Wednesday, December 25, 2024

What’s on? Top 10 TV and streaming tips for Sunday

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On an outrageously big day of sport there’s the All-Ireland Football semi-final, the Euro 2024 decider and the Men’s Singles Final at Wimbledon – for variety there are some great movies and the National Day of Commemoration . . .

Pick of the Day

The Sunday Game Live, 3.15pm, RTÉ2

Streaming on RTÉ Player

All roads lead to Croke Park as the second of this year’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final takes place this afternoon.

Joanne Cantwell presents all the action from GAA HQ as Donegal meet Galway (throw-in 4.00pm) for a place in the 2024 decider.

Donegal prevailed over Louth in the quarter-finals, and Galway narrowly defeated holders Dublin. But those results and performances will count for little as it’s all about who turns up on the day.

New or Returning Shows

National Day of Commemoration, 11.00am, RTÉ One

Streaming on RTÉ Player

Live coverage from the Royal Hospital Kilmainham of the annual military ceremony and service of remembrance.

President Higgins will lay a wreath in honour of all Irishmen and Irishwomen who died in past wars or on service with the United Nations and other organisations in the service of peace.

The event will be introduced by John Bowman and Evelyn O’Rourke.

Summer Night Concert from Vienna,1.25pm, RTÉ One/8.00pm, BBC Four

Vienna is one of those cities that is synonymous with music – and rightly so.

Here’s coverage – either in the afternoon or tonight – of Vienna Philharmonic’s annual Summer Night Concert, which takes place in Vienna’s Schonbrunn Palace Gardens.

This year’s concert focuses on popular works from the 19th and 20th-centuries, highlighting Europe’s rich musical heritage.

Norwegian opera singer and recitalist Lise Davidsen performs arias from Richard Wagner’s Tannhauser and Giuseppe Verdi’s La forza del destino.

Don’t Miss

The Turkish Detective, 9.00pm, BBC Two

As the crime series continues, the murder of a rap music manager leads Ikmen and team to investigate intrigue and scandal in one of Istanbul’s richest families.

Suleyman settles into Istanbul more and reconnects with his estranged father, but he continues to be frustrated in his search for Kayra Khan.

All Creatures Great and Small, 6.30pm, RTÉ One

With the Second World War getting closer, James Herriot is about to embark on a new journey.

He desperately wants things in order and Carmody trained up to support Siegfried.

But James is frustrated at Carmody’s inability to drive a car and as a result he keeps missing opportunities to spend precious time with Helen.

Sunday Cinema

The Band Wagon, 1.50pm, BBC Two

Regular readers will know that I’ve a soft spot for musicals. Here’s one of the best.

This 1953 MGM gem is full of great tunes and performances, and features Fred Astaire (below, left), Jack Buchanan and Cyd Charisse (below, right).

Astaire plays a has-been Hollywood dancer who joins a pretentious producer to form an uneasy alliance to stage a song-and-dance spectacular.

But the latter’s bizarre ideas soon spiral out of control, while the former loathes the ballerina cast opposite him.

The three stand-out moments are when Fred and Cyd go gangster on Girl Hunt, Fred and co perform That’s Entertainment and – most beautifully of all – Fred dances with Cyd to Dancing in the Dark.

I could watch all three scenes on loop forever.

Point Break, 11.00pm, BBC One

Kathryn Bigelow’s 1991 thriller, starring Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, Gary Busey and Lori Petty. Interesting to see how it stands up over 30 years later.

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An FBI agent infiltrates a Californian surfing gang suspected of carrying out a series of armed robberies wearing masks modelled on former US presidents.

But his loyalties are tested to the limits when he is befriended by the gang’s leader.

Titanic, 6.15pm, Channel 4

James Cameron’s Oscar-winning romantic drama, starring Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio (below), Billy Zane, Kathy Bates and Bill Paxton, was absolutely massive back in 1997.

It opens with a party of explorers studying the sunken remains of the famous liner and also features an elderly woman who was a passenger on the ill-fated maiden voyage.

She recounts how she boarded the ship while on the brink of being forced into marriage by her family and was stopped from killing herself by a penniless artist.

She fell in love with her saviour, but the disaster on the horizon meant their time together was doomed to be short.

Sport

Live UEFA Euro 2024, 7.00pm, RTÉ2

Streaming on RTÉ Player

Peter Collins is joined by Didi Hamann, Richie Sadlier and Shay Given for live coverage of Spain v England in the Final from Berlin’s Olympiastadion.

Commentary from Darragh Maloney and Ronnie Whelan, with the game kicking-off at 8pm.

This is the first meeting between these two at a major finals since Euro 96, when England progressed through a penalty shootout after a goalless draw at Wembley Stadium.

Hopefully this meeting is a bit more memorable.

Spain have undoubtedly been the best team in the competition so far and have seen off Germany and France in their last two matches to reach this stage.

Victory here would see them become the most successful nation in European Championship history, while England are seeking their first-ever Euro title.

Wimbledon 2024, 1.00pm, BBC One

Clare Balding presents coverage of the 14th and concluding day of the third Grand Slam tournament of the year, as the men’s singles final takes centre-stage (and Centre Court) at the All England Club.

Novak Djokovic beat Italian underdog Lorenzo Musetti to reach the final and set up a showdown with reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in a repeat of last year’s decider.

Alcaraz beat Djokovic in a five-set epic, which lasted four hours 42 minutes and is widely regarded one of the best matches in the tournament’s history.

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