TV Highlights

'The Ashes Of 9/11' (RTE 1, Sunday 9.30pm) - The 11th September 2001 was a day that changed the world. Almost 3,000 people were killed in the combined disasters that marked that day. Although six who died were Irish-born, it is estimated that a further 1,000 had Irish connections. This is the story of that tragic day as seen by some of the Irish caught up in the day: the rescue workers, journalists and families who lost a loved one. Ron Clifford from Cork is one such eyewitness. He was in the south tower lobby of the World Trade Centre's Marriott Hotel when the first plane hit the north tower. Within minutes, a woman blazing from the spill of jet fuel was running towards him. As Ron helped Jennianne Maffeo, a second plane hit the south tower high above them. Little did Ron know that his much-loved sister, Ruth, and her four-year-old daughter Julianna, were passengers on the hijacked jet. __________________________________________________________ 'Holding Out For A Hero' (ITV, Sunday, 7pm) - 'Holding Out For A Hero' is a brand new entertainment series which sees members of the public competing to win a life-changing sum of money for their chosen hero. Hosted by Gethin Jones, it's a game of knowledge, risk and tension in which contestants could win tens of thousands to change somebody else's life, and it's the show where giving is more important than winning. This new format adds a generous twist as, each week, three selfless players will nominate a deserving hero and compete to win money for their cause. __________________________________________________________ 'Little England' (ITV, Monday 12th September, 8pm) - In recent years, the Dordogne has become known as 'Dordogneshire', with over 20,000 Brits making this beautiful part of France their home. It must be said many Irish have made similar new lives in the region as well. This new series follows the lives of some of the ex-pats who have settled into the French way of life, but given it a distinctly British twist. Filmed in the Dordogne in the spring and summer of 2011 and narrated by Geoffrey Palmer, 'Little England' gives a taste of a dream, rural life in the south of France, a simpler world that many who live there compare to what life must have been like in the British countryside 50 years ago. __________________________________________________________ 'Rescue 115' (RTE 1, Tuesday 13th September, 8.30pm) - Cameras have been given exclusive access into the Irish Coast Guard's helicopter search and rescue service based in Shannon. In this second season of the documentary series filmed over a number of months, every move of the rescue crews at Shannon helicopter base, otherwise known as Rescue 115, is followed as they battle to save lives in one of the most hostile environments in the world. Highlights from the series include the rescue of a group of young children stranded on a boat on the Shannon mud flats, and the dramatic rescue of a crew member from a British nuclear submarine. Even in the darkest nights and roughest seas, the men and women of the Irish Coast Guard continue to do a courageous job. __________________________________________________________ 'The Body Farm' (BBC 1, Tuesday 13th September, 9pm) - Tara Fitzgerald and Keith Allen star in a new forensic crime drama series. Dr Eve Lockhart is one of Britain's leading forensic pathologists and runs a state-of-the-art forensic research facility called The Body Farm with her business partner, Mike Phillips. Theirs is the only facility in the country using real human body donors to examine the complex and fascinating journey the body goes through as it decays and returns to the earth. When Eve gets a call from DI Craig Hale asking for her help to investigate an unusual crime scene, she sees an opportunity to bring much-needed funding to The Body Farm, but her decision to work with the police on real crime scenes will take her team out of their comfort zone. __________________________________________________________ 'Behind The Walls' (RTE 1, Tuesday 13th September, 9.35pm) - Second part of this documentary series charting the history of Ireland's psychiatric hospitals. During the middle decades of the 20th century, Ireland led the world in locking up more of its people per capita in mental hospitals, ahead even of the old Soviet Union. This documentary reveals damning evidence of appalling conditions within the hospitals, information which was kept secret by the State. It also tells the remarkable story of Hanna Greally, locked up for almost 20 years, but who emerged to write about her experiences in the 1970s, becoming one of the very few to chronicle her experiences behind the walls.