ARMCHAIR TRAVEL TV diary December 2013
Updated weekly - keep revisiting
Happy Christmas
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - lots of holly, robins, Santas by the dozen, postmen in driving sleet, trees cut down and dragged into houses, how to cook turkey and what to stuff in it, presents that you wouldn't buy for yourself, booze and Alka-Seltzer, lots of talk by people who hate sprouts, kids with Santa hats singing at your door, and even religion - is nothing sacred. Oh, and nothing worth watching on TV. HAPPY CHRISTMAS DEAR READER -ENJOY!
December 15 - December 21
21.00 RTÉ Two, Hotel Rwanda (2004)
December 1 - December 7
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An ex-convict and a gang of urbane crooks plan simultaneous heist at three of Las Vegas's largests casinos simultaneously and also, in the process, win back his wife, now dating the owner of all three casinos. Stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon and Bernie Mac.
Happy Christmas
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas - lots of holly, robins, Santas by the dozen, postmen in driving sleet, trees cut down and dragged into houses, how to cook turkey and what to stuff in it, presents that you wouldn't buy for yourself, booze and Alka-Seltzer, lots of talk by people who hate sprouts, kids with Santa hats singing at your door, and even religion - is nothing sacred. Oh, and nothing worth watching on TV. HAPPY CHRISTMAS DEAR READER -ENJOY!
December 15 - December 21
Sunday December 15
18.00 National Geographic, Japan's Disaster: Caught on Camera
The events following the earthquake and tsunami that overwhelmed Japan in 2011.
18.30 RTÉ One, Whose Holiday Is it Anyway?
Rhona and Jason McDaid's children - 15 year-old Alex, 12-year-old Molly and seven-year-old Rory - are given 3,000 euros to plan and organize a dream holiday - where the family will go, what they'll do - even what they'll be wearing. Rhona and Jason normally make all the decisions and arrangements - are they right to trust the kids?
22.00 BBC4, Arena: Voices from the Island
Nelson Mandela and his fellow ex-prisoners recall their time on South Africa's Robben Island. For three decades it housed not only political prisoners but convicts, lepers and the mentally ill. This was where Mandela formulated strategies, also transformed life on the island and while plan took shape for a new democratic South Africa.
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Monday December 16
21.00 BBC4, Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History : Civilising the Sea
Historian Dr Sam Willis travels to Africa to trace the origins of the 'women and children first' convention when abandoning ship - a code of conduct from the Victorian era. He looks at how the period proposed solutions to stem the high mortality rates at sea - life jackets, lifeboats and flares to seek aid for stricken vessels.
21.35 RTÉ One, My Lockout
How Dublin families were affected by the in the 1913 Dublin Lockout, when more than 20,000 workers were without work a in dispute with their employers between August 1913 and January 1914. There are personal testimonies, rare photographs and contemporary newspaper accounts piecing together the five-month struggle and the impact on both sides - tram drivers, tenement residents, employers and strike breakers. With contributions from Miriam Larkin, the great grand-daughter of trade union leader and socialist activist Jim Larkin.
Tuesday December 16
23.30 UTV The Lockerbie Bombing
Pan Am Flight 103 exploded in the skies over Scotland, on December 21, 1988, twenty-five years ago, killing all 259 people on board and a further 11 died on the ground in the town of Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway. The only man convicted of the bombing, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, was sentenced to life in prison, but later, was controversially freed in 2009 on medical grounds.
Wednesday December 17
20.00 BBC1 N Ireland, The Great Train Robbery: A Robber's Tale
The story of the most famed theft in British history - the planning, the carrying out of the crime. Following a robbery at Heathrow Airport in 1962, Bruce Reynolds sets his sights on another target - the plan being to rob the overnight mail train from Glasgow to Euston.
21.00 UTV, Lucan
Conclusion of the drama based on the life of aristocrat Lord Lucan. The body of nanny Sandra Rivett is discovered in the basement of his family home in Belgravia, London. Lucan attacks his wife Veronica, but she fights back and alerts the police. Lucan goes on the run, Aspinall calls together some cronies from the Clermont Club and police launch a national manhunt.
