Fridays look promising as the nights get darker
The Late Late Show
RTÉ One, Friday
Vicky Phelan – The Big Interview
Virgin Media One, Monday
The 2 Johnnies Do America
RTÉ One, Thursday
The first Late Late of the new season can always be a poor guide to what’s to come over the next six months. It is usually stacked with goodies and sets a standard that, to be fair, would be impossible to maintain; very quickly, the sofa is stuffed with whoever happens to be nearest in the Montrose canteen.
Or it would be except this year there’s no crowded sofa, because that isn’t conducive to social distancing and, indeed, in a segment featuring many of the country’s top women performers singing The Cranberries’ Dreams in aid of a domestic abuse charity, a second studio had to be employed to make sure all were far enough apart.
It’s a testimony to all involved that the artificiality of it all was barely noticeable after the first few minutes. By the final episodes of the last series, there was also no studio audience and interviews were conducted on Skype or Zoom, but it seems everyone has learned a few lessons over the break, and the entire package felt more coherent than it did in May.
It opened with the feelgood story of the year, the rescue of paddleboarders Sara Feeney and Ellen Glynn by trawler owner Patrick Oliver and his son Morgan. Like most of the country, I woke to news they were missing and assumed they were dead, and seeing them looking so healthy was a moment of pure joy.
There was a hilarious video interlude with Russell Crowe who, from the bar in his home, told a story about a tarantula on a film set with a punchline I can’t repeat here. Suffice it to say I love RTÉ for leaving it uncensored, when many other stations very likely wouldn’t have run it at all.
There was a lovely interview with Mícheál Ó Muircheartaigh conducted in the stand in Croke Park – how is it possible he’s 90 when he has a full head of hair and looks at least 20 years younger? The Frank and Walters popped in to sing After All, heard recently in the debs episode of The Young Offenders, and there was a very moving interview with Dr Sammar Ali, whose doctor father Syed died of Covid. His sacrifice, and that of other healthcare workers who died, should be commemorated in a monument to all, though you get the feeling his greatest legacy will be the encouragement he gave his daughter to follow him into the medical profession. Her obvious empathy and passion surely will ensure she becomes a great doctor herself. The show ended with a chat with the Acting Chief Medical Officer, Dr Ronan Glynn, who came across as personable and enthusiastic, but I still wish we had not had a change of government and CMO in the middle of all this. The quality and consistency of the messaging has collapsed at Cabinet level, and while Dr Glynn is no doubt more than able to do his job, I fear changing horses mid-race has left him more cautious than is necessary.
He wasn’t asked a very obvious question – why, uniquely in Europe, has Ireland not opened its ‘wet’ pubs, when there appears to be no evidence elsewhere that they contribute significantly to clusters?
All in all, though, it was a cracking show that flew by, and Ryan Tubridy looked very much at ease with the new realities of broadcasting. Friday nights look promising as the nights get darker.
On Monday, there was a reminder why we shouldn’t always place full trust in our medical chiefs. Vicky Phelan and 220 other women were failed by this State, first when smear test analysis failed to identify their cancers, and secondly when they had to battle their way through the courts to get the justice that was theirs by right. Vicky was the subject of The Big
Interview on Virgin Media One, and host Ciara Doherty handled it sensitively (she also proved a useful addition to The Tonight Show during the week, actually allowing politicians and other guests comment without interruption, a welcome break from Ivan Yates’s adversarial style).
It was heartbreaking to hear Vicky talk of the milestones that compel her to stay well, the First Communions and Confirmations she hopes to live to see. She is a hugely impressive woman and her voice carries tremendous weight, so was interested also to hear her advocating for the right to assisted dying. I fully agree with her on that one – no one should have to live for longer than they wish in pain or on massive doses of medication. Choosing the moment of your own death, surrounded by those you love, actually brings dignity to your life, and with all the relevant safeguards, I hope we introduce a law to allow it. Finally, podcast stars The 2
Johnnies Do America in their new series. When I was a kid, Mike Murphy did the same, and it was a revelation, because in the 1970s, very few of us had been there. Now, every other person has been to New York, Los Angeles, Boston or Las Vegas, so there seemed to me to be little point in treading familiar ground. In the opening episode, the boys were in LA and spent a lot of time on Venice Beach and in Compton, the birthplace of rap, just like a million presenters before them.
The lads are engaging enough, but I quickly tired of them telling everyone they were from Ireland. What did they want – medals? There was nothing fresh or new about any of it, but then I’m probably not the target audience. I won’t be tuning in again.