Here's a rundown of the upcoming season's highlights
There are some very surprising inclusions on Virgin Media TV this spring, including the return of 'Baywatch'.
Virgin Media TV has announced its full spring slate of what we can look forward to in the months ahead, including a first look at Graham Norton's first TV series adapted from his debut novel, 'Holding'.
'Holding' is based on the best-selling novel by Norton and was filmed in Cork in 2021. The four-part mystery/drama/comedy series features Oscar-winner Brenda Fricker, Conleth Hill from 'Game of Thrones' and Siobhan McSweeney from 'Derry Girls', and centres around local residents in a fictional town in Cork making a shocking discovery.
Another new drama series, 'Redemption', will tell the story of Liverpool based Detective Colette Cunningham (Paula Malcomson) who returns to Dublin to uncover the truth when she learns of the death of her estranged daughter Kate.
Both series are co-produced by Virgin Media Television and ITV Studios, in association with Screen Ireland.
'The Holiday' is another new four-part series which was shot in Dublin. Launching in March, it includes a leading Irish cast including Owen McDonnell ('Killing Eve'), Siobhan Hewlett, Andrew Macklin, Lara McDonald and Aidan McCann ('Red Rock'). Jill Halfpenny ('The Drowning') stars as a wife who discovers her husband is having an affair with one of her friends.
Some homegrown entertainment on Virgin Media TV this spring includes a new series with Lucy Kennedy called 'Lucys Tribes'. The four-part series sees her try to disarm and charm four fascinating factions of Irish society, allowing the viewer unprecedented access into their lives.
Heart-warming Irish dating format 'Generation Dating' has now been commissioned for its first series and sees Irish singletons in their twenties matched up with the over 65's to help one and other find love; 'Gogglebox' will be back this January with' The Best Of', which will be a recap of the latest season of the show.
In terms of factual viewing, a brand new series called 'The Criminal Assets Bureau' will offer access to the main investigators responsible for seizing the assets of some of Ireland’s most notorious criminals; 'The Guards: Inside The K' will be back for another season; while 'Crash Scene Investigates’ will tell the real-life stories of Irish car crashes.
With over 45.5 million streams last year, and listed in the top ten Google searches of 2021, Virgin Media Player will continue to offer the very best of free online content. A brand new boxset on the way later this year is the classic 'Baywatch', with the first three seasons available to stream this January.
There will also be boxsets of 'The Bay', 'The Tower', 'Anne', 'WAG’s LA', 'RuPaul’s Drag Race UK', 'Real Housewives of Orange County', 'Real Housewives of Miami', 'Love Island Australia', and upcoming release 'Hollington Drive'.
Other new and returning entertainment series will be on the roster on Virgin Media TV this spring too, including the continuation of 'The Masked Singer'; dating series 'The Cabins'; as well as a new series of celebrities taking to the ice on 'Dancing on Ice', which starts this Sunday; Ant and Dec return for another series of 'Saturday Night Takeaway' in February; while new format 'The John Bishop Show’ will takes centre stage.
Sports fans this calendar year can look forward to the Men’s 'Guinness Six Nations' returning, and the Women’s and Under 20s tournaments broadcasting on the channel for the first time. There will also be the 'UEFA Champions League', 'UEFA Europa League', 'UEFA Europa Conference League', plus all nine games from the 'UEFA European Qualifiers Play-off Finals'.
Finally, to mark the Virgin Media Dublin International Film Festival, VMTV, in association with Screen Ireland, will air a special week of Irish films and will broadcast the two short films that won last year’s Short Film Competition. 'Water Under The Bridge' is a story about a refugee's (Bilal) journey in a small Irish town. Protesting his father's warnings, he leaves the confines of Direct Provision to venture into this new world for the first time. 'Punchline', meanwhile, is about a transphobic attack, as a transgender comedian processes her feelings the only way she knows how - via stand-up comedy.