ONES TO WATCH
Happy Valley, Tuesdays starting April 29th 9pm, BBC1
Sarah Lancashire leads the cast in this brand new BBC drama Happy Valley which also stars Wexford's own Charlie Murphy. Sarah plays Catherine Cawood, the sergeant on duty in a West Yorkshire police station when flustered accountant Kevin Weatherill comes in to report a crime. However things get a bit sinister when Kevin loses his nerve when it comes to filling in the details and it turns out the crime he was trying to report was his own plan to kidnap his boss's daughter and keep some of the ransom to pay for his children's private schooling. BBC do good drama, this one is worth watching.
Bingo Nights, Wednesday 9 pm TV3
Did you know that an average of 100,000 games of bingo are being played in Ireland every night? Seriously! With figures like that there's no doubt that bingo is a massive business in Ireland today. This two part documentary visits bingo nights in Waterford, Wexford, Limerick, Galway and Dublin to see what exactly goes on. In the first episode the crew meets Shirley Woodland and her 22 year old daughter Shauna who go to the plush Stella bingo hall in Limerick. In contrast the locals in the rural area of Tynagh in Galway play bingo in the local gaa hall.
The Outsiders, Thursday RTE 1, 10.45 pm
This documentary explores how the lives of Eddie Cahill and his fellow former convict turned artist Frank "Lucas" Quigley were transformed by lessons given to them by Brian Maguire, a renowned expressionist painter while they were incarcerated in Portlaoise prison in the 1990's. Cahill, the brother of Martin Cahill, aka The General, had turned to crime after bring traumatised by the treatment meted out to him in Letterfrack Industrial School, while Quigley joined the IRA after his brother was killed by the British army.
The Guess List, BBC1, Saturday, 9.30pm
I love Rob Brydon as an actor so it will be interesting to see how he fares as a TV presenter with this new show that is supposed to be crammed full of big laughs and famous faces. Each show pits two members of the public against one another as they compete for an exclusive tailor- made prize. Five celebrity guests are on hand to lend their support as Brydon draws up a guess list of answers. Typical Saturday night telly.