TV Highlights
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- The New Irish
7.30pm RTÉ One
The series looking at what's been happening to the Irish immigrant community in the recession turns its attention to Gort in Co Galway. The small town on the edge of the Burren became a poster-boy for the colour and diversity the boom was bringing to Ireland, courtesy of the local Brazilian community, which had reached almost 2,000 in 2007, making up about 40% of the population. Brazilian shops, signs in Portuguese and the annual Quadrilha Festival were symbols of a new and vibrant phenomenon. Now, there are fewer than 800 Brazilians in Gort and like their Irish neighbours, many are out of work, unsure of what the future holds.
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- Awake
10.00pm Sky 1
Imagine if, every time you woke up, reality had changed in a crucial, heartbreaking way? That's the daily grind facing Michael Britten (Jason Isaacs) in this intriguing drama. After a car accident killed his wife - or was it his son? - the detective is living two parallel lives. In one, his wife survived the accident, in the other, his son. As he struggles to decide if he's now the cat in Schrodinger's box, he finds his two perspectives rather useful when it comes to solving apparently impossible crimes. Tonight, the delicate balance between his two realities is shattered when his son Rex is kidnapped by an escaped convict, a man Britten arrested ten years ago.
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- The Middle
7.30pm Sky 1
Although he may well forever be the Janitor in Scrubs, Neil Flynn is pretty believable as put-upon Everyguy Mike Heck in this gentle family comedy, perfectly matched by Patricia Heaton (forever Mrs Raymond in Everybody Loves Raymond) as wife Frankie. At times it plays like a soft Malcolm in the Middle, but the three kids - dim jock Axl, klutzy enthusiast Sue and the plain bizarre Brick - give it life. Tonight, the kids are increasingly bothered by Frankie's all-seeing eyes in the back of her head, while a reluctant Mike is forced to attend Parent Day at Brick's school. Class comedy continues at 8.00pm with Modern Family. Alex is counting on the clan working together for her school art project but, surprise surprise, they're too busy arguing with one another.
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- Ukraine: The Teenagers Who Live Underground
7.30pm Channel 4
Ahead of co-hosting the European Championships in June, the government of Ukraine has been projecting a modern image of luxury shops and a thriving culture, as well as investing billions in bringing the infrastructure up to scratch. All is not rosy though; apart from the disturbing treatment meted out to imprisoned former president, Yulia Tymoshenko, life since independence in 1991 has been hard for many of the country's young people. Channel 4's Unreported World team went to Ukraine to meet some of the thousands - UNICEF estimates as many as 100,000 - living a dangerous subterranean existence in pitch-black basements and passageways under the streets of Kiev. They are a lost generation of teenagers, who have run away from broken families, alcoholism and abuse; now an embarrassment to Ukraine's government, many inject drugs or sell sex, risking syphilis, hepatitis and HIV/Aids.
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- Piers Morgan's Life Stories: Lulu
9.00pm UTV
Lulu joins Piers Morgan to talk about her life and a 50-year career. The singer, who first burst onto the music scene when she was just 14 years old, reveals how Davy Jones of the Monkees broke her heart and talks about her high-profile marriage to Maurice Gibb of The Bee Gees. She also opens up to Piers about the 1990s, when it looked like her career was over. That is, until Take That came along and relit her fire.



