Two brilliant shows. Hell yeah!
It's not just the return of Podge and Rodge that's got TV lovers excited because as expected, RTÉ will be broadcasting the brand new seasons of two incredibly popular shows, Mr Mercedes and The Young Offenders.
In terms of Mr Mercedes, we're absolutely massive fans of the horror/thriller because it's one of - if not THE - best Stephen King adaptation in recent memory. Oh yeah, it also features Brendan Gleeson in a role that's absolutely perfect for him to showcase his remarkable skill as an actor.
The
most recent trailer definitely grabbed our attention - spoiler alert if you haven't seen the first season - but the new episodes will see Detective Bill Hodges doing his very best to move on from the traumatic events of Season One. This being said, he continues to be haunted by the feeling that his nemesis is somehow responsible.
The new season of Mr. Mercedes airs in the U.S. on August 22nd and while RTÉ haven't released an exact date, they were never far behind the U.S.
In fact, they were one of the very few broadcasters in Europe that aired Mr. Mercedes almost immediately after it was shown in the U.S.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79Px8KWEdMM
If you're looking for something that's lighter and far funnier, we're delighted to see that Conor and Jock - aka The Young Offenders - are also returning to Irish TV screens.
Given the fact that Peter Foott's TV show - just like the film - was a massive hit and had its second season approved even before the first episode aired, we knew that Leeside's most beloved langers would be returning but it's still great to see it in writing.
At present, Season 2 of
The Young Offenders hasn't even started filming so a premiere date is still a while away.
Here's what else is on RTÉ's slate over the next few weeks and months.
Home productions include:
- Taken Down – A detective investigates the violent death of a young Nigerian immigrant found abandoned close to a Direct Provision Centre. From the team behind Love/Hate including writer Stuart Carolan plus best-selling novelist Jo Spain and starring Aissa Maiga, Lynn Rafferty, Orla Fitzgerald and Brian Gleeson.
- Resistance – Continuing the story of Ireland’s violent birth. The War of Independence rages on and everyone is fighting for their lives, and for the future. Starring Brian Gleeson, Simone Kirby and Natasha O’Keeffe.
- Fair City – Ireland's most watched soap continues with Kerri-Ann caught off guard as her lies are exposed, and a familiar face returns with the intention of seeking revenge. This season, Fair City gets a HD makeover and the Carrigstown residents move to a brand new set.
The station is also partnering with international broadcasters to deliver some productions on a global scale including:
- Death and Nightingales – The story of one young woman’s struggle to control her own destiny in Northern Ireland in the 1880s. A BBC production in association with RTÉ and starring Ann Skelly, Matthew Rhys and Jamie Dornan.
- Mother’s Day – The story of two mothers on either side of the Irish Sea for whom the Warrington Bombing had a profound, life-changing impact. Starring Vicky McClure, Anna Maxwell Martin, Daniel Mays and David Wilmot. A BBC production in association with RTÉ.
- Doing Money – The true story of Ana, snatched from the streets of London and put into sex slavery in Ireland. Stars Karen Hassan (The Fall) and Alex Secareanu (God’s Own Country). A BBC production in association with RTÉ.
In addition, RTÉ will also broadcast the new hit new series Killing Eve starring Sandra Oh, Jodie Comer, Fiona Shaw and Owen McDonnell; as well as the sixth season of the ever popular local production Vikings.
Now in its 57th year, The Late Late Show will travel to London for a very special live programme celebrating the unique relationship between the Irish and our nearest neighbour. In his tenth year as Late Late host, Ryan Tubridy will be meeting the Irish who have made an impact across the water and talking to people in all walks of life about what it is like for the Irish in Britain today. Ambitious plans are also afoot for that most uniquely Irish of programmes, The Late Late Toy Show.
Elsewhere, there's a plethora of factual programming that includes:
- Who Do You Think You Are? – Bertie Ahern, Laura Whitmore, Damien Dempsey, Adrian Dunbar, Pat Shortt and Samantha Power explore their roots in a new six-part series.
- Brendan O’Carroll’s Britain (Working Title) - The Mrs Brown’s Boys star explores the historic, sometimes turbulent bonds, between Ireland and Britain, the influence of the Irish on Britain and how Brexit is affecting their identity.
- Citizen Lane – Feature length docudrama written by Mark O’Halloran and starring Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Sir Hugh Lane, one of Ireland’s greatest philanthropists.
- Blue Diamond – One Love – Following a group of drama students with intellectual disabilities as they form their own touring stage company.
