Almost as soon as Covid-19 was identified, crackpot conspiracy theories about it began to circulate online. It had been cooked up by the Chinese to subdue us all; it was a scaremongering tool of neo-globalism; or its effects were wildly exaggerated by governments looking to stifle our civil rights. Even after people began dying in large numbers across the world, there were those who continued to assert that it didn’t exist at all.
or the anti-science, truth-denying mob, Covid has been a godsend: in it, finally, they have a concrete enemy to resist — government lockdowns and vaccine campaigns. As our national vaccine campaign rattles through the 40-somethings, real progress is being made. But as the campaign nears its goal of total immunisation, it will be interesting to see what percentage of the population refuses the inoculation. It could be 10pc, and might be higher than that, at which point the conspiracy theorists become a societal problem for us all.
Meanwhile, on the frontline, teams of health workers and volunteers are doing a marvellous job of making most of our population safe. And this documentary charts the state’s coronavirus campaign, beginning in late February, as the roll-out to over-85s got underway. We’ll hear the stories of those first inoculated, and talk to the healthcare workers and administrators who are driving the roll-out.
Film of the week
Phantom Thread
Friday, BBC2, 11.20pm
He said it would be his final screen performance, and thus far, Daniel Day-Lewis has been true to his word, but what a way to bow out. In Paul Thomas Anderson’s unsettling period drama, Day-Lewis is mesmerising as Reynolds Woodstock, a prissy and controlling 1950s London fashion designer who’s feted by high society. Woodstock demands perfection from his staff, and his fearsome sister Cyril (Lesley Manville) stands by, ever ready to enforce his whims. On a trip to the country, Reynolds meets and is enchanted by a waitress, Alma (Vicky Krieps), who becomes his lover and his muse. But Alma soon discovers she’s the latest in a long line of ‘muses’.
Highlights of the week
Saturday
Saturday GAA Live
RTÉ2, 6.45pm
All-Ireland champions Limerick take on Cork at the LIT Gaelic Grounds in the Allianz Hurling League, with analysis from Shane Dowling and Donal Óg Cusack, commentary from Marty Morrissey.
Film: The Hurt Locker
BBC1, 11.45pm
Thriller starring Jeremy Renner as a US Army bomb disposal expert serving in Iraq who becomes addicted to the adrenalin rush of his work. With Ralph Fiennes.
Ronaldo — Impossible to Ignore
BBC1, 10.20pm
The story of how the Portuguese striker overcame a difficult childhood to become one of the most famous and successful footballers of all time.
Sunday
Reeling in the Years
RTÉ1, 8.30pm
In 2018, Pope Francis came to visit Ireland, but so did the Beast from the East. The men’s rugby team won a Grand Slam, and the nation went to the polls in a referendum on repealing the Eighth Amendment.
Film: This is 40
Comedy Central, 9pm
Comic sequel to Knocked Up starring Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd as a couple whose marriage enters a crisis as their 40th birthdays loom. With Maude Apatow, Jason Segel.
Allianz League Sunday
RTÉ2, 9.30pm
A round-up of all the weekend’s hurling action, including Kilkenny versus Laois, Westmeath v Tipperary and Galway v Waterford at Pearse Stadium. Joanne Cantwell presents.
Monday
Football’s Gambling Addiction
Football’s Gambling Addiction
Channel 4, 7.30pm
Scottish politician Ruth Davidson investigates the unhealthy relationship between football and gambling, and finds that the sport has become increasingly reliant on gambling for sponsorship.
Film: Yesterday
RTÉ1, 9.30pm
When a struggling musician is hit by a bus during a blackout caused by a solar flare, he wakes to find he’s the only person in the world who can remember The Beatles. Charming comedy, with Himesh Patel.
Motherland
BBC2, 9pm
Amanda will have cause to regret combining a PTA charity fundraiser with her birthday party, and discovers that sponsored cycling and cocktails do not mix. With Lucy Punch.
Tuesday
International Soccer
RTÉ2, 6.30pm
On the eve of the Euros, in which we will not be taking part, the Republic of Ireland travel to Budapest to face Hungary in a friendly. Match commentary from George Hamilton and Kenny Cunningham.
Film: Superbad
Sky Movies Comedy, 9pm
Two teenage friends who are about to leave high school decide it’s high time they lost their virginity. Bawdy comedy, with Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, Emma Stone.
Bake Off: The Professionals
Channel 4, 8pm
It’s chocolate week and the pastry chefs’ tasks will include creating mechanical chocolate showpieces that include 48 bon bons and a moving part inspired by robots.
Wednesday
Location, Location, Location
Channel 4, 8pm
Kirstie Allsopp and Phil Spencer reflect on two decades of their property show by looking back at city dwellers they helped move to the country, including a couple who decamped to rural Scotland.
