The Best TV Shows on RTÉ One

Every RTÉ One Show Ranked From Best To Worst

With its programming history stretching from 1956 to 2026, RTÉ One offers an impressive lineup of over 20 shows. Icons of RTÉ One, Eurovision Song Contest and The Late Late Show made their debut in 1956 and 1962, setting industry standards. Discover the best of RTÉ One with our list of over 20 series, meticulously updated for October 2026.

  • Transatlantic Sessions
    Transatlantic Sessions (1995)10.0

    Folk musicians from both sides of the Atlantic come together in what have been called “the greatest backporch shows ever.” Collaborative live performances by various leading folk and country musicians playing music from Scotland, Ireland, England and North America.

  • 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 Gone
    The Gone (2023)7.2

    It follows Theo Richter, an Irish detective who teams with Kiwi cop Diana Huia to find a young Irish couple vanish from an infamous rural North Island New Zealand town. Amidst the search and a race against time, the pair have to contend with a community’s growing disquiet that the disappearances may be linked to a series of historical murders.

  • 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.

  • Rebellion
    Rebellion (2016)7.0

    A group of young men and women in Dublin in 1916 are embroiled in a fight for independence during the Easter Rising. The story begins with the outbreak of World War I. As expectations of a short and glorious campaign are dashed, social stability is eroded and Irish nationalism comes to the fore. The tumultuous events that follow are seen through the eyes of a group of friends from Dublin, Belfast and London as they play vital and conflicting roles in the narrative of Ireland's independence.

  • 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)6.3

    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)6.2

    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.

  • SisterS
    SisterS (2023)6.2

    Two women, one born in Canada and the other in Ireland, discover they are half-sisters and embark on a road trip to find their alcoholic father.

  • Tall Tales & Murder
    Tall Tales & Murder (2026)6.0

    A Dublin gangster wakes from a coma to reveal he has a buried hoard of Celtic gold, sending nurse Bridget and ex-con Paul off on a deadly treasure hunt. Based on the eight book Dublin Trilogy series by Caimh McDonnell.

  • 1916
    1916 (2016)5.9

    The documentary - featuring a combination of rarely seen archival footage, new segments filmed on location worldwide, and interviews with leading international experts - also uncovers the untold story of the central role Irish Americans played in the lead-up to the rebellion. Although defeated militarily, the men and women of the Easter Rising would wring a moral victory from the jaws of defeat and inspire countless freedom struggles throughout the world - from Ireland to India.

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

    Chat show that looks at current affairs in Ireland.

  • The Traitors Ireland
    The Traitors Ireland (2025)5.4

    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.

  • 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.

  • Ireland: A Television History
    Ireland: A Television History (1980)N/A

    The first major attempt to tell the history of a country on television -- from its first beginnings to the present day. Since the late 1960s we have all grown used to the suffering and violence in Northern Ireland. But these are just the latest events in an old story that began 800 years ago when England first became involved with Ireland -- whose first inhabitants had arrived there 8.000 years before.