Branding is big money for marketing companies and Big Changes For Small Firms (Saturday, 10.00 a.m.) follows two companies through the process. Fragrances of Ireland is a perfume company which changed its image and launched a new perfume with considerable success. Management consultancy firm, Commencements, is also planning to launch a new identity.

Businesses have spent millions protecting themselves against the Millennium Bug and with only 14 days to go before lift off Millennium - The Bug (Monday, 7.20 p.m., BBC 1) asks what is really going to happen when the clock ticks around to Year 2000. The team visits the US to uncover who is really to blame for the biggest technological bungle of the 20th century.

Of course, the bug has been good news for the fix-it crews, who have been making a fortune sorting out the problem. However, the bug may leave a legacy - the programme will reveal why the repair kit commonly used to fix the Millennium Bug may just be storing up more trouble for the future.

In a world of mass communications and an Ireland dotted with micro-chip factories, motorways, dormer bungalows and wine bars The Irish Empire asks what does it mean to be Irish today (Monday, 9.30 p.m., RTE 1). The programme talks to those who were forced to emigrate and those who stayed.

From subsistence farming to world-class food production, agriculture in Ireland has changed significantly in the last century. Ear to the Ground (Wednesday, December 29th, 8.30 p.m., RTE 1) tells the story through the eyes of those who have lived and worked on the land.

sokelly@irish-times.ie