- Cosáin Cheol – Documentary exploring the modernisation of traditional music on the Irish and Scottish scenes over the past 60 years.
- Street Art – Examining the explosion of urban art throughout Ireland, meeting some of the most engaging, vibrant and visible artists and cultural commentators in the country right now.
- Great Lighthouses of Ireland - Captains, weather forecasters, scientists and historians and most crucially the keepers, attendants and their families tell the tales of these bastions of the Irish coastline.
- Shooting the Darkness – A film about the men who unwittingly became war photographers when the streets of their own town in Northern Ireland became battlefields in The Troubles.
- Féile – An Turas go Tipp! – Irish language documentary celebrating the early 90s music festival that holds a special place in the hearts of a generation of Irish people.
There's also plenty for fans of reality TV to enjoy with Dancing with the Stars, Marty and Bernard’s Road Trip, Ireland’s Fittest Family Brendan O’Connor’s Time Out and Brendan O’Connor’s Cutting Edge returning.
Tommy Tiernan is back too with another series of the hit chatshow, The Tommy Tiernan Show, where he hasn’t a clue who he is going to be talking to. Saturday night entertainment will be on the agenda for new series of The Ray D’Arcy Show and All Round to Mrs Brown’s.
Fans of factual programming and documentaries might enjoy the fly on the wall doc on the maternity wards of
The Rotunda and
a look at how the property market affects us all in
Our Lives in Property: Oxmantown Road.
Other highlights include:
- Orla Tinsley – Documentary following Irish campaigner and journalist Orla Tinsley as she awaits a life saving double lung transplant in the US.
- Philly McMahon – The Hardest Hit – Drawing from personal experience the Dublin footballer explores the underbelly of illicit drug use in Ireland and makes the case for decriminalisation in Ireland.
- Whistleblower – Following publication of the report of the Disclosures Tribunal, Katie Hannon will present an in-depth documentary on the events leading up to the establishment of this unprecedented public inquiry and the inside story of the Tribunal itself.
- Vogue – Vogue Williams is back with three new shows exploring the life of Instagrammers, trial by social media and whether monogamy has a future.
- Dearbhail McDonald: Fertility Shock – Exploring how Irish people are leaving it later to have babies and how fewer children combined with an ageing population is a demographic time-bomb.
- Stephen Byrne - Leaving Again (Working Title) – Broadcaster Stephen Byrne destroyed his Leaving Cert results before finding out how he did. Now he’s doing the unthinkable and sitting the exam all over again.
- Brendan Grace – Funny Man – Revealing portrait celebrating the life and career of one of Ireland’s most popular and enduring comedians.
- Growing Old Live (Working Title) – Ireland’s top researchers and scientists reveal the mysteries of the human life span from 0 to 100, live in front of a studio audience over three nights.
Dermot Bannon’s Homes is also returning to the delight of many.
Carrying on from a gripping summer of sport in 2018, RTÉ Sport will continue to bring Irish audiences the big games, big moments and big stories in Irish sport beginning with the All Ireland Finals in Hurling, Football and Camogie. On All-Ireland Hurling Final day, The Dressing Room on Sunday Sport will air on RTÉ Player and RTÉ News Now with Jacqui Hurley and Darren Frehill joined by a panel for a very different type of discussion around this year’s match.
Ground-breaking films and documentaries this season include: Katie, directed by Ross Whitaker and following champion boxer Katie Taylor as she attempts to rebuild her career after a year of turmoil threatened to derail it; plus 1982: Prayers of the Faithful the story of the most un-fancied team to ever win an All-Ireland football title as Offaly beat a Kerry team considered to be the greatest in GAA history.
Ireland’s Greatest Sportsperson will see the search for Ireland’s greatest sportsperson from the 1960s to the 2000s with Des Cahill and Evanne Ní Chuilinn and Darragh Maloney will once again celebrate the heroes of Irish sport at The RTÉ Sport Awards.
- Guinness Series - Irish men’s Rugby team take on Argentina, New Zealand and the USA at the Aviva Stadium in November
- Women’s 6 Nations, begins February
- The All-Ireland Hurling Final, August 19
- The All-Ireland Camogie Final, August 26
- The All-Ireland Football Final, September 2
- The Republic of Ireland’s UEFA Euro 2020 Qualifiers from March 2019
- UEFA Champions League Live moves to Tuesday nights
- FAI Cup Finals Day, November 4
- World Rowing Championships from Bulgaria (9 – 16 September)
- Christmas Racing from Leopardstown (26- 29 December)
