TV guide: The Bear returns, and the other best new shows to watch on RTÉ, Disney+, and Netflix this week

Irish Times

22-06-2025

Pick of the week
Natasha
Wednesday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
In 2022
Natasha O'Brien
was violently assaulted on a street in Limerick, in a random attack that left her bleeding and unconscious. The attacker,
Cathal Crotty
, was a serving soldier in the Defence Forces, and there was a public outcry when he received a suspended sentence for his cowardly and brutal act. This documentary follows O'Brien's subsequent refusal to stay silent about her treatment at the hands of a deeply flawed Irish legal system, and her subsequent battle to get justice for the trauma which was inflicted upon her. Thanks to her relentless campaigning, the DPP appealed Crotty's sentence and he was sentenced to two years in prison. With help from other women who shared their stories of facing their attackers in court, and from politicians including Labour leader Ivana Bacik and expert criminologist Dr Ian Marder, O'Brien looks at ways the system can be reformed to take ensure that victims' voices are heard.
Highlights
From that Small Island: The Story of the Irish
Sunday, RTÉ One, 6.30pm
From that Small Island: Marion Casey in New York
Nigel Farage can't seem to understand why Ireland would not want to join with the UK and leave the European Union; perhaps he should watch this third episode of this landmark historical series, as it might explain why his Irexit idea went down like a lead balloon. The 17th century saw mass migration of Irish to continental Europe, displaced by the brutal conquest by Oliver Cromwell, and this episode tracks the first diaspora as they set up new lives in various European countries. The programme also follows the Irish who signed up to French, Spanish and Austrian armies in the wake of the Williamite wars at the end of the 17th century, and became known as the Wild Geese. It marked the beginning of centuries-long ties between Ireland and Europe that will take more than a few bellowing Brexiteers to break. The programme, narrated by Colin Farrell, also looks at the life of anti-slavery campaigner Daniel O'Connell, known as the Liberator, and how he influenced black abolitionist and former slave Frederick Douglass.
Aistear an Amhráin
Monday, RTÉ One, 7pm
This series looking at the stories behind well-known songs ends with one of Ireland's most beloved bangers, An Poc ar Buile. The song was recorded in 1962 by Seán Ó Sé, and became an instant classic, but there's a tale to the tune that dates from the 17th century. The song about a mad billy goat was written in the 1940s by Donal Ó Mulláin and became associated with Puck Fair in Killorglin, Co Kerry, but the original poem it was based on has a darker meaning. An Boc ar Buile, written in the 1600s, was about a local landlord trying to exercise his right to have sexual relations with a tenant's bride on her wedding night. Given recent stories about landlords
demanding sex
from tenants as payment for rent, maybe the original version is due a revisit.
The Gilded Age
Monday, Sky Atlantic & Now, 9pm
The Gilded Age
Long before Sex and the City, New York was ruled by an elite coterie of well-got women, all vying for power and position in the upper echelons of high society in Upper East Side Manhattan of the 1880s. The Gilded Age is set during a period of huge transformation, when old money is under attack from a new generation of upwardly mobile industrialists and entrepreneurs, all hoping to buy their way into privilege. Louisa Jacobson stars as Marian Brook, a newcomer in New York society who arrives in the midst of a social war between the old-money Van Rhijn-Brooks and the new-money Russell family. Marian must quickly learn the rules of the game – and make up a few of her own – if she is to survive in this cut-throat world. Cynthia Nixon from SATC and Christine Baranski costar, and series three takes up the story in the aftermath of the so-called Opera War, which has given the Russells the social advantage. How will the old-money crowd hit back? This could turn into an epic confrontation.
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Death in the Desert: The Nurse Helen Mystery
Monday, Channel 4, 9pm
Helen Smith was a young nurse working in Saudi Arabia in 1979, enjoying her adventure and making new friends in a culture very different from her own. At just 23 years old, however, Helen died in mysterious circumstances. The official story was that she fell from a balcony at a party, and her death was ruled an accident, but questions lingered over the lack of a thorough police investigation and whether her death really was accidental. This documentary looks back on Helen's life in Saudi Arabia and the political and cultural climate of the time, and tries to uncover what really happened on that balcony more than 45 years ago.
Amol Rajan Goes to the Ganges
Wednesday, BBC One, 9pm
Amol Goes to the Ganges
