Farmyard yarns always compelling
BIG WEEK ON THE FARM RTÉ ONE, TODAY, 7PM
ONE of the major ratings grabbers of 2017, when it attracted in excess of a million viewers over the course of its run, Big Week On The Farm (RTÉ One, tonight, 7pm) is a far more entertaining prospect than many would expect.
The urban/rural divide in Ireland has always been stark yet strangely pointless – after all, you only have to look at how many so-called ‘proud Dubs’ also have parents who come from the country to realise that we’re never too far away from the rural.
Even the most ardent city slicker would have found something of interest in last year’s ratings buster, and with the cattle feed crisis currently driving some farmers to the brink of absolute ruin, the timing is, um, timely.
This year, base of operations is the O’Sullivan farm in Waterford, and main hosts Ella McSweeney and Áine Lawlor are joined in the farm tonight by comedian Deirdre O’Kane, while Darragh McCullough and Helen Carroll will also be reporting from a variety of locations around the country.
Throughout the next few days, the show will be looking at crows, spring calving and follow the life cycle of a spring lamb, as well as looking at cloned meat and whether it is has any future.
It now seems almost mandatory to invoke Brexit whenever the future of Irish agriculture is mentioned, but there are enough stand-alone nuggets on offer to make Big Week On The Farm the type of show that you can, at the very least, dip in and out of...
Speaking of the urban/ rural divide, the always engaging Alison Spittle tries to cast her beady eye over rural types with Alison Spittle’s Culchie Club (RTÉ2, tonight, 9.30pm).
The comedian, who bravely admits to being a culchie herself, explores the differences between city folk and the rest of the country and ponders the differences between the two.
Well, people in the city tend to eat their dinner at a normal time, not in the middle of the day, but all these burning questions, and more, will be addressed.
If you have managed to get through the day and feel you just haven’t been condescended to enough, then there is always Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (Sky Atlantic, tonight, 10pm) where the English comedian preaches to the converted.
Something terrible has happened to some of America’s finest satirists in the wake of the Donald Trump presidential election – they have forgotten how to be funny and now seem to rely on cheap sneers instead.
Oliver is but one example, his HBO/Sky Atlantic stablemate, Bill Maher, is another one who seems to have just gone totally mad.