Weekend TV guide: 16 of the best shows to watch

The Late Late Show
Friday, RTÉ One, 9.35pm
Following his headline announcement that he's to retire from football, Bernard Brogan (35) will join Ryan Tubridy to give his first interview on the reasons behind his decision to hang up his boots and to discuss his future plans. Brogan will also be joined by his family to discuss his legacy in Dublin Football. Also: Paddy Smyth, whose his recent victory on The Circle has catapulted him to fame in the UK, will describe how the series has given him an unprecedented platform for raising awareness for people with disabilities. Plus: Mayo-born Australian long-distance runner Sinead Diver on becoming the fouth fastest Australian female marathoner of all time and representing Australia in the 2020 Olympics; Mary Manning on breaking free and reclaiming her life and that of her children after years of mental, physical and sexual abuse from her father; a look back at the iconic John Hinde postcards with Californian photographer Paul Kelly, who has taken contemporary photos of these famous scenes and created a nostalgic (then-and-now) journey across Ireland; participants in this year's Raised by the Village series on their lives since appearing on the RTÉ series; a special performance from the West End cast of Mamma Mia!, featuring Irish actress and singer Sharon Sexton, who has the lead role of Donna in an upcoming production in Dublin; and music from Wild Youth, who will perform their single, Long Time No See.

The Graham Norton Show
Friday, BBC1, 10.35pm (repeated Sat, Virgin One, 10.10pm; Sunday, Virgin Two, 10pm)

Weasels: Feisty and Fearless
Friday, BBC2, 8pm
Often portrayed as villains of the natural world and associated with unsavoury behaviour, weasels have gotten a bad rap over the years. To find out if they deserve this reputation, cameras follow first-time stoat mum Bandita as she raises her kits in a weasel wonderland via 50 hidden cameras. We meet a half-ounce orphaned least weasel called Twiz, who embarks on her journey back to the wild. Viewers also discover how a least weasel's bite is stronger than a tiger's, and how a ferret can move around so impressively in a burrow.

Harry Hill's Clubnite
Friday, Channel 4, 11.05pm
Harry Hill is back on Channel 4 with a showcase for some of the funniest rising stars on the comedy circuit. There's also a heady mix of sketches, games, music and all the bizarreness you'd expect from a Harry Hill experience. Taking part in the first episode are Bridget Christie, a veteran of a dozen Edinburgh Festival Fringe shows as well as Radio 4's Bridget Christie Minds the Gap. Spencer Jones is cut from the same cloth as Harry, as anyone who saw his BBC series The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk will testify. Rosie Jones, seen recently on 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, also takes part, along with EGG and Anna Mann.

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The Ray D'Arcy Show
Saturday, RTÉ One, 9.45pm

Wham! star Andrew Ridgeley joins D’Arcy to talk about his lifelong friendship with the late George Michael. Ridgeley give the inside story on how the legendary pop duo changed 1980s music and became one of the biggest bands in history. Also: Anna Geary and Mairead Ronan discuss the return of Ireland’s Fittest Family on Sunday. Plus: Co Tyrone native Polly Devlin on interviewing some of the most famous people in the world, from Bob Dylan to John Lennon and Yoko Ono; eight of the finalists of Next Top Madra, the D’Arcy-hosted competition to find the country’s prettiest pooches; and 240 singers and musicians in a special performance of Hey Day by Mic Christopher in honour of the late star’s 50th Birthday.

Westwood: Punk, Icon, Activist
Saturday, BBC2, 9pm

The life and work of British style legend Vivienne Westwood are explored in this Sundance-nominated documentary. Reviewing it for The Irish Times last year, critic Tara Brady sums up the grumpy 76-year-old Dame’s attitude: “Do we have to cover every bit of it? It’s so boring.” “She doesn’t want to talk about The Sex Pistols. Her strange friendship with Baywatch’s Pamela Anderson is glimpsed only through archive footage. And it falls to her son, Joseph Corré, to do the talking about Malcolm McLaren, who casts a formidable shadow across the film nonetheless. You’ve heard of an unreliable narrator: trust the commendably testy Vivienne Westwood to be an unreliable subject.”

Pose
Saturday, BBC2, 10.20pm

The acclaimed Emmy-winning US drama about New York’s ballroom scene returns for a new series, beginning with a double bill. Blanca senses that vogueing is on the verge of breaking into the mainstream (thanks in part to a certain single by Madonna), and encourages her House of Evangelista children to follow their dreams. Angel pursues her ambition of becoming a fashion model, while Pray Tell joins an activist organisation fighting for the rights of HIV-positive people. MJ Rodriguez and Billy Porter star.