The Maha Kumbh Mela Festival in northern India is the world's largest religious festival, and the biggest gathering of human beings on the planet, attended by almost 500 million people from around the globe – more than the combined populations of the US and UK converging on an area the size of Manhattan. Joining them for this special documentary is journalist and presenter Amol Rajan, and he's visiting for personal reasons – to help him come to terms with the death of his father three years ago, and to reconnect with the land of his birth. The Kumbh festival happens only every dozen years, and this year's festival coincides with a rare alignment of the planets, making it extra special for pilgrims. Amol meets many of these pilgrims, all here to purify themselves in the polluted waters of the Ganges, but he also comes close to tragedy as a huge crowd surge results in the deaths of 30 people.
Murder on the Doorstep: The Killer Clown
Wednesday, Sky Crime & Now, 9pm
Dan Reimer, who features in Murder On The Doorstep: The Killer Clown
In the 1990s, a young woman, Marlene Warren, was shot dead on the doorstep of her own house in Florida by a mystery assailant. The killer had dressed as a clown to disguise their identity, but police immediately suspected Marlene's husband, Michael Warren, of his wife's murder. Their marriage was in trouble, and there were rumours of extramarital affairs, but Michael had a rock-solid alibi and the police had no proof, so he was eliminated as a suspect. Nearly 30 years later, though, police make an apparent breakthrough, charging Michael's alleged mistress Sheila Keen with Marlene's murder. But is there more to this murder than meets the eye? This three-part docuseries looks back at the investigation, interviewing investigators, witnesses, friends and family members in an attempt to unravel a very tangled web of lies and betrayal.
Glastonbury 2025 Live
Thursday, BBC One, 10pm
The BBC's live coverage of this year's Glasto in Pilton, Sussex, kicks off on Thursday, but all this week the Beeb will be airing programmes in anticipation of the big weekend, beginning with three half-hour specials featuring Glastonbury legends from the 1970s (Monday, BBC Two, 10pm), 1980s (Tuesday, BBC Two, 10pm) and 1990s (Wednesday, BBC Two, 10pm). Clara Amfo and Lauren Laverne will be on hand at Worthy Farm to look forward to the fun in store for the weekend, which will see headline performances on the Pyramid stage by The 1975, Neil Young & the Chrome Hearts and Olivia Rodrigo. If you haven't got tickets for the festival, the BBC's coverage of the onstage action will be almost as good as the real thing – and a lot less mucky.
Streaming
Countdown
From Wednesday, June 25th, Prime Video
Countdown: Amber Oliveras and Mark Meachum
A dead Homeland Security agent, a secret taskforce and a terror plot that could end in millions of deaths: maybe I won't have another consonant after all, Rachel, thank you very much. Jensen Ackles from The Boys heads the cast of this action-thriller series created by Derek Haas, the mind behind the FBI series and all its variants. Ackles is the LAPD cop Mark Meachum, who is recruited into the taskforce after the Homeland Security guy is murdered in broad daylight. The murder is just the tip of the iceberg, and soon Ackles and the team are racing to stop the bad guys from turning the citizens of LA into DOA.
The Bear
From Thursday, June 26th, Disney+
The Bear
Chef-patron Carmy Berzatto is back in kitchen hell in the fourth series of the foodie dramedy, and he's still in pursuit of excellence in the former sandwich shop in Chicago that he inherited after the suicide of his brother, Michael. Carmy, a Michelin-star chef, has turned the dive into a fine-dining restaurant, but success is far from a done deal. Money is running out, and the kitchen is still in chaos and turmoil. Can Carmy create a calmer atmosphere in this culinary crucible? Jeremy Allen White stars as Carmy, with Ayo Edebiri, Oliver Platt and Jamie Lee Curtis among the cast.
Squid Game
From Friday, June 27th, Netflix
How much of a gaming junkie do you have to be to go back into a game that could end in your death? In series two of the hit Korean series – Netflix's most successful non-English-language series – Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae) went back into the game with a clear mission to take down the faceless organisation behind this murderous, macabre theme park, but in this third and final series he finds himself back in the Squid Game dorm after the failure of his attempted rebellion – and this time the games have been taken to even deadlier levels. Gi-hun must survive this last round and also outwit his treacherous adversary the Frontman as the tournament reaches its bloody, adrenaline-pumping climax.
Smoke
From Friday, June 27th, Apple TV+
The Rocket Man star Taron Egerton heads a strong cast in this new crime series about an arson investigator in pursuit of two serial pyromaniacs. Joining Egerton in the series – based on a true story – are Rafe Spall, Jurnee Smollett, Anna Chlumsky, Greg Kinnear and John Leguizamo. Egerton plays the investigator, with Smollett as the detective who becomes his reluctant partner; they'll have to find common ground if they are going to stop the firestarting spree before it gets completely out of control.