22.00 BBC4 Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer
Repeat, The discovery of a skeleton believed to be the sister of Cleopatra VII, begins Neil Oliver's examination of the reign of the ruthless queen. It takes him from Egypt to Turkey.
Thursday December 18
20.00 BBC1 N Ireland, The Great Train Robbery: A Copper's Tale
The British police reaction to the robbery and the full size of the crime - a £2.6million haul. The local CID is ill-equipped to solve a case of such magnitude, so Scotland Yard becomes involved with a six-strong team of detectives headed by Tommy Butler of the famed Flying Squad. It's a race against time to identify the criminal involved and bring them to justice.
23.05 UTV, Utopia
John Pilger presents the plight of the Aboriginal population in Utopia, Australia's poorest region. He highlight the abuses suffered by indigenous people from the early days of the white settlers to modern times.
Friday December 20
21.05 TG4 Unforgiven (1992)
Two infamous gunslingers come out of retirement to help a young assassin collect the $1,000 bounty on the heads of a pair of cowboys who attacked and mutilated a prostitute in the fictional town of Big Whiskey, Wyoming, USA. The local sheriff, however, has no intention of allowing this pair of intruding on own rule. Oscar-winning movie, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, also Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Jaimz Woolvett and Richard Harris.
Locations: mostly Canada - in Alberta at Brooks, Calgary, Drumheller, High River and Longview. The train sequence was filmed at Red Hills Ranch, Sonora, California, USA
December 8 - December 1418.30 RTÉ One, Whose Holiday Is it Anyway?
Rhona and Jason McDaid's children - 15 year-old Alex, 12-year-old Molly and seven-year-old Rory - are given 3,000 euros to plan and organize a dream holiday - where the family will go, what they'll do - even what they'll be wearing. Rhona and Jason normally make all the decisions and arrangements - are they right to trust the kids?
22.00 BBC4, Arena: Voices from the Island
Nelson Mandela and his fellow ex-prisoners recall their time on South Africa's Robben Island. For three decades it housed not only political prisoners but convicts, lepers and the mentally ill. This was where Mandela formulated strategies, also transformed life on the island and while plan took shape for a new democratic South Africa.
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Monday December 16
21.00 BBC4, Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History : Civilising the Sea
Historian Dr Sam Willis travels to Africa to trace the origins of the 'women and children first' convention when abandoning ship - a code of conduct from the Victorian era. He looks at how the period proposed solutions to stem the high mortality rates at sea - life jackets, lifeboats and flares to seek aid for stricken vessels.
21.35 RTÉ One, My Lockout
How Dublin families were affected by the in the 1913 Dublin Lockout, when more than 20,000 workers were without work a in dispute with their employers between August 1913 and January 1914. There are personal testimonies, rare photographs and contemporary newspaper accounts piecing together the five-month struggle and the impact on both sides - tram drivers, tenement residents, employers and strike breakers. With contributions from Miriam Larkin, the great grand-daughter of trade union leader and socialist activist Jim Larkin.
Tuesday December 16
23.30 UTV The Lockerbie Bombing
Pan Am Flight 103 exploded in the skies over Scotland, on December 21, 1988, twenty-five years ago, killing all 259 people on board and a further 11 died on the ground in the town of Lockerbie in Dumfries and Galloway. The only man convicted of the bombing, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, was sentenced to life in prison, but later, was controversially freed in 2009 on medical grounds.
Wednesday December 17
20.00 BBC1 N Ireland, The Great Train Robbery: A Robber's Tale
The story of the most famed theft in British history - the planning, the carrying out of the crime. Following a robbery at Heathrow Airport in 1962, Bruce Reynolds sets his sights on another target - the plan being to rob the overnight mail train from Glasgow to Euston.
