The return of the Tommy Tiernan Show and crime series Kin leads RTE’s 2023 TV schedule - alongside a slate of new dramas and dating shows set to land in the new year.
As we prepare to ring in the new year this weekend, RTÉ said they aim ‘to help viewers find feelgood programming’ this spring as they unveiled their new season billings across entertainment, lifestyle, drama, and sport - on TV, radio and online.
This includes the return of the glitz and glamour in Dancing with the Stars next week as well as some entertaining encounters on First Dates Ireland and brand new dating show, Love in the Country.
Read more: 'Love wasn't part of my plan' - Doireann Garrihy hints at new relationship
ENTERTAINMENT
Dancing with the Stars returns with Doireann Garrihy joining Jennifer Zamparelli on presenting duty from January 8.
Among the stars being put through their paces this series are former State Pathologist Dr. Marie Cassidy, footballer Stephanie Roche, and influencer Suzanne Jackson.
Now in its 7th season, comic Tommy Tiernan is back with a brand-new series of The Tommy Tiernan Show that’s full of surprises for him and his viewers, running for 12 weeks and commencing on January 7.
The Late Late Show will continue to air on Friday nights, with a number of one-off specials planned for viewers in 2023.
Elsewhere, comedian Pat Shortt is joined by daughter Faye for the first in a new series of High Road, Low Road, seeing them travel to Dubrovnik with very different holiday budgets.
Kicking it all off tomorrow [Thurs 29], Callan Kicks the Year returns to give events in Ireland and abroad their annual seeing in the comedy news review.
Elsewhere, Jennifer Zamparelli and a star-studded line up will host RTÉ’s New Year’s Eve Party on RTÉ One/RTÉ Player.
Celebrate the countdown with a jam-packed lineup featuring rock legends Ash, pop sensation Tom Grennan, Hot House Flowers, Lyra, Donovan the RTÉ Concert Orchestra, and more.
Following the show, coverage will move live to Dublin for the NYE Countdown Concert with Westlife, hosted by Marty Morrissey, and broadcast from North Wall Quay.
DRAMA
Drama lovers can sink their teeth into a brand-new slate of offerings on RTÉ this New Year. New series Sisters is a dark comedy-drama about two women who discover they are half-sisters and embark on a road trip across Ireland.
Laughs have also been promised through new comedy-drama series The Dry, featuring Oscar-nominee Ciarán Hinds.
Smother with Dervla Kirwan is back for a third series this February.
Plus Ireland’s favourite drama Fair City continues to entertain viewers four nights a week.
Crime drama Kin starring Charlie Cox, Claire Dunne, Aidan Gillen, and Maria Doyle Kennedy also makes its eagerly anticipated series two return in 2023.
The new season, which begins production this summer, will see the Kinsellas as the top dogs in Dublin, but killing Eamon Cunningham has created as many problems as it solved...
DATING
Dating hopefuls can find their feelgood content in a brand new show, Love in the Country, presented by Anna Geary.
The series will centre around seven rural romantics, all of whom are looking for love but feel their locations make it more difficult to meet someone.
There’s more dating action with First Dates Ireland back this January, when dozens of hopefuls will make their way in to meet Mateo in the First Dates restaurant in a bid to find a match made in heaven.
FEELGOOD
Operation Transformation returns on Wednesday, January 4, 2023 at 9.30pm with five new leaders and some new features as it continues to inspire audiences to live a longer, healthier, happier life.
In a new six-part series Neven’s Greenway Food Trails, chef Neven Maguire travels some of Ireland’s most spectacular Greenways, and meets more of Ireland’s best food producers and chefs.
In the upcoming new series of Room to Improve, kicking off on Jan 8, Dermot and Claire work with a young couple in Tullamore renovating an old dwelling with special significance.
Other popular series returning to our screens in 2023 include nature favourites Eco Eye and Ear to the Ground.
