There's a brand-new two-part documentary about Gerry Hutch: AKA The Monk, new BBC crime drama Virdee and comedy Funboys, and the conclusion of The Balkans: Europe's Forgotten Frontier . . .
For decades, convicted criminal Gerry 'The Monk’ Hutch has attracted huge public and media attention wherever he goes. The series examines Hutch's life from his early years on the streets of Dublin to the Criminal Courts of Justice and the 2024 General Election hustings.
In April 2023, Hutch walked free from the Special Criminal Court after the Irish State unsuccessfully sought to prosecute him for his involvement in a gun attack at the Regency Hotel seven years previously.
Now out on bail from Spain, where he is facing charges of alleged money laundering, he narrowly missed out on securing a Dail seat in one of the stories of the 2024 general election.
But who is Gerry Hutch and how did he and his family come to such prominence in Ireland’s criminal underworld? What happened when he and his allies went to war with the far larger and more powerful Kinahan clan?
With unprecedented access to archive footage, extensive new background research and using a variety of storytelling techniques, this is the up-to-date story of Gerry Hutch by some of those who know his life best.
Virdee, 9.00pm, BBC One
Staz Nair stars as a detective disowned by his family over a controversial marriage, in this crime drama, adapted by AA Dhand from his own series of novels.
He becomes obsessed by the search for a missing teenager who was caught up in a county lines drug gang.
Following an emotional appeal from the boy's mother, he becomes tempted to cross a dangerous line.
Funboys, 11.10pm, BBC One
Comedy, with Rian Lennon and Ryan Dylan, about three childish young men who try to navigate through the hardships of life.
Life is good for the funboys until Callum gets his first-ever girlfriend and the change in dynamic threatens both their friendship - and Jordan's life.
A burgeoning relationship means that Callum no longer wants to play video games all weekend with the fellas. This proves too much for the others to bear.
Raiders of the Lost Past with Janina Ramirez, 9.00pm, BBC Four
The very watchable Janina Ramirez (below) utilises her scholarly know-how to solve Tutankhamun's secrets.
On the hundredth anniversary of the discovery of Tutankhamun's burial place, the Doc-wearing art historian turns detective and heads to Egypt to uncover the real story of how Howard Carter unearthed the pharaoh's tomb when everyone else believed there were no greater Egyptian finds to be made.
This part of a Tutankhamun night that begins at 8pm with Tutankhamun in Colour.
This week Stanley (below) visits Piedmont, the region that made the dream of a unified Italy a reality.
Once the engine room of Italian industrialisation, Piedmont is now spearheading a slow food revolution.
Between reimagined risotto and the elusive white truffle, Stanley uncovers a region with an illustrious past but with its sights firmly set on the future.
Date Night, 9.30pm, TG4
Here’s a good romcom, starring Tina Fey (below), Steve Carell and Mark Wahlberg.
A married couple stuck in a rut try to liven up their relationship with a romantic evening at a popular New York restaurant.
They manage to sneak in by claiming someone else's reservation - but the people whose table they take are in debt to gangsters, and hitmen are soon on their trail.
Only Connect, 8.00pm, BBC Two
Victoria Coren Mitchell presents the semi-final, which sees Four Opinions and the Cat Cows making connections between things that at first do not appear to be linked as they compete for a place in the final.
Heartbreakers at the BBC: Volume 3, 11.05pm, BBC Two
Here’s the thing if you’re in the mood for melancholic music.
Songs of sorrow and heartache by music's biggest stars, as performed on the BBC over the years. Highlights include Aretha Franklin's Don't Play That Song, as well as numbers from Dolly Parton (above), the Arctic Monkeys, One Direction, Boyz II Men and George Michael.
Jamie's £1 Wonders & Money-Saving Meals, 8.00pm, Channel 4
Jamie Oliver makes a roast feta and tomato pasta using up odds and ends and demonstrates a money-saving method for an easy tomato sauce rustled up in the air fryer.
He creates rolled carrot cake, using a few leftover carrots chicken curry, Welsh rarebit, and a Chinese-inspired feast using frozen fish and a handful of cupboard spices.
The Balkans: Europe's Forgotten Frontier, 9.00pm, BBC Two
In the second of two documentaries, BBC Europe editor Katya Adler (below) travels to Romania, Kosovo and Serbia.
In Romania, she visits what will soon be Nato's largest European base thanks to its strategic significance. Her next stop is Europe's youngest country, Kosovo, where she meets ethnic Serbs who insist the country is still Serbian.
In Serbia itself, she visits discovers a battle for power taking place with the West, Russia and China all wanting Serbia to be in their sphere of influence.
And if you missed the first part, it’s repeated at 1am on BBC Two.
.svg)