21.00 UTV, Lucan
Conclusion of the drama based on the life of aristocrat Lord Lucan. The body of nanny Sandra Rivett is discovered in the basement of his family home in Belgravia, London. Lucan attacks his wife Veronica, but she fights back and alerts the police. Lucan goes on the run, Aspinall calls together some cronies from the Clermont Club and police launch a national manhunt.
22.00 BBC4 Cleopatra: Portrait of a Killer
Repeat, The discovery of a skeleton believed to be the sister of Cleopatra VII, begins Neil Oliver's examination of the reign of the ruthless queen. It takes him from Egypt to Turkey.
Thursday December 18
20.00 BBC1 N Ireland, The Great Train Robbery: A Copper's Tale
The British police reaction to the robbery and the full size of the crime - a £2.6million haul. The local CID is ill-equipped to solve a case of such magnitude, so Scotland Yard becomes involved with a six-strong team of detectives headed by Tommy Butler of the famed Flying Squad. It's a race against time to identify the criminal involved and bring them to justice.
23.05 UTV, Utopia
John Pilger presents the plight of the Aboriginal population in Utopia, Australia's poorest region. He highlight the abuses suffered by indigenous people from the early days of the white settlers to modern times.Friday December 20
21.05 TG4 Unforgiven (1992)
Two infamous gunslingers come out of retirement to help a young assassin collect the $1,000 bounty on the heads of a pair of cowboys who attacked and mutilated a prostitute in the fictional town of Big Whiskey, Wyoming, USA. The local sheriff, however, has no intention of allowing this pair of intruding on own rule. Oscar-winning movie, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, also Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Jaimz Woolvett and Richard Harris.
Locations: mostly Canada - in Alberta at Brooks, Calgary, Drumheller, High River and Longview. The train sequence was filmed at Red Hills Ranch, Sonora, California, USA
Sunday December 8
20.00 Channel 4, New Secrets of the Terracotta Warriors - Secret History
The discovery of China's Terracotta Army in 1974 captured the imagination of the world, but now scientists have resumed work on the site, and their research has turned up a series of new discoveries about the warriors and the people who made them more than 2,000 years ago.
21.00 BBC1 N Ireland, Britain and the Sea: Pleasure & Escape
Last in the series - David Dimbleby sails the coast of East Anglia, England. The coast and the beach have become a playground for Great Britain, inspiring art, altering coastal architecture and generating a seaside culture uniquely British. From Gorleston-on-Sea, he sails the Suffolk and Essex coasts and into the Thames estuary and up to Greenwich. He reflects on works of art that show Britain's changing relationship with the sea, visits the Queen's House in Greenwich, built in 1616 for Queen Anne and now home to Britain's greatest collection of maritime objects.
21.00 RTÉ Two, Hotel Rwanda (2004)
A fact-based drama of a Rwandan hotel managers attempts to protect his family during the 1994 genocide. He turns his hotelinto a refugees camp for hundreds of Tutsi, putting his own life at risk. Stars Don Cheadle, Sophie Okonedo, Joaquin Phoenix, Nick Nolte and Jean Reno
Filming Locations: Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa; Kigali, Rwanda
Monday December 9
21.00 BBC4, Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History
Maritime historian Dr Sam Willis tells some of the stories behind the shipwrecks of the Georgian age, when Britain's navy was considered the most powerful in the world. He talks of mutinous sailors, rebellious slaves and murderous wreckers undermining Great Britain's dominance at sea as she established colonies and new territories.
22.00 TV3, A Doctor's War
Documentary charting the World War II experiences of Dr. Aidan MacCarthy, from Castletownbere, West Cork- how he joined the RAF at the start of the war - become one of the many thousands who were evacuated from Dunkirk and later endured nearly four years in a Japanese POW camp - which ended when the atomic bomb was dropped in Nagasaki… while he was working there.
