TV guide: 12 of the best new shows to watch, beginning tonight (2024)

Invasion: The Normans

Sunday, RTÉ1, 6.30pm

Ever wondered why the English and French hate each other so much? Blame Ireland. Seems the rosbifs and the frogs got on like a house on fire – until they decided to invade Ireland, after which it all started to go pear-shaped. In the second of this two-part documentary series about the Anglo-Norman invasion, Strongbow has established his stronghold in Ireland, and married the King of Leinster’s daughter Aoife. His boss, Henry II, arrives in Ireland to take control and hand out lands to British settlers. Actor Michael McElhatton narrates, with elaborate re-enactments driving the story along at a clip.

On Thin Ice: Putin vs Greenpeace

Sunday, BBC2, 9pm

Almost a decade before Irish fishermen faced down the Russian navy off the Irish coast, Greenpeace activists set sail for a showdown at a Russian oil rig, on a mission to disrupt efforts to extract the world’s first offshore Arctic oil. But Russian forces were ready for them, and the Greenpeace activists were arrested and thrown in to brutal conditions in a Russian prison, with Vladimir Putin ordering authorities to make an example of them. This six-part series uses amazing, previously unseen footage, 360-degree access and cinematic reconstructions to tell the story of how events unfolded – with contributions from British and Russian politicians, climate experts and the protesters themselves.

Bake Off: The Professionals

Monday, Channel 4, 8pm

Time for the amateur pastry chefs to take a break, sit back and let the professionals take over and demonstrate how to really screw up a soufflé and mess up a mousse. Bake Off: The Professionals is back for its ninth series, presented by comedian Ellie Taylor and past Bake Off star Liam Charles. Taking part are pastry teams from some of Britain’s top hotels, restaurants and patisseries, and they’ll be set some very serious baking challenges under the unforgiving eyes of expert patissiers Benoit Blin and Cherish Finden – and the even more unforgiving eyes of viewers who just know they could do it better.

Long Lost Family: Born Without Trace

Monday, UTV, 9pm

Tracing your family history can be hard enough, but it’s even harder for foundlings who have no idea who even their parents are, let alone their ancestors. Davina McCall and Nicky Campbell present a new series of Born Without Trace, with a crack investigative team led by social worker Ariel Bruce using DNA technology to help people abandoned as babies learn about their origins. This first episode of the series features a foundling discovered on the steps of a Dublin church, who extraordinarily, turns out to be realted to another who was abandoned in the waiting room at Reading train station in England in 1965.

The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot

Tuesday, Channel 4, 9pm

In April 2015, Victoria Cilliers, an experienced skydiver, was on a parachute jump – a present from her husband Emile Cilliers – when both her main and reserve chutes failed to open, and she fell 4,000 feet to certain death. Incredibly, she survived, but while recovering from life-threatening injuries, she was in for another shock: police suspected her husband, a British army sergeant, of tampering with her parachute. This documentary series tells an incredible story of lies, deceit and attempted murder – after watching this you’ll be telling your hubby to just give you a voucher.

On Thin Ice: Putin vs Greenpeace

Tuesday, BBC2, 9pm

The documentary series ends with double-episode finale, telling the story of how Greenpeace activists set sail to disrupt Russian oil drilling in the Arctic, and fell foul of Russian president Vladimir Putin, who was determined to make an example of the protesters and defend Russia’s right to exploit the region. The Greenpeace ship is seized and towed to Murmansk, and the crew are expecting a short detention, but are shocked to learn they are charged with piracy and face 15 years in jail. In these concluding episodes, the crew manage to get messages out, sparking a worldwide media campaign to free the crew.

RTÉ Investigates: Horses – Making a Killing

Wednesday, RTÉ1, 9.35pm

It’s true to say that Ireland is a horsey country, and equine pursuits run deep in our DNA. Horsebreeding is big business round these parts, but what happens to these high-maintenance animals after they’ve outlived their usefulness? What lies in store for former champion horses as they approach their final furlong? The RTÉ Investigates team goes behind the stable doors to see how Ireland’s equine industry deals with horses who are no longer in the running for big races or showjumping events.

A Small Light

Wednesday, RTÉ2, 10.05pm

First aired on Disney+, this drama series tells the story of Anne Frank, from the perspective of those who risked everything to shelter Frank and her family from the Nazis in Amsterdam during the second World War. Bel Powley plays Dutch woman Miep Gies, a young secretary whose boss, Otto Frank (Liev Schreiber), asks her to help him hide his family in a secret annex of his business premises during the Nazi occupation of Amsterdam. Miep and her husband Jan (Joe Cole) not only hide the Franks, but several other families over a two-year period.

The Truth vs Alex Jones

Thursday, Sky Documentaries, 9pm

Moments after the school massacre in Sandy Hook, Connecticut, in which 20 children and six adults were killed, conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was on his Infowars channel claiming that the massacre never happened, and that the parents and children were simply actors. But far from being proved wrong by the facts, Jones’s egregious denial of the mass shooting gained traction, until one in four Americans polled believed Jones’s false claim that Sandy Hook never happened. The grieving parents found themselves the target of hateful comments and death threats as the lie grew legs, but finally decided they’d had enough and sued Jones for defamation. You’ll need blood-pressure tablets for this gripping documentary by Dan Reed, filmed over four years, with unprecedented access to the courtroom, as Jones is exposed as an amoral grifter using the Sandy Hook families’ grief to sell weight loss products on his website.

The Supervet: Noel Fitzpatrick

Thursday, Channel 4, 8pm

Supervet has been on the air for 10 years now, and in that time veterinary surgeon Noel Fitzpatrick has helped many families with sick pets, providing life-saving treatment for a range of ailments and injuries. To celebrate a decade of superb animal care, this new series opens with a rescue special, going back through the archives to see some of the seemingly hopeless cases coming in to his veterinary practice, including three-legged German Shepherd rescue dog Bran, who needed a hip replacement, and rescue whippet Wobble, who needed urgent treatment for a compression fracture in her neck that caused her to wobble – and put her in great pain.

Celebrity Gogglebox

Friday, Channel 4, 9pm

Just because celebrities are always on TV doesn’t mean they can’t relax on their couch and watch a bit of telly themselves (they also have couches too, apparently). This series of Celebrity Gogglebox sees famous people giving their snap verdicts on the week’s telly offerings, among them father-and-daughter Danny and Dani Dyer; Rylan Clark and his mum, Linda; Chris Packham and his daughter Megan; Shaun Ryder and his bezzie, Bez; and Stephen Mangan and his sister Anita.

Hidden Treasures of the National Trust

Friday, BBC2, 9pm

It’s the last programme in the series – what amazing treasure will be uncovered in this finale? Er, a portrait of a servant, actually. The programme visits the 13th-century Chirk Castle on the border of England and Wales, where a full-length portrait from the 18th century of a servant named John Wilton has been hanging neglected under layers of soot and varnish. Who is this mystery manservant, and what service did he provide his masters that he merited such a magnificent portrait? Also, we learn about the bitter three-years-long dispute between the workers at a slate quarry in north Wales and its owners, the Pennant family, who lived at Penrhyn Castle.