Not all remakes are created equal

The events of this week have made it so that this column can start no other way than to pay tribute to the late Mick Lally.

One of the finest actors ever to tread the boards, this man was not only a household name but an inspiration to many young people over the years.
His ability to portray the lives, thoughts and feelings of some of the greatest characters ever written in either Irish and English was second-to-none. He was of course, known to most as Miley from Glenroe and more particularly for his catchphrase, “Well Holy God!”
For all too many, this will be the only way he will be remembered but he was an actor in its truest sense, crossing genres, media and stereotypes. He will be sorely missed.
Back to the box then and the new season is upon us and for the past week or so all we have seen are previews of the delights that are to come. One such delight and one which is also guaranteed to get a lot of column inches is ITV’s programme entitled Bouquet of Barbed Wire.
This is the second time that this particular programme has been given an outing. It seems that ITV is not only updating Miss Marple (which, it must be said was very entertaining on Monday night) with high-profile casts. Bouquet of Barbed Wire is about abusive relationships, control and families.
In 1969, Andrea Newman released a novel by the same name. It was shocking and the television adaptation that followed seven years later in 1976 caused quite a stir. It dealt with subjects that were taboo and although we have come a long way since then, in many ways modern audiences can be (and perhaps rightly so) still shocked by the themes that are explored in this drama.
This time around Trevor Eve of Waking the Dead fame plays Peter Manson. He is a middle-class success story who seems to have it all. But his life is turned on its head when his daughter, Prue, played by Imogen Poots, reveals that she has become pregnant and her teacher, Gavin Sorenson, played by the wonderful Tom Riley is the father.
After this revelation things spiral out of control and it is quite hard to watch at times. It is a gut-wrenching look at the themes of paternal jealously and incestuous relationships that will leave many a viewer reeling. It starts on Monday.
Another programme that will be receiving a lot of preview time in the coming weeks will be The Consumer Show.
This is RTÉ’s attempt to put their finger on the pulse and of course in order to do that they must put the most annoying, shouty man on television. Why oh why, must it be Eddie (everyone is out to take your money) Hobbs?
I realise that this is a show that deals with consumer rights and everyday complaints and annoyances of Irish people but, really, he is so dull. Couldn’t they get someone with a bit more pizzazz. That’s right I demand pizzazz! It’s depressing enough that everything is bloody expensive without the likes of Hobbs on a gazillion euro a year telling me I have been done out of stuff and if I had only kept the receipt of paid by credit card I’d be fine.
I won’t judge Keelin Shanley yet as it is nice to see her spread her Prime Time wings and do a few more things but Hobbs, I am afraid, is far from my favourite. Iwould prefer to listen to Gift Grub version any day. Check it out Monday evenings. It involves a studio audience so it may well be worth a look for that element.
Nine years on and we are still talking about it. I can remember where I was and for most of my generation it will be our where were you when Kennedy was shot?
What am I talking about? Why 9/11 of course. This Saturday on Channel 4 at 7pm the documentary series exploring some events that changed our world continues. It may not have happened here but the repercussions can be felt even to this day from laws that were made to travel restrictions.
The documentary, 102 Minutes that Changed America, looks at the coverage of that day. As a student who began her journalism career some 20 days after the attacks on the World Trade Centre it is a topic that I, and most other students with an interest in media, have poured over.
It shaped our perspectives on what was and was not suitable to report and in many ways, it opened up the media to the idea of instant reporting through the amateur camera. The show is a compilation of the reports and footage that came from that day and is definitely worth looking at. If only to look back with interest on an event that, in less than two hours, managed to change the policy of a nation and the travel habits of an entire world.
Love him or hate him (I tend to fall in the latter category but more dislike than hate, unless it’s his film Garage in which case I am in the former), Pat Shortt has carved quite a career for himself.
The Tipp man may well be celebrating two events this Sunday if all goes to plan in Croker. But, here, we are concerned with televisual spoils and not silver ones. Mattie is back after an unfathomably popular pilot. Pat Shortt’s fish-out-of-water comedy about a country garda that is transferred to the city and teamed up with a feisty female detective who struggles to cope with life in the big smoke. Sorry, schmoke.
Despite his comic misadventures he manages to somehow always get his man and save the day. Shortt is similar in this to other roles and the support cast are a mix of stereotypes and caricatures that we have seen too many times before. But I am sure it will be lapped up. Check out the first episode on Sunday night at 8.30pm on RTÉ One.