Tears and tantrums in the sun
MADE IN CHELSEA E4, TONIGHT, 9PM
THERE have been two TV-related cases of mass depression in this country during the course of this glorious summer.
For starters, many of us felt a void in our lives as soon as the World Cup finished. We’d had four weeks of brilliant weather and great football, and the fact that the rain returned on the day of the final sent football fans into a funk.
Far more drastic than the absence of football, of course, was the conclusion of Love Island, which seemed to send half its fans into a spiral of ennui.
So what the hell are we going to do now?
Well the Sunday Supplement (Sky Sports 1, 10.30am) returned yesterday, in advance of the Premier League kicking off on Friday, and, of course, Love Island has mutated, like some hideous new form of bird flu, into Love Island Australia (3e, tonight, 9pm).
But for those people who like watching awful people doing awful things in lovely places, you can kick it old school tonight with the new season of Made In Chelsea: Croatia (E4, tonight, 9pm).
Yes, the gang of slackjawed trustifarians, who seem to go by stupid names like Binky, Ploppy, and Pinky, travel to Croatia.
While there, they examine some war ruins and have an in-depth discussion about the complex social and ethnic divisions which often occur when a previously unified totalitarian state collapses in on itself and reverts to a system of genocidal, tribal, Medieval massacres.
Only kidding, they’ll be shagging and crying like always.
It’s one of those quirks of political fate that Nobel Peace prize recipient John Hume seems to have been largely excised from the narrative surrounding peace in Northern Ireland.
In a time of violent extremism, Hume’s stubborn dedication to finding a non-violent solution to the statelet’s seemingly intractable problems was itself an almost revolutionary act.
John Hume In America (RTÉ One, tomorrow, 9.35pm) is an account of his sterling behind-the-scenes work in the States as he tried to rally both the political establishment and the Irish diaspora into finding a way out of the endless cycle of pointless violence.
Contributors include the likes of Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter and, of course, there is also the obligatory appearance by Bono, who now seems to spend his time as a talking head who pops up on serious documentaries.
Honestly, the man is morphing into a real life version of Zelig, and not in a good way.
Liam Neeson provides the narration...
Mark Kermode’s Secrets Of Cinema (BBC4, tomorrow, 9pm) looks at the sci-fi genre.
Oh, yes please ....