RTÉ Radio 1 Folk Awards 2019
Saturday, RTÉ One, 11.15pm (repeated Tues, 11.45pm)
John Creedon and Ruth Smith were the hosts of the second annual ceremony, held Thursday night in Dublin's Vicar Street. The even celebrates musicians and the contribution they make to Irish culture, and this show highlights the best performances. Among those on the shortlsit, Lisa O'Neill received five nominations, including Best Folk Singer and two Best Traditional Tracks; Ye Vagabonds received four, including Best Folk Group and Best Folk Album; fiddle-player and composer Colm Mac Con Iomaire received three nominations, including Best Folk Album for The River Holds Its Breath. The Gloaming have also received three nominations, including Best Original Folk Track, Best Folk Group and Best Folk Album. And Clannad singer Moya Brennan will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Take Me Out
Saturday, UTV, 7.15pm
The dating show is back for its 11th series with regular host Paddy McGuiness. Once more there will be plenty of singletons looking for love who aren't afraid to face rejection in front of millions. In the love lift tonight hoping for a date to the Isle of Fernandos are body-building stripper James, farmer Berty, gymnast Raymond and Scarlett Moffatt's ex-boyfriend, Lee. It's anyone's guess which of them will find the right person, but it should be fun finding out.

Great Australian Railway Journeys
Saturday, BBC2, 8pm
New series. Michael Portillo ventures Down Under to explore Australia by train. He begins by riding the legendary Ghan Railway, a train almost a kilometre in length and hauled by two locomotives, which covers nearly 2,000 miles across the country's red centre. Portillo traces its route from the southern harbour of Port Augusta to Darwin on the north coast, along the way meeting the indigenous people of Alice Springs, visiting a kangaroo sanctuary and joining Australians to mark the anniversary of Anzac Day, the first Word War battle that defined their nation.

Ireland's Fittest Family
Sunday, RTÉ One, 6.30pm

What TV show would your family be scrambling to appear on? Would it be Gogglebox and a chance to get paid for doing little more than sit around watching the telly? Or would you prefer to be on Ireland’s Fittest Family, tested to the limits of your endurance in some cold, muddy assault course with not even a box of Maltesers to get you through the ordeal? Fifteen families have signed up for the seventh series, and they’ll be put through their paces by coaches Anna Geary, Davy Fitzgerald, Donncha O’Callaghan and Derval O’Rourke, who will set them some gruelling physical challenges over the course of the series. And there’s a fresh hell for the families this year: the “Rampage eliminator”, guaranteed to make you wish you’d gone the couch potato route.

Seven Worlds, One Planet
Sunday, BBC1, 6.15pm
Since Life on Earth debuted in the late 1970s, the BBC's blockbuster nature documentaries have set the gold standard for how this sort of thing should be done. And, of course, having David Attenborough on board is as crucial to their success as the team behind the scenes who spend weeks waiting for that perfect shot. The Beeb's latest examines seven extraordinary continents and how each has shaped the unique animal life found there. In episode one we're off to Antarctica – the coldest, windiest, most hostile continent. From Weddell seals that grind back the ice with their teeth to colourful starfish carpeting the seabed beneath the ice, only the toughest can survive here.

Britain's Biggest Warship Goes to Sea
Sunday, BBC2, 8pm
This new series follows the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth as it sets out on its first transatlantic crossing, a four-month deployment with the primary purpose of putting the top secret F-35B Lightning Stealth Fighter to the test. Within hours of leaving Portsmouth, the vessel encounters a Russian warship and needs to take immediate evasive action. The crew must also deal with floods and dangerous fuel leaks on their way to Florida. But when the Queen Elizabeth does dock in Mayport Naval Station, over a thousand British sailors swarm ashore, taking the local bars – and the Florida police – by surprise.

Killer Camp
Sunday, UTV2, 9pm

If you go down to the woods this week, you’re sure of a big surprise. Inspired by all those horror film in which unstoppable killers terrorise sex-obsessed teenagers, this new reality offering sees 11 unsuspecting contestants dropped into a lakeside lodge. After an explosive twist, they learn it’s not the summer camp they’d envisaged, but a more lethal resort with a secret murderer among them. On the upside, since money is up for grabs, there’s a chance some of them could go home richer for the experience.

It's Grime Up North
Sunday, Channel 4, 10pm
Light-hearted documentary charting the rise of unlikely internet sensations in Blackpool: super young, baby-faced grime artists whose YouTube videos have been watched by millions. The first episode introduces Josh Tate, aka Little T, who found fame age just 11 when his first shocking video made him an overnight sensation. Since then, his posts have racked up millions of views and amassed an army of young fans, but now he wants to move away from the explicit lyrics, with the help of his doting mum Donna and managers Sam and Ash.

Back to Mine
Sunday, UTV, 4.05pm
Rochelle Humes has come a long way since her time in S Club Juniors. These days she's juggling assorted projects, including narrating a second run of this dating show. It's the one in which singletons hunt for a potential partner by rifling through three different abodes. Here, Cheryl, a young woman from Yorkshire, takes along her best friend Danielle as she checks out a trio of homes. It remains to be seen whether she will find her perfect match in the lads' pad, the swish flat or the rustic farm retreat.

Contributing: PA