2018’s BIGGEST TV SHOWS
From Red Rock’s return to classic comedy, stick to the small screen for entertainment DAVE ALLEN: A LIFE AT PEACE
FOR a small island, we’re certainly punching above our weight when it comes to the talent stakes. And with TV3 upping their game as far as creating new homegrown programming is concerned, there’s plenty to be excited about in 2018.
Some, like Dancing With The Stars, are already proving first series success was no flash in the pan. Others, like The Young Offenders and Derry Girls, are showing great promise, with the latter causing a huge stir on social media.
We’ve taken a look at some of the best Irish television shows coming up over the next few months to see what will keep us entertained.
DERRY GIRLS CHANNEL 4
WHAT IS IT? A comedy set in the pre-ceasefire 1990s written by Derry girl Lisa McGee who has Raw among her writing credits.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: Already being tipped as the successor to Father Ted, Derry Girls is succeeding where some other Irish comedies – including the former project from McGee, London Irish – have failed. The comedy follows the trials and tribulations of teenage schoolgirls who suffer the ignominy we all did at that age – pesky family members reading your diary, wanting to be with the cool boy in the band while being surrounded by nuns at school on a daily basis. The Troubles is a mere backdrop, causing havoc with getting to your beautician’s appointment. Beautifully crafted, already the stand-out performance is from upand-coming actress Jamie-Lee O’Donnell who plays the sharp-shooting, techno-loving Michelle.
IRELAND’S GOT TALENT TV3
WHAT IS IT? Britain and America just weren’t enough. Now, thanks to Louis Walsh’s determination, Ireland’s Got Talent is a reality and will be hitting our screens on February 3.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: TV3 gave the first sneak peek into the show this week and it looks every bit as slick as its counterparts. Contestants are wide-ranging, from contortionists to singing superstars, but we did spot a few Irish dancers on the promo, complete with brooms. The main reason to watch this show, though, is the judges. An impressive panel of Michelle Visage, Jason Byrne, Denise Van Outen and Louis Walsh will be fighting it out to get a place in the final for their favourite acts. Jason says he’s been getting daggers from the mammies in the audience, Denise admits to weeping, Michelle says she’s not a cryer but wants all the acts to have their best chance while Louis will lead the judging panel with encouragement and the caustic humour we love him for.
RED ROCK TV3
WHAT IS IT? Ireland’s second-favourite soap and TV3’s greatest export so far.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: In spite of Red Rock being one of the station’s success stories, broadcasting and filming of the programme was put on hiatus last year for financial reasons and the sale of the John Player factory site where the show was filmed. But this series was recorded from October 2016 to June last year and will bring fans right up to date with what’s happening between the warring Kiely and Hennessy families, and all that’s going on in the station.
It’s a slick drama that makes for enjoyable viewing and should be brought back again, considering over a million people in the UK became fans when it was broadcast by the BBC as well. Red Rock provides seatgripping drama and strong acting from a great cast – let’s hope this series won’t be our last chance to see that.
RTÉ ONE
WHAT IS IT? A co-production biopic on the life and times of the Irish comedian.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: Aidan Gillen stars as legendary comedian Dave Allen this new biopic commissioned by the BBC and RTÉ. Allen was a colourful and controversial character and many of a certain age will remember well watching his Saturday night repartee, complete with whiskey glass and cigarette.
This charts his rise to fame from a working-class Dublin family, through the pubs and clubs of England to international success. It has attracted a few big names too, aside from Gillen, with Tommy Tiernan as Dave’s father and other roles for Pauline McLynn, The Fast Show’s Simon Day and Robert Bathurst, recently in Cold Feet.
DANCING WITH THE STARS RTÉ ONE
WHAT IS IT? The second series of Ireland’s answer to Strictly.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: The first series was proof that Ireland can do TV shows just as well as its British counterparts. There was no sniff of a yellow pack about it. And with series two kicking off in a similarly glitzy fashion last Sunday, there’s no doubt this format is here to stay.
So far, the highlights have been Marty Morrissey’s twinkle toes and Thomas O’Leary successfully transitioning his silky skills from the rugby pitch to the dance floor. Wholesome entertainment for the whole family, this is the kind of show that brings those warm, cosy feelings to Sunday nights and adds a glimmer of sparkle to January.
THE YOUNG OFFENDERS BBC3/RTÉ
WHAT IS IT? A six-part spin-off series, created for TV by the people who made the hit film of the same name.
WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: It’s the continuing misadventures of the loveable rogues Conor MacSweeney and Jock O’Keefe as Alex Murphy and Chris Walley reprise their roles.
Written by Peter Foott and filmed in the Rebel County, the show has been commissioned for BBC3 but will also make its way to RTÉ. Hilary Rose of Republic Of Telly fame will also be back as Conor’s long-suffering mother Mairead MacSweeney.
The BBC believe the show is good enough to sit among the likes of their most lauded comedies such as Fleabag, Uncle, This Country and People Just Do Nothing. Is that the clatter of a load of BAFTAs we hear? Writer Peter Foott says: ‘The public response to the film, and specifically the characters themselves, was just so overwhelming that we really felt there were a lot more stories to tell, so we’re very excited to be doing this as a sixpart television series.’
IRELAND’S DEEP ATLANTIC RTÉ ONE
WHAT IS IT? Like Blue Planet only centring on our little part of the world. WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: RTÉ is already streets ahead when it comes to making programmes about our own natural world, having broadcast a number of series by award-winning cameraman Colin Stafford-Johnson.
This new three-parter goes underwater to reveal the astonishingly beautiful ocean floor off our coast. Cameraman Ken O’Sullivan has delved to the depths of our nearest ocean, visiting the edge of the continental shelf off Ireland where we’re promised the cameras will find all sorts of underwater delights from coral reefs to blue whales. Mesmerising stuff.
RAISED BY A VILLAGE RTÉ TWO
WHAT IS IT? Two troublesome teenagers swap city life and their parents’ rules for a dose of discipline Irish village style. WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: This is a reality television show with a difference. Made by Waka TV who brought us that astounding documentary We Need To Talk About Dad last year, the series will bring the teenagers to live with a family in an isolated, rural village in Ireland for two weeks. The search for participants asked for teenagers who might be a bit of a handful, those with gaming and social media addictions and even some who just wanted a break from their parents and their siblings. The show’s participants will be transplanted into another family where they will have to live by different rules and routines, and will also contribute to the small community. Coming from the old saying, ‘it takes a village to raise a child,’ the idea is to instill a sense of community in the children to see if that makes a difference.
CAN’T COPE, WON’T COPE RTÉ TWO
WHAT IS IT? The second series of Stefanie Preissner’s dark comedy about moving to the big city. WHY YOU SHOULD WATCH IT: There will no doubt be a chance to catch series one of this before the second one kicks off.
Guaranteed to give parents who have sent their children off to college a few nightmares, the comedy is centred round the life of Aisling, who is drinking too much, losing her pals and her place in society.
Now she’s in nine-to-five work, she’s struggling to cope with being a grown-up, while losing friends along the way, including her best pal Denise.
It’s a world away from Derry Girls when it comes to laughs, but no less compelling. Seana Kerslake is outstanding as Aisling and writer Stefanie Preissner says she will be leaning on the drama side more for series two. So good, the BBC have also picked up the show.