Skip to content
What’s on? 10 top TV and streaming tips for Sunday
Meath magician Cillian O’Connor flies the Irish flag in the Britain’s Got Talent Final, there’s the final of Ireland’s Smartest, Derek Mooney hosts Back from the Brink, while Gods of Tennis looks at Billie Jean King and Arthur Ashe . . .
Pick of the Day
Britain’s Got Talent Final, 7.30pm, Virgin Media One
Ant and Dec return to host the grand finale of the talent search, while Simon Cowell, Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and Bruno Tonioli form the judging panel.
Taking to stage are the acts who secured the judges’ and public votes across the semi-finals, but the British public vote alone determines the outcome of the final, where the chosen favourite will be named the winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2023.
Despite not being British, Meath magician Cillian O’Connor booked his place in tonight’s final after winning his semi-final on Friday night with a stunning performance.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
The 14-year-old wowed the audience and judges alike and went straight through to the final when the result of the public vote was announced.
“I’m feeling brilliant,” he said. “I’m thanking my family over there [in the audience] and the entire audience.”
When Cillian was asked by hosts Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly what he wanted to say to the people who had voted for him, he replied: “Thank you very much.”
As always, tonight’s victor will also be leaving the competition with the life-changing £250,000 cash prize and a coveted place at the Royal Variety Performance.
Don’t Miss
The Sunday Game Live, 1.30pm, RTÉ2
Streaming on RTÉ Player
Mayo v Louth (throw-in 2.00pm) opens today’s double dose of GAA action.
Joanne Cantwell presents coverage of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship encounter at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park.
Mayo were quarter-finalists in 2022, while Louth will be hoping to impress after reaching the final of the Leinster Senior Football Championship for the first time since 2010 this year
Then at 3.40pm, the focus switches to Donegal v Derry (throw-in 4.00pm).
Joanne Cantwell presents coverage of the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship second-round match at Ballybofey.
Donegal are looking to win this title for the first time since 2012, but face a tough task against Derry, who reached the semi-finals last year.
Clean Sweep, 9.30pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
The crime thriller, starring Charlene McKenna (below) as a housewife with a double life as an assassin, continues.
The investigation is beginning to build a head of steam in both countries, while Shelly continues to juggle her parenting and other responsibilities.
Ten Pound Poms, 9.00pm, BBC One
This Brits Down Under drama has been a good watch so far.
Annie invites Terry to Marlene’s party in the hope that it will help him to make a fresh start. But seeing a carefree and integrated Annie only makes Terry feel more of an outsider and his PTSD spirals.
With her parents out all night, Pattie tries to confront her problems head on and ends up in a dangerous situation.
New or Returning Shows
Back from the Brink, 6.30pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
In this two-parter, Derek Mooney (below) presents a range of success stories from across Europe that showcase the work of conservationists fighting to save animals and plants.
First up there’s a look at the bison’s journey from captivity to freedom in Sweden, the way bears are no longer hibernating in Romania because of warmer winters and how Irish farmers are helping to save the barn owl.
Spy in the Ocean, 7.00pm, BBC One
The Beeb are so good at nature series, so this should be a treat as it features disguised underwater cameras capturing footage of sea creatures.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
The first episode features the most intelligent animals in the ocean, including sperm whales and octopuses, which are shown using improvised tools to fend off rivals.
The programme also features puffer fish creating sand sculptures and a hermit crab that becomes an unwitting documentary-maker after it steals the shell with a spy camera in.
Narrated by David Tennant.
Gods of Tennis, 9.00pm, BBC Two
Framed through the world-famous Wimbledon tournament, this series revisits a golden age of tennis during the 1970s and ’80s that transformed the sport.
The series begins in 1975 as two tennis greats – Billie Jean King and Arthur Ashe (below) – aim to win Wimbledon titles but also, in their own ways, to change the world for the better.
Back in the late ’60s, as the women’s liberation movement becomes headline news, King took up the gauntlet for women in sport, spearheading the drive for equal prize money and equal treatment of women.
In tandem with this, Storyville at 11pm on BBC Four tells the little-known story of sports legend Arthur Ashe off the tennis court.
Known to most on account of his stellar sports career – he became the first black man to win Wimbledon in 1975 – the film uncovers Ashe’s work as a social activist, a role that embraced not only the civil rights movement in the US and African Americans but all oppressed peoples throughout the world.
Ending Today
Ireland’s Smartest, 7.30pm, RTÉ One
Streaming on RTÉ Player
Here’s the final of the general knowledge quiz hosted by Claire Byrne (below) in which three contestants face a series of rounds before the final pair face a quickfire decider to see who progresses to the next stage.
Sunday Cinema
The Adventures of Robin Hood, 3.40pm, BBC One
Superb swashbuckling adventure – the defining film of the genre – with Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone and Claude Rains.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
An outlawed nobleman living deep in Sherwood Forest recruits a band of merry men to steal from the cruel Norman aristocracy and redistribute the wealth to the downtrodden peasants.
But they soon face a more pressing task – stopping the evil Prince John and his ally Sir Guy of Gisborne from seizing King Richard’s throne.
Family Flick
Paddington, 3.05pm, BBC One
Comedy based on Michael Bond’s series of children’s books, starring Hugh Bonneville, Sally Hawkins and Nicole Kidman, with the voice of Ben Whishaw.
An earthquake forces a bear from the Peruvian jungle to start a new life in London.
We need your consent to load this YouTube contentWe use YouTube to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences
He finds modern Britain to be very different from the stories told to him by his aunt but ultimately makes a new home with a kind family.
But things take a turn for the worst a sinister taxidermist intends to turn him into a museum exhibit.