22.35 BBC1 N Ireland, The Return of Colmcille
The centrepiece to this year's Derry-Londonderry City of Culture celebrations, marking the end of a 30-hour performance taking place across Derry. Written by Frank Cottrell Boyce, it takes the form of the heroic confrontation between the Lough Ness Monster and Derry's founder Saint Colmcille on the River Foyle
Tuesday December 10
21.00 BBC2 N Ireland, Pilgrimage with Simon Reeve
Simon travels ancient routes and shrines across Europe to find out if modern pilgrims are motivated by religious devotion or a sense of adventure. In St Omer, France, he finds piles of shoes left on the tomb of a 7th-century saint with notes pleading cures for children with walking difficulties. He visits the Way of St. James, a 500-mile route starting in France at the town of St. Jean-Pied-du-Port, crosses the Pyrenees, winds through northern Spain and ends in the holy city of Santiago de Compostela
Wednesday December 11
20.00 BBC4, The Fairytale Castles of King Ludwig II
Repeat, Dan Cruickshank explores the aesthetic styles associated with Ludwig II of Bavaria, the king, believed to be handsome and loved by his people. Dan visits the mock-medievalism of Neuschwanstein castle and the complex design of Herrenshiemsee, and how they relate to the enigmatic ruler
21.00 UTV, Lucan
A two-part drama written by Jeff Pope, based on the life of the mysterious and flamboyant aristocrat Lord Lucan. In 1974, with escalating gambling debts and his marriage collapsing, he becomes obsessed with regaining custody of his children. In November the same year, the children's nanny Sandra Rivett is bludgeoned to death in the basement of the family home in Belgravia, London, England. Lord Lucan is never seen again. Stars Rory Kinnear, with Christopher Eccleston, Catherine McCormack.
21.30 TG4, 1916 Seachtar Dearmadta: Willie Pearse
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| Willie Pearse: TG4 Wednesday |
The lives of the men executed in Kilmainham jail, Dublin, in the aftermath of the 1916 Easter Rising. Willie Pearse, the younger brother of Patrick, was in the GPO, O'Connell Street with Patrick when the rising started but Willie played only a minor part in the fighting -it's felt that his surname may have condemned him to death.
22.00 BBC4, Balmoral
Examining the history of the Balmoral Castle in Scotland, the British royal family's most private residence for more than 150 years.
Thursday December 12
21.00 BBC2 N Ireland, The Silent War: The Russians Are Coming!
The struggle during the Cold War to gain technological advantages over the enemy. The Russians developed ever more sophisticated submarines. British, American and Soviet submariners reveal the underwater arms race that took nuclear missiles beneath the Arctic ice -how it nearly ended in nuclear disaster at sea
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| Simon Sebag Montefiore Photo: BBC Religion & Ethics/Fred Fabre |
21.00 BBC4, Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities
Simon Sebag Montefiore visits modern Istanbul to find evidence of the last centuries of Christian Constantinople and its golden artistic renaissance. He examines how the Ottomans seized control of the city after the siege of 1453 making it became their imperial capital
23.00 BBC4, Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History: A World Turned Upside Down
Dr Sam Willis tells the stories behind the shipwrecks of the Georgian age, when Great Britain's naval fleet was considered the most powerful in the world.
Sunday December 1
21.00 RTÉ Two, Generation War
Final part of this World War II drama. Greta is dispatched to sing for the troops on the eastern front and meets Charlotte, Wilhelm and Friedhelm again on the eve of the German offensive Operation Citadel. She misses her plane back to Germany and is stranded in Russia, while Viktor has managed to flee from the train that is heading to the concentration camp.
21.00 BBC4, The Man Who Brought the Blues to Britain: Big Bill Broonzy
The mystery of the musician, who he was and his journey from the American Deep South, to the clubs of Chicago. Contributions from Pete Seeger, Ray Davies, Keith Richards, Martin Carthy, John Renbourn, members of the Broozny family and Bill's own words read by Clarke Peters
21.00 HISTORY, Haunted History; The Salem Witch Trials Researchers.
Locations associated with the Salem Witch Trials in colonial Massachusetts, USA between February 1692 and May 1693.
