Irish

The Bea List: 5 Top TV Shows starring Aisling Bea

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

Here are top 5 shows starring one of Ireland’s finest talents.

No longer a newcomer, Aisling Bea has firmly claimed her place as one of Ireland’s finest TV talents. Here’s a list of just some of the shows that will have you saying ‘Oh My God, What a Complete Legend, Aisling…’

This Way Up

As both programme creator and star, this Channel Four series earned a BAFTA win for Aisling. It’s a comedy-drama following the life of Áine, an Irish woman living in London, navigating her way through life after a breakdown. Some very poignant moments throughout, in particular between Bea and Sharon Horgan who plays her sister. Series two has been promised to us later this year, but the first series is available on Channel Four’s catch-up service 4oD. (Channel Four)

Living With Yourself

Part sci-fi, part comedy-drama, this quirky series stars Paul Rudd (AntMan, Anchorman) as a man on a quest to better himself through extremely bizarre measures. As he tries to rekindle his relationship with wife Kate, played by Bea, we witness the epic dance scene above, a definite series highlight. (Netflix)

The Fall

In the final series of this psychological thriller starring Gillian Anderson (The X Files), Aisling shows off her dramatic chops as the nurse who cares for Jamie Dornan’s serial killer Paul Spector. All series are available on-demand on the RTE Player. (Box set available on the RTE Player) 

Trivia

First broadcast in 2012, here newcomer Aisling Bea stars opposite Keith McErlean, who we know and love from Bachelor’s Walk. The acclaimed series follows the lives and relationships of a quiz team in Co. Monaghan. (Box set available on the RTE Player) 

Quiz 

Starting this Sunday night on RTÉ One, Aisling Bea plays a TV executive working on Britain’s most famous quiz show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Michael Sheen stars as the show’s host Chris Tarrant and Fleabag’s Sian Clifford stars as Diana Ingram, the woman who found herself at the heart of a cheating scandal. (RTE One, Sunday 24th January, 9:30pm)

Source: The Bea List: 5 Top TV Shows starring Aisling Bea

Lisa O’Neil at Dublin’s National Concert Hall

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

Serious joins with National Concert Hall, Dublin to present Lisa O’Neill – a songwriter like no other. Last year, she played for Serious in a sold out Union Chapel show, and was featured in our Imagining Ireland programme produced by Serious, National Concert Hall, Dublin, and Culture Ireland. Her Rough trade album, Heard A Long Gone Song, sees her remarkable voice breathing new life into traditional songs and has garnered huge acclaim both at home and abroad. Tackling songs passed through generations, some mixed with political messages giving a voice to a community, or dark tales of the past, Lisa performs all with ease.

‘Raw and unvarnished folk. Uncompromising, stunning, soul-shaking stuff’ (★★★★★ Guardian)

‘Normal People’ Star Daisy Edgar-Jones Is Having Her Big Break From Home

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

As the lead in the Hulu/BBC drama and one of the year’s most anticipated TV shows, the rising British talent is having a major career moment, one that she’s been experiencing from the confines of her London flat.

by Alex Ritman | Hollywood Reporter

Having your big Hollywood break in the middle of a global pandemic is a curious experience.

Whereas many rising stars about to be jettisoned into the public eye thanks to a TV show or movie might expect to be shepherded by teams of publicists between late night talk show sofas, photographer’s studios, magazines and newspaper offices, hotels for press junkets and perhaps even a few long-haul flights, for Daisy Edgar-Jones the COVID-19 lockdown has seen the usual media circuit stripped back to whatever can be achieved from her bedroom.

Not that it’s made the promotional work any less hectic for the star of the 12-part Hulu/BBC drama Normal People.

Thanks to the phenomenal buzz surrounding the show, based on the word-of-mouth sensation that was Sally Rooney’s 2018 novel about the four-year on-and-off romance of a young Irish couple, the 21-year-old has been conducting near back-to-back interviews over the phone and via Zoom from her shared flat in the north London borough of Haringey. And while there may be less pampering and travel, promoting the show from home is certainly making things a little less complicated when it comes to getting herself ready for each video call.

“I only have to dress up from my upper half, because that’s the only thing onscreen,” she says with a laugh. “It’s jogging bottoms on the lower half … it’s great.”

Normal People - Publicity still 2- EMbed -2020
Edgar-Jones plays the awkward and bookish Marianne in ‘Normal People,’ based on Sally Rooney’s bestselling second novel.

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Lankum – Live

~ Michael Stevenson ~ Leave a comment

Lankum performs live at WGBH’s Fraser Performance Studio in Boston. The Dublin-based group, consisting of Cormac MacDiarmada, Radie Peat, and brothers Ian and Daragh Lynch, makes a special kind of Celtic folk music, mixing ambient textures with harmonies that harness astonishing power. In 2019, their album The Livelong Day won Album of the Year at the RTÉ Choice Awards.

Set list:

The Wild Rover 0:01
The Rocky Road to Dublin 09:53
Bear Creek 13:47