Plus, DIY SOS: The Bigger Build Ireland airs on December 30 and 31 on RTÉ One and is a two-part special focusing on re-housing Ukrainian refugees.
Page Turners, a new arts series on RTÉ One starting on Jan 5, dips into multiple book clubs across the country.
RADIO
On RTÉ Radio 1, Louise Duffy will commence her new 12-1pm weekday show on January 9, following the departure of Ronan Collins.
Supercharged with Anna Geary returns, addressing health and wellbeing in the current climate.
2FM Rising also returns this January.
The initiative continues to endeavour to support chosen Irish artists and music on their journey in a number of ways across RTÉ platforms including on-air, online, digital/ social, live events and ancillary projects.
Previous alumni include Fontaines DC, Denise Chaila, and Dermot Kennedy. 2FM will also announce the Choice Prize Nominees next month, with the The RTÉ Choice Music Prize continuing its principal role in championing Irish music.
NEWS AND CURRENT AFFAIRS
In Current Affairs, Upfront with Katie Hannon, will include a new hour-long Monday night audience-centred live television programme, podcasts and authored online articles by the award-winning journalist, beginning in late January.
Each Monday night on RTÉ One, Katie will moderate a live programme where the public come face to face with the people whose decisions impact directly on their lives and where the public can directly engage with the programme in real time through social media.
Prime Time continues with Miriam O’Callaghan, Fran McNulty, and Sarah McInerney, plus there will be more revelations from the RTÉ Investigates team.
Lady Gregory, Ireland's First Social Influencer sees Miriam Margoyles and Senator Lynn Ruane take a roadtrip across Ireland in order to incorporate three major historical events (the famine, the Easter Rising, the War of Independence) that were most significant in Lady Gregory’s life.
SPORT
Davy Fitz puts another group of teenagers through the mill this spring for the greater good in Davy’s Toughest Team, while the new sporting year gets off to a flying start on RTÉ with top class rugby, GAA and soccer action, the highlight being the Guinness 6 Nations which kicks off on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on February 4.
The Tiktok Women's 6 Nations and the U20 6 Nations will also be live on RTÉ. There's more rugby action with both Heineken Champions Cup and URC continuing in the new year.
The Allianz National Leagues in hurling and football return in January with the meeting of Mayo and Galway in the Allianz Football League live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player on January 28.
All the highlights and analysis will be on Allianz League Sunday on Sunday nights from January 29.
A big year for Stephen Kenny's Republic of Ireland men's side begins on March 27 with the visit of World Cup runners-up France to the Aviva Stadium for the first European Qualifier for Euro 2024.
Ahead of that RTÉ's coverage of the Champions League knockout stages begins on February 14 with the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division returning to Friday Night Soccer on February 17th. Live Racing in the new year begins on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player with Thyestes Day from Gowran Park on January 26th and the Dublin Racing Festival from Leopardstown on February 4 and 5.
Three days of coverage on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player of The European Indoor Athletics Championships from Istanbul begins on March 4.
AS GAEILGE
In Madraí Faoi Ghlas, a brand new RTÉ Gaeilge lifestyle series for RTE One, a team of vets and animal behavioural specialists help stressed-out owners sort out their problem pooches. 999 Faoi Oiliúint is a six part observational series following some of Ireland’s coastal and mountain emergency rescue services through a busy season.
And in Réaltaí na Gaeltachta, five well-known Irish people go back to the Gaeltacht to relive bunk beds, curfews and the no Béarla rule.
RTÉ PLAYER
Stream new drama box sets for 2023 on RTÉ Player including every season of The Tudors starring Jonathan Rhys Meyers as a young and ambitious King Henry VIII, critically acclaimed thriller The Night Manager starring Tom Hiddleston and Maxine, the story of the Soham murders told through the eyes of school assistant Maxine Carr.
For some New Year Interiors inspiration, Relove My Space is an interiors show with a difference - a one room budget makeover series with a sustainability twist overseen by an expert team.
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