Film: Django Unchained
Sky Movies Drama, 10pm
In Quentin Tarantino’s violent western, a slave joins forces with a European bounty hunter to track down his wife. With Jamie Foxx, Kerry Washington, Samuel L Jackson, Christoph Waltz.
Before We Die
Channel 4, 9pm
Stefan finds out that Christian has been meeting with Hannah and tells Davor the gang has an informer in its midst. Christian has an explanation, but will it convince? Lesley Sharp stars.
Thursday
The Supervet
Channel 4, 8pm
Driver the cat has already survived losing an eye and now faces another trauma when he’s rushed to Noel Fitzpatrick’s clinic with a serious hip injury after being hit by a car.
Film: Frances Ha
Film Four, 9pm
Noah Baumbach’s comic drama stars Greta Gerwig as an aspiring dancer in New York City who must find a new apartment when her flatmate deserts her. With Adam Driver.
MOTD: UEFA Euro 2020 Launch
BBC1, 9pm
Gary Lineker and guests preview the 2020 Euros, which kick off on Friday precisely a year late. Gareth Southgate’s England could have a good run, but France will probably start as favourites.
Friday
Euro 2020
RTÉ2, 7pm
Italy face Turkey in the opening game of the Euros at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome. In a break with tradition, the event will be staged across numerous countries.
Film: Dodgeball
Channel 4, 12.10am
In this deeply silly comedy, a group of friends enter a Las Vegas dodgeball contest in the hope of saving their local gym from a hostile takeover. With Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn.
Crouchy’s Year Late Euros
BBC1, 10.55pm
Throughout the Euros, Peter Crouch, Maya Jama and Alex Horne will provide their take on the competition, though they may become intolerable if England start doing really well.
Sheena McGinley’s stream of the week
Breaking Boundaries, Netflix, streaming now
Narrated by Sir David Attenborough and made by the team behind the landmark Our Planet series, this stark film lays out the science that underpins the narrative of all of that series. Following the quest of renowned scientist Professor Johan Rockström, it tells the story of the most important scientific discovery of our time — that humanity has pushed Earth beyond the boundaries that have kept the planet stable since the dawn of civilisation. The 75-minute film will take/force you on a journey of planetary thresholds we must not exceed — not just for the stability of our planet, but for humanity’s future. Don’t worry, it’s not all death-knell drum-beating; it offers solutions we can (and must) put in place this decade if we are to protect Earth’s life support systems. As the kids keep saying, ‘There’s no Planet B’. Unless, perhaps, you’re Jeff Bezos.
When Eagles Dare
Amazon Prime, streaming now
Sat somewhere between the brilliance of Sunderland ‘Til I Die and the rather over-egged All Or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspurs documentaries, this new Crystal Palace Football Club docuseries charts the club’s remarkable resurgence from financial ruin. On the cusp of administration in 2010, it tells the extraordinary tale of how Palace’s fans saved their club, as lifelong supporter Steve Parish formed a consortium to prevent it from going out of business. Each episode features never-before-seen AAA film crew footage from the 2012/13 season, while present-day retrospective interviews with all the main figures help tell the tale of one of football’s greatest underdog stories.
The Me You Can’t See
Apple TV+, streaming now
You may have already heard about the (most recent) truth bomb Prince Harry deployed in the presence of his co-producer, Oprah Winfrey. Now, the six-part wellbeing series is available to view via Apple and tackles issues of mental health in modern society. Featuring interviews with people from ‘all walks of life’, including Lady Gaga, Glenn Close, and DeMar DeRozan.
Raya and the Last Dragon
Disney+, streaming now
In theory, Disney’s latest ‘lone character embarks on a quest with only an animal sidekick for company’ has been available to stream for a number of weeks… Now, however, it’s available to stream without having to fork over the premium access fee. Travel to the fantasy world of Kumandra, where humans and dragons lived together long ago in harmony. Now, 500 years later, an evil presence has returned and it’s up to Raya to save the day. Can she track down the legendary last dragon to restore the fractured land and its divided people?!
Awake
Netflix, Wednesday
After a sudden global event wipes out all electronics — and takes away humankind’s ability to sleep — chaos quickly begins to consume the world. Only Jill (Gina Rodriguez), an ex-soldier with a troubled past, may hold the key to a cure in the form of her own daughter… The question is, can she safely deliver her daughter and save the world, you know, before lack of sleep causes Jill to lose her mind? And that’s not taking into account the herd of hallucinating humans all desperate for slumber.
The Outpost
Amazon Prime, streaming now
Based on true events (as recounted in CNN’s Jake Tapper’s 2013 book, The Outpost: An Untold Story of American Valor), this movie follows a team of US soldiers stationed at the deadliest outpost in Afghanistan, who are relentlessly attacked by an overwhelming force of Taliban insurgents. Described by infantry veterans as one of the most succinct and detailed war movies of the modern era, it stars Scott Eastwood and Orlando Bloom (don’t let that put you off).