This week, TV takes us to Ireland, Scotland, 1950s England and 1860s Italy. No prizes for guessing where the best weather is.
Tour de Fred: Northern Ireland
Monday
ITV1, 2.00pm
First Dates maître d’ Fred Sirieix has travelled all over the world with various celebrity chefs, but now he’s flying solo to cycle across Northern Ireland.
With only his trusty bike for company, Sirieix will start his journey in the Republic of Ireland and make his way down to Derry.
By his own admission, Sirieix hadn’t explored Ireland properly before making the show but is now a proud convert. “You’ve never experienced real hospitality,” he says, “if you haven’t been to Ireland before.”
Married At First Sight Australia
Monday
E4, 9.00pm
Thought by reality TV connoisseurs to be the more dramatic of the MAFS global series, MAFS Australia is a great place to watch marital disputes from a safe distance.
All MAFS follows the same formula: singles unlucky in love get married at the altar… at first sight, if that wasn’t obvious. The series has already begun airing over the pond, and early reports sound like we’re in for a month of unhinged marital madness.
A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story
Wednesday
ITV1, 9.00pm
Lucy Boynton (The Ipcress File) stars in a dramatization of the true story of Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be sentenced to death in the UK.
On 13 July 1955, Ellis was hanged after a jury deemed her guilty of killing her abusive boyfriend David, outside a pub. There was no question of her guilt: she openly admitted to the shooting and the jury made their decision within 20 minutes.
Toby Jones (Mr Bates vs The Post Office) will play Ellis’s lawyer, John Bickford, who fought for the working class mother of two and kickstarted a campaign to save her from the gallows.
The Leopard
Wednesday
Netflix
Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s classic Italian novel Il Gattopardo gets the silver screen treatment.
In 19th century Sicily, the times are a-changing: the Risorgimento, or unification of Italy, is underway. For Don Fabrizio Corbera (Kim Rossi Stuart, The Name of the Rose), this is bad news: the aristocracy to which he belongs is under threat. He’ll need to move fast to secure his family’s future, even if it’s at the expense of their happiness. Will it be worth it?
Mhairi Black: Being Me Again
Sunday
BBC iPlayer, 9.00pm
Mhairi Black was elected to Parliament in 2015 at the age of just 20, making her the youngest MP since 1832. She kept her seat in the 2017 and 2019 general elections, but decided to step down last year.
Now, this documentary sheds light on her extraordinary career, including the three months she had to take off work following relentless trolling. Featuring interviews with Black’s wife and father, Being Me Again looks not just at the world of politics, but what comes after.
