The Irish Revolution (RTÉ One, Monday at 9:35pm)
???? The Irish Revolution ????
Cillian Murphy narrates a documentary marking the centenary of the Irish War of Independence
Monday 9.35pm pic.twitter.com/z5tfSMANDJ
— RTE One (@RTEOne) February 1, 2019
The ongoing 'Decade of Centenaries' has seen full commitment from RTÉ - whether that's through their lavish historical dramas or well-received live events. Now they're taking on one of their most ambitious projects with this new documentary.
Made with the assistance of University College Cork, The Irish Revolution promises to be a thorough, illuminating account of the War of Independence. Cillian Murphy's narration brings some Hollywood prestige to this three-part documentary, based on the book The Atlas of the Irish Revolution.
Russian Doll (Netflix, out now)
It's not always easy to keep up with the sheer volume of new shows going up on Netflix, but by all accounts Russian Doll is one worth making the time for.
This eight-part series stars Orange Is The New Black's Natasha Lyonne (who also co-created the show, alongside Amy Poehler and Leslye Headland). She plays a woman who tries to escape from a party. Things take a dark turn when she finds herself reliving the same experience over and over again. Oh, and she keeps winding up dead as well.
The reviews have been hugely enthusiastic, with particular praise going to Lyonne. At only 30 minutes per episode, you'll fly through what's looking like one of the strongest originals Netflix have released recently.
High Flying Bird (Netflix, streaming from Friday)
When Steven Soderbergh announced his intention to retire from feature film-making, the question was really how long the 'retirement' would last. While he did take a bit of a break to work on TV series The Knick, he's now back with his third film in less than two years.
He's now become the latest filmmaker to sign up with Netflix for drama High Flying Bird, which follows a basketball agent (André Holland) trying to pull off a high-stakes plan. The director's returned to the lo-fi approach he used for last year's thriller Unsane - both films were shot on iPhones.
His new film premiered at the recent Sundance film festival to positive reviews - we only have to wait a few days to find out whether the warm response is justified.
