out Of The Blue (RTE 1, 8.30 p.m.)

The evocative coastline and seascapes of Co Cork are the focus of this, the second programme in this series on the waterways that surround us. Tonight, Derek Davis harvest mussels in Bantry Bay, boards a multimillion pound exploration vessel and meets an ancient mariner on Cape Clear. 62044327 Undercover (RTE 1, 10.10 p.m.)

With the soft-back edition of his latest book, Father's Music, hitting the bookstore shelves next month, author Dermot Bolger looks back over his career as a writer to date. Excerpts of his work will be read throughout the programme. 74106501 Taggart (RTE 1, 10.50 p.m.)

The first in a three-part story of this Glasgow-based police detective series. An architect is shot dead in what seems like an open and shut murder case. 92277853

Friday

Telecourse: Life On The Internet (Network 2, 11.50 a.m.)

The next generation is the focus of this week's programme from this series looking at the myriad ways people use the Internet. 62682877 Newsround Extra (BBC 1, 4.55 p.m.) In an exclusive follow-up to the 1996 programme about of the work of the charity War Child in Bosnia, opera star Luciano Pavarotti and U2's Bono travel back to Mostar for the opening of the Pavarotti Music Centre. The centre will provide international recording studios alongside music therapy and support for children traumatised by war. 7410167

Beyond The Hall Door (RTE 1, 8 p.m.)

Designing the dream bathroom is this week's studio challenge taken up by furniture designer Simon O'Driscoll and architect Eva Byrne. Meanwhile, a young couple have a small, dark kitchen transformed into a brighter, more aesthetically pleasing alternative. 62092964

Labhair Linn (TnaG 8 p.m.)

A series for and about women and mothers. The challenges faced by people with a disability is the focus of this week's programme. English subtitles on teletext. 162087032

Films

Tuesday: Camille (Channel 4, 1.30 p.m.)

Greta Garbo stars as Alexander Dumas's tragic heroine in what many consider to have been her finest role in this 1937 black and white movie. "Garbo's performance is in the finest tradition, eloquent, tragic, yet restrained", wrote the New York Times when the film was first released. 95135 Tuesday: The Man Who Fell To Earth (Chan- nel 4, 11.45 p.m.)

David Bowie stars as an extraterrestrial corrupted and destroyed when he comes to earth in search of water for his dying planet. Director Nicolas Roeg's seminal work is still a cult classic. 40832338 Tuesday: Disclosure (RTE 1, 10.10 p.m.)

Capturing on screen a new twist in the sexual harassment debate of the early 1990s, this movie stars Demi Moore as a female boss who sexually harasses her employee (Michael Douglas) and subsequently accuses him of harassment. Hot and steamy in parts, yet director Barry Levinson succeeds in getting his message across. 82080932

Friday: The Stepford Wives (RTE 1, 11.45 p.m.) How is it the housewives of an idyllic Connecticut commuter village are so blissfully contented, dutiful and subservient? Starring Katharine Ross, Paula Prentiss, Peter Masterson and Nanette Newman. Adapted for the screen from Ira Levin's novel of the same name, this black comedy got mixed reviews. 20292803