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Mary Wolcott pointing the finger was a witness (-some say a witch also) at the Salem Witch Trials, Massachusetts
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Monday December 2
19.30 Channel 4, Turner Prize 2013
Irish actress Saoirse Ronan announces the winner of the Turner Prize 2013 live from Derry-Londonderry, UK City of Culture 2013. First, Lauren Laverne, profiles the four shortlisted candidates, Lynette Yiadom-Boakyefor her paintings; Tino Sehgal for his performance work; Laure Prouvost for her film installations; David Shrigley, for his exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.
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| David Shrigley's sculpture -one of four shortlisted to win. Photo: Patrick Keenan |
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Tino Sehgal's tiresome 'empty room' - performance work -one of four shortlisted to win. Photo: Patrick Keenan
19.30 ITV2 Ocean's Eleven (2001)
An ex-convict and a gang of urbane crooks plan simultaneous heist at three of Las Vegas's largests casinos simultaneously and also, in the process, win back his wife, now dating the owner of all three casinos. Stars: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts, Matt Damon and Bernie Mac.
Locations: Emmit's Pub is at 495 North Milwaukee Avenue, Chicago, Illinois; Linus Caldwell gets off the CTA train here at Library-State/Van Buren El Station in Chicago, Illinois; Bellagio Casino & Hotel - 3600 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Las Vegas, Nevada; Atlantic City, New Jersey; Ocean and Ryan meet at the beach park in Santa Monica, California, USA
21.00 BBC4, Shipwrecks: Britain's Sunken History: Home Waters to High Seas
Historian Dr Sam Willis on some of the shipwrecks that surround Britain. He examines the the top-heavy Mary Rose and the wrecking of the Spanish Armada. we also learn the real-life disasters that inspired two great castaway stories: The Tempest by William Shakespeare and Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe.
22.35 BBC1 N Ireland, Fleadh
A look behind the scenes of this year's Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann, the largest musical event in Ireland, and the first time ever north of the border as part of Derry-Londonderry - City of Culture celebrations.
Tuesday December 3
22.35 RTÉ One, Death on the Railroad
Investigating the deaths of 57 Irish men in West Chester, Pennsylvania in 1832, during the building of one of the earliest railroads in the USA. Brothers Bill and Frank Watson find a secret file belonging to their grandfather, which led to a mass grave of the workers and that the cause of death may not have been cholera as originally believed.
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Amtrak train near Duffy's Cut, near Malvern, Pennsylvania.
Wednesday December 4
22.00 BBC2 N Ireland, The Culture Show: Derry Londonderry - A New Chapter?
Author Nick Laird looks back on Derry-Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013, talks to Frank Cottrell Boyce about The Return of Colmcille, celebrating the city's patron saint, insiders the legacy of Bloody Sunday at a photographic exhibition and the first Fleadh Cheoil na hEireann in Northern Ireland.
Thursday December 5
21.00 BBC4, Byzantium: A Tale of Three Cities
Historian Simon Sebag Montefiore traces the sacred history of Istanbul-described as the `city of the world's desire' and the city of Paganism, Christianity and Islam. Simon starts with its Greek roots and its reshaping into the capital of the Roman Empire under Constantine the Great.
22.00 Channel 4, What Happens in Kavos
Girls losing their inhibitions on holiday to the popular Greek resort, a group of young women who seduce boys into paying for everything, a trip to the hospital's emergency room and one of the island's exotic dancers
…whatever happened to "…stays in Kayos"?
Friday December 6
21.00 BBC4, Blues America: Bright Lights, Big City
Looking at blues music in the postwar period - Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, Howlin' Wolf and John Lee Hooker. The genre moves into the cities, contributed to the de-segregation of USA by giving rise to rock 'n' roll as it moved from black to white audiences.
Saturday December 7
21.00 BBC4, Borgen: The Fall
The prime minister takes calls a surprise general election. Danish drama.
22.00 BBC4, Borgen: If You Never Change Your Mind
The election day nears. Danish drama
Saturday December 7
21.00 BBC4, Borgen: The Fall
The prime minister takes calls a surprise general election. Danish drama.
22.00 BBC4, Borgen: If You Never Change Your Mind
The election day nears. Danish drama
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