Dragons’ Den BBC One, 8pm
More would-be entrepreneurs hope to secure the backing of Peter Jones, Deborah Meaden, Touker Suleyman, Sara Davies and/or Steven Bartlett as the business-based series returns for its 22nd run. As ever, Evan Davies narrates.
First Dates Ireland RTÉ2, 9.30pm
Maitre D’ Mateo Saina welcomes the first of three new pairings to the restaurant. Among them are a Paul Mescal lookalike who hopes to impress a trainee lawyer, and an effervescent Brazilian waiter with his eye on a Nigerian playwright.
No Worries If Not!
No Worries If Not! RTÉ2, 10.30pm
Seán Burke, Emma Doran, Michael Fry, Justine Stafford and Killian Sundermann are back with more high-energy, quick-witted sketches featuring characters old and new.
Moulin Rouge!
Moulin Rouge! BBC One, 10.40pm
Baz Luhrmann’s lavish musical takes place at the famous Paris nightclub in the early 20th century and follows the love affair between a Scottish writer and Satine, a cabaret star and courtesan. Ewan McGregor and Nicole Kidman play them.
On Call Prime Video, streaming now
Bring on the bingeable police dramas — I don’t care how visceral they are! Let’s face it: it’s early January, everything is grim. This new Prime number follows a rookie-and-veteran officer duo as they go on patrol in Long Beach, California. Troian Bellisario (Pretty Little Liars) and Brandon Larracuente (The Good Doctor) star.
American Primeval
American Primeval Netflix, streaming now
According to the press pack, this new series depicts the US as a place where “up is down, pain is everywhere, innocence and tranquillity are losing the battle to hatred and fear, peace is the shrinking minority, and very few possess grace”. Only it’s 1857 and this is a dramatised fiction that explores and scrutinises the intense clash between culture and religion, starring Taylor Kitsch.
I Am Ilary Netflix, streaming now
Following on from the huge success of Unica (her no-holds-barred exposé charting the end of her marriage to footballer Francesco Totti), Ilary Blasi returns a year later to show her fans (of which there are MANY) just how well she’s doing in the wake of the break-up.
The Upshaws
The Upshaws Netflix, streaming now Wanda Sykes et al are back for season six of this quintessential sitcom following a black working-class family from Indianapolis.
Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action
Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera, Action Netflix, streaming now
‘Jerry, Jerry, Jerry…” An all-too-familiar refrain emanating from tellies throughout the 1990s. Of all the daytime ‘lie-detector’ TV (Ricki Lake, Geraldo, Jenny Jones, Trisha, even Jeremy Kyle), Jerry Springer was the Don. Jarringly enough, Springer was such an institution that it lasted a whopping 27 series, spanning from 1991 until arguably far longer than it needed to (2018). This two-part series recounts the dubious legend of The Jerry Springer Show, which dominated screens on both sides of the pond for almost three decades. As expected, it wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops given most shows culminated in family members and lovers alike physically assaulting each other onstage. Now we hear from the producers and ex-guests, who outline the destruction the show caused, raising renewed questions about who was responsible, and how far things should go in the name of ‘entertainment’. I wonder what Jerry’s final thought on that might be…
