DailyEdge.ie rounds up the TV shows that you’ll be tweeting about tonight and talking about tomorrow. Once again, you’re absolutely spoiled for choice with Christmas films.
About a Boy (Channel 4, 11.05pm)
It’s a little late, but it might be worth setting this one to record. A romantic comedy starring Hugh Grant as a rich, child-free and irresponsible Londoner in his thirties. He invents an imaginary son and starts attending single parent meetings to hook up with women, which is frankly pathological. One of his liaisons introduces him to a 12-year-old boy (played by a young Nicholas Hoult) who’s having some problems at school, so Hugh Grant teaches him how to be cool.
Free Willy (RTÉ One, 10.55am)
Keep your kids busy for the morning by sitting them down to watch the 1993 classic Free Willy. A young boy befriends a captive killer whale while working at a marine park, but the park’s greedy owners plan to kill the animal. The young boy attempts to release his pal into the ocean. It’s the PG version of Blackfish.
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (RTÉ One, 3.35pm)
Plenty of Indiana Jones on the telly this time of year. This time the adventurer is asked by an art collector to search for the Holy Grail. Jones learns that another archaeologist has disappeared looking for the grail. That other archaeologist? His very own father. Father and son are reunited and they team up to locate the relic before those pesky Nazis get to it.
Killing Bono (TG4, 10.30pm)
Two brothers try desperately to become rock stars while they’re forced to look at their old school friends U2 become the biggest band in the world. Loosely recreates the story of Neil McCormick and his younger brother Ivan. Killing Bono featured Pete Postlethwaite’s last film role before his death, three months before the movie’s release.
The Secret Life of 5 Year Olds on Holiday (Channel 4, 8.30pm)
A one-off special featuring some familiar faces from Channel 4′s brilliantly adorable observational documentary. The families of the young classmates head off to Cyprus together and we get to see all of the excitement of the children’s holiday from packing and getting on the plane to taking excursions to water parks and participating in the hotel’s entertainment. This will provide an early start to the yearning for a sun holiday we all experience in January.
Or flick over for…
At Your Service – To The Rescue (RTÉ One, 9.35pm) Francis and John Brennan fit out Ireland’s first purpose built neighbourhood for dementia.
Ireland’s Fittest Family – All Star Coaches (RTÉ One, 6.30pm) Behind the scenes at the fifth season’s final – if you haven’t had enough of the show already.
The Fugitive (ITV4, 9.05pm) A doctor is convicted of his wife’s murder and is forced to go on the run to prove his innocence.
Birdman: Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (RTÉ 2, 9.30pm) Michael Keaton, Emma Stone and Edward Norton star in this Oscar-winning drama about a washed up movie star who played a major superhero who tries to reclaim his artistic integrity by directing and starring in a Broadway play.
Natural World (BBC Two, 9.30pm) David Attenborough talks us through the natural world, sharing anecdotes about ants that live in the foothills of the Swiss Alps. Sounds ridiculous in theory, but it’s probably fairly riveting.
