What"s on the box this week?

'On The Street Where You Live" (RTE 1, Friday) - This new series takes us on a journey down Irish boulevards to discover the urban history, characters, meeting points and changes that have taken place. The stories behind the facades are told through local people who have witnessed the changes first-hand. The main street is the artery of any self-respecting Irish city - it is the place to be seen, and where all the action is. It can be an iconic national landmark featuring victory parades, state funerals and riots, but also a place of personal memories of love and loss. It"s where people meet, fall in love, pick their engagement ring - and where they take their last journey on the way to the graveyard. From risings to riots, from parades to cavalcades of foreign dignitaries, O"Connell Street has been a main stage for Ireland"s historic events. But is has also been the home and workplace for ordinary people whose lives were played out on the nation"s capital boulevard. Contributors include Carmel Moran, who has lived on the O"Connell Street for 35 years and witnessed all the pivotal events from her sitting room window above the Happy Ring House; Billy Fleming"s father was a road worker on the street, so he has plenty of childhood memories. Now he drives the number 11 bus up and down the street several times a day; and Pat Liddy, who worked in Aer Lingus on O"Connell Street for 30 years and is now a local historian. 'Could You Eat An Elephant?" (Ch4, Wednesday) - Restaurant-owners Fergus Henderson and Jeremy Lee are being sent on an epic culinary journey across Europe, Asia and Africa to truly test their own limitations. To find their culinary ceiling, the duo attempt to eat their way up through the ladder of animals considered taboo for consumption in Britain but very much part of the daily diet in other parts of the world. Starting with very small creatures and working their way up to the very big, the pair visit places where these meats are local and seasonal, to see if they can eat them in the traditional way, from beetles and maggot-infested cheese, through rat, snake and dog to horse, elephant and finally, monkey. They start their journey in Tuscany, Italy, to sample birds, but of a smaller variety than the sort of bird that usually makes it onto British plates. The next stop is Hanoi in Vietnam, and next on the menu are reptiles. The Vietnamese have bred cobras for centuries and it"s considered a real delicacy. The chefs then move on to Namibia in southern Africa, where the big jewel beetle is on the menu, roasted and then crushed with spices and turned into a paste. Think I"ll stick with prawn cocktail and a sirloin…… 'Shopping The Family" (Ch4, Friday) - Last year, there were nearly five million crimes recorded in Britain. The realisation that a child, brother or mother had committed one of these crimes would force a complicated moral choice: to keep it a secret, or to turn them in to the police. Questions of loyalty and devotion, justice and duty are forced upon many people when their loved ones break the law. This documentary explores the anguish, heartbreak and inevitable consequences of their decisions. Carol Saldinack, a housewife from Great Yarmouth, discovered that her sons, Oliver and Luke, had launched an unprovoked attack on two strangers outside a fast food take-away in Chichester. The attack left one of the victims blind in one eye. The dramatic 999 call to the police reveals the moment Carol 'shopped" her sons. That phone call led to her two sons being arrested and sentenced to two years in prison for GBH. Carol talks candidly about the consequences of her actions, being disowned by her four eldest children and denied access to her grandchildren: 'I did what I thought was right and ended up losing my family through it,' she says. 'Noel"s HQ" (Sky One, Saturday) - After the success of 'Noel"s Christmas Presents", Noel Edmonds returns to inspire, encourage and empower every viewer to make an immediate and enduring contribution to life in Britain. One major initiative for the new series is Noel"s Big Band, a national campaign to bring music back to underprivileged schools by encouraging people to donate unused musical instruments. Each week the instruments will be collected and taken to a central location to be screened, cleaned and have stringing carried out before the instruments are delivered to the schools. The campaign will begin with Raynes Park High School where the majority of children can"t afford lessons or instruments, but have a real passion, ability and enthusiasm for music. Movie Of The Week: 'American Dreamz" (RTE 1, Saturday) - Hugh Grant is the host of a talent show who despises each new season, but stays for the money and hit ratings. To amuse himself, he searches for the weirdest possible acts - and ends up with more than he bargained for. A sharply critical look at a phenomenon that shows no signs of abating.