Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
With our politicians a lot of stuff doesn’t need made up
Give My Head Peace takes aim as it returns for new TV series
IT’S one of the best-loved locally produced shows and makes its TV return tomorrow night.
In a three-part series the cast of Give My Head Peace will cover everything from Trump, Brexit... and all the usual craic from Ma, Da, Cal and Uncle Andy.
The show first aired in the 1990s but writer Damon Quinn, who plays Cal, told the Mirror it’s easier to write the show this time around.
He said: “We probably don’t have to make it up as much. Our politicians are gaffe-prone, a lot of the stuff doesn’t need to be made up – it can be commenting on what’s happening.”
Tim Mcgarry, who returns as Da, added: “With Give My Head Peace a lot of the comedy is character-based. For example, the relationship between Ma and Da and a horrible marriage. Everybody around the world knows that.
“Olivia who plays Ma still gets people in the street saying, ‘He’s awful to you, God love you. How do you put up with that husband of yours?’
“We do try to be topical so we will mention things such as Brexit and Trump and we’ve very silly plots”
Written by Tim, Damon and Michael Mcdowell from the Hole In The Wall Gang, it’s filmed on location and in front of a live studio audience at the BBC’S Blackstaff studios in Belfast. The new series will also feature cameos from local celebrities including Donna Traynor, Stephen Watson and William Crawley.
Trying to explain its enduring popularity, Tim said: “We were off for 10 years but toured all around Northern Ireland so the brand was still alive and we knew people liked it. But we hadn’t been on the telly and when that came back [for a 2016 special] we got such a good response and such a good audience we knocked on the Beeb’s door and asked if we could do some more.”
Damon added: “We haven’t moved on as much as we think we’ve moved on. But everyone also recognises the characters.
“Everyone knows an Uncle Andy or a Da or a Cal.
“It was never designed to travel much beyond Northern Ireland, it was very much about us.
“And a lot of people who come to the stage show are in their 20s because they watched it when they were kids.
“It was one of those rare shows that you get where the whole family watched it. And it’s become part of the memory of childhood as well.”
Give My Head Peace returns to BBC One NI tomorrow at 10.35pm.