The world according to Stacey

As if I didn’t already know about the depressing state of the economy and the plight of joblessness facing many young people in this country at the moment, curiosity got the better of me to see what other nations make of the situation here and so I tuned into Coming Here Soon – Ireland: Lost and Leaving on Tuesday on BBC3.

The three-part series is presented by Stacey Dooley but by the time I had got to the end of it, it was less the state of the economy and more the state of journalism that was worrying me.
If it is a detailed analysis of world economics you’re after, go elsewhere. I realise that BBC3 is aimed at younger viewers but I can’t imagine that even the most easily bored 17 to 25-year-old would have been able to handle this level of dumbing down. This isn’t Dooley’s first foray into reporting, having presented documentaries on child labour and sex-trafficking previously. They weren’t very good either, mainly because she doesn’t seem to trade on knowledge like most ‘reporters’ do, rather she seems to try be as ill-informed as possible and just see where it takes her.
County Clare featured relatively prominently in it as Dooley lamented profoundly with her subjects that over a thousand young people are leaving every week looking for work overseas, so much so that some villages can no longer form a Gaelic football team, all while Doonbeg publican Martin Tubridy noted “We have failed a generation”.
Are you crying into your Guinness yet, because that is clearly what the presenter was aiming for.
Then it was off to Dublin Airport to meet Ciara, a speech therapist graduate who was unable to find work and so was heading to Perth’s sunnier climes. Not before there were more tears however, just not from the person who was doing the unfortunate emigrating.
It was utterly ridiculous that Dooley had not a modicum of knowledge regarding some of her interviewees’ conversations. As one of Ciara’s friends noted how free university education means the taxpayer is paying for other countries to benefit from trained exiles, the ‘o’ her mouth made told me all I needed to know.
Her interviewees had some excellent points to make and some heartfelt stories to share but they were overshadowed by Dooley’s simpering presenting. More irritating was her over-played empathy with her subjects. No presenter should be seemingly more upset than the actual people affected!
After watching this episode, I went back to take a look at last week’s Greece: Bust and Broken, maybe in some sort of attempt at mind flagellation. If it was possible, she knew even less about what is going on there. Apart from a few ‘luck moments’ where she happened to push through a crowd to find a woman threatening harm to herself because she had just lost her job, there was peanuts in the way of research carried out or comprehension about what is going on and why.
Giggling like a 12-year-old as she joins a protest, it quickly turns to whimpering and tears as the rioting begins; her face puckering as she asks why “is this kind of carry-on going on?” I would have said watch the news, but that’s clearly too far along the road of offering factual content for this intrepid reporter. For a girl whose catchphrase is “I can’t believe it”, believe me when I say as she stood on the balcony of a hotel looking at the Parthenon and declared “That’s the Acropalypse”, I felt the apocalypse was nigh.
I was left wondering did she have a producer/editor at all and if yes, why did they not have a quiet word with her in a darkened corner somewhere about leaving those sort of gaffs for the bloopers reel. She’s off to Japan in next week’s effort; the Land of the Rising Sun should weep.
Getting away from the ‘factual’ and moving to drama, the three-part Blackout began on Tuesday on BBC One, in which Christopher Eccleston plays the rather troubled council official Daniel Demoys.
Prone to drinking too much and a penchant for prostitutes, Daniel has also been passing on council contract details to suspect businessman Henry Pulis. Following a row between the pair, a drunk Daniel beats the hell out of him, leaving Pulis in a coma and Daniel in need of lawyer sister Lucy’s help.
Just when you think there is no redeeming this character, the next thing Daniel flings himself between a bullet and a man speaking out against local drugs’ gang for no particular reason. Waking up in hospital he finds out he’s being lauded as a hero and as Tuesday’s episode ended, it looks like he is about to head into the heady world of local politics. This is a dark, dark world that Bill Gallagher has created, a far cry from his adaption of the quaint Lark Rise to Candleford but I was strangely enthralled and will definitely return.
If Demoys’ council worker is too far along a dark alleyway however, then Parks and Recreation is most definitely parked on the sunny side of the street.
This brilliant mockumentary has finally been recognised for its worth in Montrose and was moved from the graveyard Friday night shift to a more prime time slot for its second season, which began on Monday on RTÉ Two.
It centres around the exploits of Leslie Knope (the superb Amy Poehler), the deputy director of the parks and recreation department in the fictional Indiana town of Pawnee, surrounded by the likes of boss Ron Swanson (Nick Offerman), who’s completely opposed to the idea of public service and city planner Mark (Paul Schneider), a man Leslie has a sizable crush on.
Monday’s season two opener was a cracker as Leslie decided to promote Pawnee Zoo by marrying two penguins in a publicity stunt. It didn’t quite go to plan when it turned out the penguins were both male however. Genius!

One to watch
If you haven’t been watching Nurse Jackie, then you should be. Edie Falco reprises her Emmy-winning role in the dark comedy as the series returned to Sky Atlantic for its fourth season on Tuesday. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who is watching it on RTÉ Two, which still has two episodes to go in series three, but needless to say the fallout of Jackie’s now public addiction continues.