The Best TV Shows on RTÉ One

Every RTÉ One Show Ranked From Best To Worst

Our curated list, current as of September 2026, showcases over 20 of RTÉ One’s highest-rated series. For top-tier entertainment, RTÉ One delivered Eurovision Song Contest and The Late Late Show in 1956 and 1962. A broadcaster of distinction, RTÉ One has aired more than 20 shows between 1956 and N/A.

  • The Fall
    The Fall (2013)7.7

    When the Police Service of Northern Ireland are unable to close a case after 28 days, Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson of the Metropolitan Police Service is called in to review the case. Under her new leadership, the local detectives must track down and stop a serial killer who is terrorising the city of Belfast.

  • Kin
    Kin (2021)7.6

    The lives of a Dublin family embroiled in a gangland war and the consequences of their choices.

  • Love/Hate
    Love/Hate (2010)7.5

    Modern-day underworld characters Nidge and John Boy wrestle for control of Dublin's illicit drug trade in this forceful crime drama.

  • Eurovision Song Contest
    Eurovision Song Contest (1956)7.4

    The Eurovision Song Contest is an international song competition, organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and featuring participants representing primarily European countries. Each participating country submits an original song to be performed on live television and radio, transmitted to national broadcasters via the EBU's Eurovision and Euroradio networks, with competing countries then casting votes for the other countries' songs to determine the winner.

  • Mrs Brown's Boys
    Mrs Brown's Boys (2011)7.4

    Mrs. Brown's Boys is a British-Irish award winning sitcom created by and starring writer and performer Brendan O'Carroll. The show is based on O'Carroll's stage plays about the character Agnes Browne, which were developed from books and straight-to-DVD films. The sitcom continues the stories of Agnes, now with the shortened surname "Brown", and her family who are played by real life close friends and family of O'Carroll's. After being slated by critics, the show has become a ratings success in both Ireland, where it is set, and the United Kingdom, where it is recorded. On 29 December 2012 the show began its third series. Mrs Brown's Boys is a co-production among BBC Scotland, BocPix and RTÉ.

  • Obituary
    Obituary (2023)7.3

    When Elvira’s editor informs her that she will be paid per article, she begins murdering people to avoid going broke. Her plans are shaken when she falls for the crime reporter.

  • The Meaning of Life
    The Meaning of Life (2009)7.0

    The Meaning of Life is an Irish television programme, the first series of which was broadcast on RTÉ One in 2009. It is presented by the veteran broadcaster Gay Byrne. Each episode involves Byrne interviewing a well-known public figure. The series is broadcast each Sunday night at 22:20. In 2010 The Meaning of Life returned for both a second and, later, a third series. Interviews with former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern and actors Gabriel Byrne and Brenda Fricker during the second series attracted media attention when they spoke of their religious habits and child sexual abuse respectively. Gay Byrne appeared on The Late Late Show on 18 December 2009 to discuss the programme. A fourth series soon followed. Then a fifth series from January 2012. And a sixth in October 2012. And a seventh in January 2013.

  • Dead Still
    Dead Still (2020)6.9

    Memorial photographer Brock Blennerhasset makes a living out of photographing the dead in Victorian Ireland. When a series of murders threatens to sully Blennerhasset's reputation, a tenacious detective drags him into an investigation of Dublin's criminal underbelly.

  • Hidden Assets
    Hidden Assets (2021)6.8

    A routine raid led by Emer Berry, a detective in the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau, reveals that a small-time drug dealer has been receiving substantial funding from a seemingly untraceable source – not in cash, but in rough diamonds. When these diamonds are linked to a series of bombings in Belgium, Emer is forced to work with Police Commissioner Christian De Jong.

  • Smother
    Smother (2021)6.5

    On the rugged coast of County Clare, Val Ahern's husband is found dead at the foot of a cliff the morning after a family party. The matriarch starts to dig into the family's secrets to find out who might be responsible.

  • The Dry
    The Dry (2022)6.1

    Shiv Sheridan returns to Dublin after years of partying in London and tries to navigate a new phase of her life. Trying to stay sober and being back with her family is not going to be easy.

  • Dragons' Den
    Dragons' Den (2009)6.0

    Irish version of the reality show in which budding entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists in the hopes of securing business financing.

  • The Late Late Show
    The Late Late Show (1962)5.5

    Chat show that looks at current affairs in Ireland.

  • Fair City
    Fair City (1989)4.7

    The day-to-day dramas of the community who live and work in the fictional north Dublin suburb of Carrigstown.

  • The Traitors Ireland
    The Traitors Ireland (2025)4.6

    22 strangers are pitted against each other in a remote castle, where they must play a game an imaginative game of strategy. The twist? Some players, known as the Traitors, are secretly tasked with eliminating their competitors each night without being detected.

  • Fáilte Towers
    Fáilte Towers (2008)N/A

    Thirteen celebrities run a hotel for sixteen days and nights in order to win money for their designated charities.

  • The Zoo
    The Zoo (2010)N/A

    Go behind the scenes at Dublin's Phoenix Park zoo and get closer to the animals and its zookeepers. Set in 70 acres, The Zoo welcomes nearly a million visitors a year and is home to more than 600 exotic animals,

  • Heated
    Heated (2023)N/A

    Climate change is real. It’s happening now. Big policy, implemented properly and urgently, is needed to change our world … but some people are quietly doing amazing things to make our island a better place. Heated tells their stories. Heated is a new 6-part series on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player dealing with climate change.

  • Nerves Of Steel
    Nerves Of Steel (2024)N/A

    Filmed over two years in Emerald Park, this behind-the-scenes documentary follows the trials and tribulations of building Europe's longest intertwining rollercoasters.

  • The Afternoon Show
    The Afternoon Show (N/A)N/A

    The Afternoon Show is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's former live flagship daytime show. It ran from 2004 until May 2010. The programme was dropped by RTÉ as part of its new season of television in 2010, to be replaced by two afternoon programmes 4 Daily presented by Maura Derrane and The Daily Show hosted by Dáithí Ó Sé and Claire Byrne. The television show, the last season of which was presented by Sheana Keane and Maura Derrane, was a mix of lifestyle, information and fun items. The show included cookery, fashion, health, fitness, parenting, life-coaching and celebrity gossip. Viewers also had the opportunity to text, phone and e-mail in interjections, views, experiences and opinions, and they were given a chance to win prizes in a daily quiz. The Afternoon Show had met with a mixed reaction since it first appeared on screens in 2004, presented by Bláthnaid Ní Chofaigh and Anna Nolan. This was partly because it replaced the hugely popular show Open House. There was speculation that the show has not proved as successful as its predecessor and that it would not return for a second season. However, a second series began in 2005, although one of the former presenters, Sheana Keane, did not return.