TV Picks of the Week By Lisa Jewell

Our top three picks for your telly watching this week.

Film – Life is Beautiful

Tuesday 20th September, 10.45pm, Sky Arts

It’s hard to believe that it’s almost 20 years since this very unique and moving film hit cinemas. Roberto Benigni directs and stars as the lead character Guido who meets and marries Dora. Their life seems to be perfect when they start a family but as Italian Jews, their fate is soon determined by the reality of the Holocaust.

Benigni shines as a father who tries to protect his son from the harshness of their surroundings by using his magical imagination. Well worth seeing if you’ve never watched it before and it stands up to repeat viewings too.

Documentary – Conviction: Murder at the Station

Wednesday 21st September, 9pm, BBC2

This two part series follows a team of legal and forensic experts trying to uncover evidence as to whether a convicted man is innocent. The case itself surrounds the murder of Paula Poolton, whose body was found in the boot of her car parked outside the local railway station.

The man who was convicted of her murder has protested his innocence and has remained ineligible for parole because of this. The documentary takes many twists and turns on the journey to the truth about his innocence or guilt.

Continues next week – Wednesday 28th September.

Reality – Gogglebox Ireland

Thursday 22nd September, 9.30pm, TV3

When this show first hit our screens three years ago – on Channel 4 – there was something about it that sounded like it just wouldn’t work. People watching TV to see people watching TV was so meta – but it actually worked fantastically as a format.

And the main reason for the show’s success has been the choice of TV programmes up for review and the real life characters who’ve given their frank and funny opinions.

Now after a long wait, the Irish version hits TV3 this week with alternating narrators Deirdre O’Kane and Rory Cowan. The line up for the families sitting on sofas sounds good too so if the execution of the show is done right, it should be as big a hit as the UK version.