TV guide: Six of the best new shows to watch this week

Neighbours

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, RTÉ2, 6pm

All around the globe, tearful fans are bidding a fond farewell to the folk on Ramsay Street as the long-running soap finally runs out of road after 37 years. Now it’s RTÉ’s turn to air the final three episodes of everyone’s favourite Aussie soap. And no prizes for guessing who’s coming back for one last hooray. Episode 8901 arrives on Monday with a showdown between Izzy and the Kennedys, wedding preparations for Toadie and Melanie, and the unexpected return of Mike Young, in a long-expected return for Hollywood star Guy Pearce. The penultimate episode on Tuesday sees the wedding getting under way and Jane taking Mike on a tour of the Ramsay Street houses before they all go under the hammer. But all eyes – and remote controls – will be on Wednesday when the final hour-long episode brings the return of Charlene and Scott aka Kylie and Jason to Ramsay St. Sure if this one doesn’t outdo the moon landing or at least the Toy Show then I’m a dingo’s grandmother.

The Dead Zoo

Monday, RTÉ One, 6.30pm

Dublin’s Natural History Museum is closed for renovations right now but wouldn’t we like to see what’s going on inside the dead zoo as a crack team of renovators go to work on this historic building. Now, on the eve of the museum’s reopening, this documentary takes us inside the intricate work going on to bring the dead zoo back to life. We’ll see the enormous task faced by the team as they dismantle the two giant whale skeletons that have hung from the roof since the 1890s. We’ll meet the museum’s curators Nigel Monaghan and Paolo Vicenti as they oversee this massive operation over a six-month period, all during the Covid pandemic. Fittingly, the film is narrated by one of our greatest national treasures – Brendan Gleeson.

Horse Country

Tuesday, RTÉ One, 7pm

In summer 2021, with Covid-19 restrictions still playing havoc with the sport horse industry, many horse owners and breeders found themselves competing without spectators and, in many cases, were unable to compete at all.

This six part series follows some of the trainers and owners as they kept things running smoothly through lockdowns and cancellations. But horse racing isn’t the only equestrian sport that suffered during lockdown. Throughout the summer of 2021, show jumping, three day eventing and dressage often carried on behind closed doors and this series follows several sportspeople including Cathal Daniels, Ireland’s top three-day eventer, as he prepared to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.

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Irma Vep

Tuesday, Sky Atlantic and Now, 9pm

Alicia Vikander stars as an unhinged movie star in this comedy drama series created by Olivier Assayas and based on his indie movie from 1996. Mira Harberg is an American film star who is not too happy with the way her life and career are going. She needs a role she can really get her teeth into, and when a French indie director offers her the part of an iconic villainess in his remake of silent movie The Vampires, she nearly bites the hand off him. Mira is keen to seriously immerse herself in the role, but it’s not long before she’s unable to tell where Mira ends and Irma begins.

Code 404

Thursday, Sky Comedy and Now, 9pm

Stephen Graham and Daniel Mays return as the mismatched crime-fighting duo (is there any other type?) DI Roy Carver and his AI-enhanced partner DI John Major. Like RoboCop, Major has been brought back to life using the latest tech advances, and of course there are enough glitches in his system to give his colleague the collywobbles. In series three the data-crunching duo are hot on the heels of a killer, but will Major’s programming stay online or are we in for a major system crash?

The Sandman

From Friday, Netflix

Fans of Neil Gaiman’s classic comic book series will be unable to sleep, such is the anticipation for this new Netflix adaptation. Tom Sturridge stars as Dream in this live action take and the series also stars Gwendoline Christie, Charles Dance, David Thewlis and Jenna Coleman. Dream, aka the Sandman, is a cosmic entity who’s in charge of everyone’s dreams, but he has been held captive by occult forces for the last 105 years. When he is finally freed he sets out to restore his Kingdom of dreams. There have been a couple of failed attempts to turn The Sandman into a movie but Gaiman has co-developed this live action series with help from DC Entertainment and Warner Brothers television.