On the Box - Weekly TV Preview

John Byrne's TV choices for the week ahead (Dates covered: Saturday April 11 to Friday April 17)

Game of Thrones and Britain's Got Talent are back, while it's a one-way ticket to TV Heaven for The Mentalist.

Pick of the week

Game of Thrones, Monday, Sky Atlantic

I have to admit that fantasy tales with dragons and hairy blokes with big swords hold about as much interest to me as a week on the Hindu Kush, and after just two episodes I couldn't bear to watch any more Game of Thrones or care less about its seven bloomin' kingdoms and some Iron Throne. The world, of course, disagrees, and the arrival of season five will have millions, zillions, maybe even GoTillions of fans of this byzantine blood-fest wondering who's next for the dead pool. You're more than welcome to this X-rated Noggin the Nog.

Anyway. In the opening episode, Jon Snow (Kit Harington) struggles to mediate between wildling leader Mance Raydar (Ciarán Hinds) and new Castle Black arrival Stannis Baratheon (Stephen Dillane) while, in King's Landing, a mournful Cersei (Lena Headey) continues to worry for her son, King Tommen (Dean-Charles Chapman). Elsewhere, Tyrion (Peter Dinklage) arrives in a new location and is presented with a fresh possibility and, in Meereen, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) grapples with the politics of power, as well as her tempestuous dragons. As the story develops across the continents of Westeros and Essos, a wealth of new faces join the show's already extensive cast, including Jonathan Pryce (Wolf Hall) as religious leader the High Sparrow and Alexander Siddig (Da Vinci's Demons) as Doran Martell, the ruling lord of Dorne.

Have fun.

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Star of the week

Simon Baker

The Mentalist, Tuesday, RTÉ One

I'd imagine GoT fans would hate The Mentalist because it's light entertainment, has virtually no character development, and roughly the same thing happens every week: there's a dead body in the beginning, and a murderer arrested at the end. It's a very silly procedural, and they even ditched the arc of the series a couple of seasons ago by killing-off bad guy Red John, and then dragged it on for another couple of years.

But I always enjoyed the Roger Moore-like performances of Simon Baker in the lead role of Patrick Jayne, a spoof mentalist who uses his impressive powers of observation to help catch killers. As Baker once put it, in a very Roger Moore-like way, his major task on the show is to avoid bumping into the furniture.

In this last ever episode, Jayne and Lisbon are due to get married. But will they get a happy ending with serial killer Lazarus on the loose? It's got to be yes.

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Starting this week

Britain's Got Talent, Saturday, TV3

Ant. Dec. Simon Cowell. Yep, it's that time of the year again, folks. Another pile of desperate and deluded civilians try their luck at becoming a star. No changes in terms of judges as Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams all return, as does the Golden Buzzer, which, when used, gives an act immediate passage to the live shows.

While a few acts - Paul Potts, Diversity and Susan Boyle - have gone on to have successful careers, this show is really about the silly people who will do anything to get on telly. God love them.

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Slow Train Through Africa with Griff Rhys Jones, Friday, UTV Ireland

Jones sets off across Africa by train, travelling 7,000 miles to explore wildlife, landscapes and people.

Later . . . with Jools Holland, Tuesday, BBC Two

Given the eclectic nature of this show it's always going to be a bit hit-and-miss and it can also lean more towards the muso than the amusing. Marc Almond, Blur, Laura Marling and The Vaccines are among the first set of guests in the new series.

Virtually Famous, Monday, E4/Friday, Channel 4

Glee's Kevin McHale presents the show about people who are internet famous. There's clearly a lot of loneliness in this world.

Wild Ireland, Wednesday, UTV Ireland

Christine Bleakley sets off to travel the Wild Atlantic Way, which runs from Donegal's Malin Head to Clonakilty in Cork.

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Give a Pet a Home, Wednesday, UTV Ireland

Amanda Holden hosts as a variety of C-graders get all cuddly with the homeless and hairy of Newbrook Farm Animal Centre in the English midlands.

Ireland's Paramedics, Thursday, TV3

This is a six-part documentary series following the HSE National Ambulance Service in the never-ending battle to save people's lives across the country.

Tatau, Sunday, BBC 3

A new drama about two 20-something lads who decide to travel, with the Cook Islands as their final destination.

Made in Chelsea, Monday, E4

If you have any faith left in the human race, just watch one episode of this irony-free homage to posh idiocy and you'll realise that civilisation is doomed. It's season nine, so someone's watching this crap. Shame on you!

Ending this Week

Would You Believe? Sunday, RTÉ One

The stories of two people who were Tuam Babies, whose adoptive lives were very different: one found a loving home while the other was treated like an unpaid servant.

Banished, Thursday, BBC Two

Jimmy McGovern's gritty drama concludes with tensions mounting between the convicts and the soldier guards. Spilled blood, anyone?

Drama of the week

Parenthood, Tuesday, RTÉ2

Great show. Superb cast. Crap time. The Braverman clan have really grown on me over the years and here we are halfway through season five. This week sees a lot of work and personal collisions as Lauren Graham's Sarah gets good news and questions from Hank (Ray Romano). Dax Shepard's Crosby opens his house to a musician and annoys his missus, while Mae Whitman's Amber deals with her painful reality.

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Comedy of the week

The Delivery Man, Wednesday, UTV Ireland

This is a brand new show (and nothing to do with the Vince Vaughn movie of the same name), so only time will tell whether or not it's any use. But the cast is strong. Newly-qualified midwife Matthew Bunting (Darren Boyd) is experiencing a kind of re-birth, having given up his life as a police constable in his mid-30s in the hope of finding something more meaningful.

He is apparently too warm and caring to be a cop. Arriving in his first job as a junior midwife at Easthill Park Maternity Unit, he makes an instant impact on his new team members, who are led by recently divorced senior midwife Caitlin (Fay Ripley), witty and likeable junior midwife Lisa (Aisling Bea), the extremely no-nonsense senior midwife Pat (Llewella Gideon) and nai¨ve trouble-maker Tash (Jennie Jacques).

Matthew has company from his former police buddy Ian (Paddy McGuinness) who gets suspended from the force and lands a job in hospital security, while his nemesis comes in the shape of senior consultant obstetrician Luke Edward (Alex Macqueen).

On Demand

Fargo, Netflix

Forget True Detective - this was the best new drama of 2014. A teak-black comedy drama inspired by the Coen brothers' film of the same name, it stars Billy Bob Thornton, Allison Tolman, Colin Hanks and Martin Freeman in a tale about revenge, malice and badness in small-town Minnesota.

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Documentary of the week

The Jinx: the Life and Deaths of Robert Durst, Thursday, Sky Atlantic

In what looks like being a fascinating documentary series from HBO, Oscar-nominated filmmakers Andrew Jarecki and Marc Smerling examine the complicated life of real estate scion Robert Durst, the key suspect in a series of unsolved crimes. You may have seen him in the news of late. On March 14 Durst was rearrested in New Orleans on a first-degree murder warrant.

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Film of the Week

The Philadelphia Story, Saturday, BBC Two

An on-form cast and a razor-sharp script make this a true Hollywood classic. Starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart, it's a screwball comedy on roller skates. Directed by George Cukor (Adam's Rib, My Fair Lady) it revolves around a socialite whose wedding plans are complicated by the simultaneous arrival of her ex-husband and a tabloid magazine journalist. Remade as the musical High Society in 1956, The Philadelphia Story was based on a Broadway play of the same name.

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