What's On the Box this week?
'Blood, Sweat And Tears: The Alex Higgins Story' (RTE 1, Sunday, 11.45pm) - Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins recently lost his long fought battle with throat cancer and Ireland lost a sporting legend. This documentary takes a look back at The Hurricane's many highs and lows on and off the table in a rare 2005 interview with the man himself just as he was showing signs of remission after 43 arduous radiotherapy sessions. It includes interviews with friends, rivals, opponents, commentators and, with his daughter Lauren, we see a picture of the extraordinarily eventful public life Alex Higgins led for close to 40 years. ____________________________________________________________ 'Mistresses' (BBC 1, Thursday, 9.30pm) - Sarah Parish, Sharon Small, Orla Brady and Shelley Conn return for a new series of the popular drama that follows four friends supporting each other through the complexities of life. Two years have passed and the once impenetrable bond between best friends Katie, Trudi, Jessica and Siobhan has been broken. As the girls gather together, it's clear things have changed dramatically - there's tension in the room and no happy greetings. Six months earlier and Katie has returned from Australia after her relationship with Dan failed spectacularly. She hasn't really got her life back on track and she's lonely, although pretending she's fine. Trudi's cake-making business has grown and it's taken over her life. Jessica, meanwhile, is desperate to have a baby. Having suffered a miscarriage 18 months ago, she has had no luck since and it's made her realise what she really wants from life - a family. Siobhan, on the other hand, is a happily single mum enjoying the quiet life with her daughter, Elsa. ____________________________________________________________ 'The Bed' (Ch4, Friday, 7.30pm) - This film tells the story of life in a busy A&E department from the perspective of an important piece of equipment on the ward: the Accident and Emergency trolley. Every year, over 18 million people pass through A&E departments in England - young and old, rich and poor, the A&E trolley doesn't discriminate. This 'First Cut' film offers an intimate window into these lives, from critically ill children to drunken teenagers to the ravages of old age. _____________________________________________________________ 'Dinner Date' (ITV, Monday, 12.30pm) - At the start of each programme, a singleton is given five three-course menus to choose from, each tenderly put together by a potential date eager to make an impression. The guest will pick three dinner dates purely on the basis of which menus they prefer. Over the three nights, they'll meet the people behind the menus, going to each date's home for dinner. Delicious, dishy or dismal? Will it be love at first bite? At the end of those dates, the dinner guest will choose which one of the three hosts they want to take out for a romantic dinner. All three are dolled up and ready to go but two of them will have to stay home. _____________________________________________________________ 'The Day My Life Changed' (RTE 1, Monday, 9.30pm) - When 25-year-old Stuart Mangan suffered a horrific injury on the rugby pitch, he was left paralysed from the neck down, unable to do anything but breathe. Everything that all young people take for granted was taken away from him. When that happens, how do you go on? His old life may be but a memory but that won't stop him living his new one. This film follows Stuart for the first year of his new life as he adjusts to his much-changed circumstances. _____________________________________________________________ Movie Of The Week: 'Revolver' (RTE 1, Saturday, 1240am) - Jason Statham and Ray Liotta co-star in this London gangster film directed by Guy Richie. After learning the secrets of manipulation, graft, and deceit while incarcerated, a recently released ex-convict sets into motion a complex revenge plot against the man who killed his sister-in-law and put him behind bars. The usual mix of black humour and violence that Richie does well.