A Moone-lit look back at ’80s Ireland

It’s being described as the funniest thing to come out of Ireland since, dare I say it, Father Ted. Many who tuned into Friday night’s double bill of Moone Boy on Sky One may not agree that it is on par with the comic genius of the Graham Linehan and Arthur Matthew-penned sensation, but I think it might come close in the nostalgia-for-old-Ireland sense.
Anyone who grew up in the 1980s, or indeed suffered through them, will get kicks galore out of Moone Boy, which is co-written by Chris O’Dowd and Nick Vincent Murphy and is semi-autobiographical of O’Dowd’s younger days.
Indeed O’Dowd also stars in it as Sean, the imaginary friend of one Martin Paul Kenny Dalglish Moone, the youngest of a scatter-brained family living in Boyle, Roscommon. Sean appears generally to offer Martin the worst advice imaginable at every turn, complete with banjo playing to block out the tirade of expletives from older sister Trisha at one juncture.
He also acts as narrator to events, including what’s going on inside Martin’s head, which features in animation as his childish drawings come alive like only a 12-year-old could conjure. Filled with charm, young David Rawle is brilliant as Martin and his resilient, can-do attitude is a little reminiscent of Marcus in About a Boy.
In the opening episode, Martin celebrates his 12th birthday and, while his sisters don’t quite live up to expectation with their gifts, Mam and Dad ride to the rescue with a token-collected Readybix bike, although it doesn’t last long when some bully brothers get their hands on it. A hair-brained scheme to have the bullies taken care of by a bigger bully involves Trisha’s boobs, which leads to the aforementioned verbal tirade.
I don’t think the show would work if the all of the comedic responsibility lay solely on the shoulders of Martin. That it diverts into sub-plots with the rest of the family and wider community is what gilts its edges.
There is the unrelenting scorn heaped on everything from sisters Trisha, Fidelma and Sinead as only teenage girls can do, while the bullies’ run-in diverts into a running joke about Irish manliness, or lack thereof in this case. Resolving to confront the father of the bullies (with a hammer no less), Martin’s dad, Liam, expecting a brute, instead finds a beaten man and is coerced into a beer-swilling therapy group for men of the town unable, or unwilling, to wear the trousers in the family.
In the second episode Martin’s mum, Debra, is to the fore, campaigning with local women to get Mary Robinson elected to the Irish presidency, while Martin befriends new boy Trevor just so he can be fed. Incidentally, fundraising for the presidential canvassing leads to a funny encounter with Steve Coogan in a brilliant cameo as Francie “Touchie” Feeley.
With nods to Grange Hill, Dynasty, Sultans of Ping, Subbuteo, Game Boy, Wagon Wheels, sherbet and so on, it’s a huge dose of nostalgia, which will be taken to hearts across the country.
There are a number of cultural references which British audiences may not get but we have digested plenty of obscure British and American references over the years and still managed to get the gist of various imported shows, so I think it will be understood just fine. It’s just a huge shame that this had to be funded by Sky and not locally grown, but so it was with Father Ted and Channel 4. The good news though is it has already been commissioned for another series. Watch it Friday on Sky One.
Something less humorous involved the return of Downton Abbey on Sunday night (or TV3 on Wednesday) that panned out much as expected. We’ve reached the spring of 1920 and the will-they-won’t-they story that’s been going on between Matthew and Mary for the first two series and Christmas special looked like it may finally reach a conclusion, with a wedding rehearsal underway.
There looked to be a spanner in the works though when it is revealed that Lord Grantham has gambled the entire family fortune on a now derailed Canadian railway. Downton is under threat but the jammiest man in history may hold the key.
It appears Matthew could inherit a vast fortune from the late Lavina’s dear old (and also deceased) dad – the second time he’s managed to cream vast amounts of money without doing a tap. He can’t keep it though, so Mary deems him “disappointing” and the wedding is in jeopardy.
All this is played alongside the fact Sybil is back for the wedding, with revolutionary Irish husband Tom in tow, who does a lot of ranting about Irish politics, has his drink spiked by one of the toffs over dinner, rants some more about Irish politics, becomes Matthew’s best man and ultimately saves the day and the wedding by talking sense into him. Phew for that!
Downstairs, O’Brien’s nephew, who’s apparently very tall and worked in a hotel, is the new footman and a constant cause of embarrassment for Carson, Thomas is trying to be as unhelpful as possible, Daisy is on the worst attempt at a strike in history and Anna has turned into Poirot in her attempts to have Bates freed from jail.
Once again the show is saved by Dame Maggie Smith’s withering put-downs although it looks like she is going to have competition from Cora’s mother, Martha (Shirley MacLaine), who seems to have an equally acid tongue in her head.
I say forget Downton altogether and instead catch the final episode of Parade’s End this Friday on BBC, which has proven to be a far meatier affair.