Television: Baa baa black sheep

Every family has one. A new series, Black Sheep, profiles the eccentric in various Irish families, starting with a 17th-century Quaker from Waterford, who may have been the illegitimate son of Henry VIII

I fully recognise that Limerick has gained an unjustly rough reputation in the media and don't wish to add to that in any way, but if you think it is bad now you should have gone there in the late 17th century. Among the things that you could get thrown in the slammer for was the crime of converting to Quakerism. This was what befell the Waterford Protestant John Perrott, who arrived in Limerick in 1655. He was quickly transported to Dublin, beaten, mocked, further imprisoned, released and then – displaying a remarkable mixture of religious fervour and pigheaded bravery – he hit upon a simple plan to end the sectarian division in Ireland. Indeed it was so simple that it was amazing nobody had hit upon it before. He would travel to Rome and convert the pope to Quakerism.

Black Sheep (RTÉ 1, Sunday, 10.20pm) is a new series which looks back at the black sheep in various Irish families. Even as we speak, RTÉ Cork is seeking subjects for a second series, so if your family contains a black sheep then "Black Sheep, RTÉ Cork, Father Matthew Street, Cork" (blacksheep @rte.ie) are keen to hear from you. Where I come from in Dublin, simply having a family member who lives in Cork is enough to make them a black sheep, but I am told this is not an acceptable criterion.

Cork builder Des Perrott always knew that there was a skeleton lurking in his family closet and had heard about a "mad Protestant minister" trying to convert the pope. With the aid of a film crew he undertook a journey to find out more about his ancestor, discovering in the process that John Perrott was in fact a Quaker and he avoided death at the hands of the Inquisition and the Limerick and Dublin Cromwellians by virtue of allegedly being the illegitimate grandson of Henry VIII.

This was a lot to unearth in one sitting and yet, strange to say, the programme had a padded-out feel; it seemed at times halfway between a travelogue and an historical whodunit. Sadly, Des Perrott's ancestor never managed to convert the pope by virtue of his being arrested on his second night in Rome and thrown into a cell where his jailor cruelly offered him rich food, alcohol and young women to have sex with. Having resisted all three temptations, he was chained up and endured three years of beatings and tortures. The programme speculated that his life was spared because he had royal blood, but in truth John Perrott remained a distant figure. We got a better sense of his ancestor, Des Perrott, who stole the show when talking about his own experience of being in borstal at the age of 15. The building that served as John Perrott's asylum still exists – it is now the Italian parliament.

One person who doesn't exist anymore is Mike Baldwin in Coronation Street (TV3 and UTV, Monday 8pm, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday 7.30pm) who died an unlikely death in the arms of his lifelong nemesis Ken Barlow. Baldwin's regime in the public consciousnesses seems almost as long as the late Queen Mother, although Baldwin was a more realistic character. Johnny Briggs's performance in recent weeks has never been less than riveting; it is hard to imagine any of the newer characters similarly lasting 30 years. Characters will have to burn out quicker with increasingly sensational plots to keep us from focusing on how bizarre an illusion it is that such an assured community could still exist in a world where the only neighbours we know are the ones we see on television.

Black Sheep RTÉ 1, Sunday, 10.20pm

Coronation Street TV3 and UTV, Monday 8pm, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, 7.30pm