Patrick Freyne: Given a choice of prisons, I’d take Litchfield over the Big Brother houseBig Brother is boring, depressing, irresponsible and disturbing. But in the prison of Orange Is the New Black, there is always hopeWed Jun 15 2016 - 15:00
Patrick Freyne: ‘Top Gear was already dead but didn’t know it’The previous version had over-privileged, white, straight men freewheeling through their natural environment - but the reboot is running on emptyThu Jun 09 2016 - 06:28
Patrick Freyne: Love Island is a sanctuary for hunk-kindUTV plans to save these fragile creatures with an ambitious breeding programmeThu Jun 02 2016 - 07:44
Gang feud: Life goes on in Dublin 1, but so does the fearSocial problems will remain in inner city long after media spotlight fades, say residentsSat May 28 2016 - 06:35
Bruce Springsteen steamrolls through 3½-hour set at CrokerCraftsman’s rock is the sound of dignified, defiant defeat, and the crowd loved itSat May 28 2016 - 00:33
Bruce Springsteen brings the hardcore to Croke ParkThousands of obsessed fans gather for evergreen singer’s 3½-hour Dublin gigFri May 27 2016 - 20:25
Patrick Freyne: 'When the Irish peasant girl speaks on Made in Chelsea, they stare in wonder'In Richard III, the posh are culled with war. In Made in Chelsea, they use passive-aggressive texting. Thank the socialist gods, then, for the beautiful, strange and humane The ClangersWed May 25 2016 - 16:23
Eurovision preview: What to watch out for... and who will win?From the political posturing of warring divas to bad indie music here’s our essential guide to Eurovision viewingSun May 15 2016 - 11:27
Ukraine wins Eurovision with political and powerful songAustralia tops the jury vote but televoting swings contest to Jamala’s ‘1944’Sat May 14 2016 - 23:57
Byrnexit: the Eurovision we won’t winIreland won’t feature in tonight’s Eurovision final, but don’t blame Nicky Byrne. A week in Stockholm tells us that, to win, you have to take the contest far more seriously than anyone in Ireland is prepared to doSat May 14 2016 - 05:45
Nicky Byrne: ‘I feel worse than I did yesterday to be honest’2016 Revisited: Former Westlife singer still in shock after Eurovision semi-final exit in StockholmFri May 13 2016 - 19:54
Nicky Byrne ‘disappointed’ with Eurovision exitFormer Westlife singer fails to qualify for final of song contest with ‘Sunlight’Thu May 12 2016 - 22:21
Eurovision’s Nicky Byrne: ‘Maybe Ireland can do a Leicester’Singer up against Serbian leather fetishists and Danish lighthouse-keepers in semi-finalWed May 11 2016 - 19:25
Ricky Gervais on Netflix's plans: 'The return of the auteur'A replica set of Freddy’s barbecue joint; star turns from Gervais, Kevin Spacey and Kate Mulgrew; and talks about algorithms and the ratings black-out – here's what happened at Netflix's annual show of strength in ParisTue May 10 2016 - 06:00
Patrick Freyne: Eurovision an endearingly odd arms-race for TVIn recent years songs have improved (seriously) - this time there’s even more to marvel atMon May 09 2016 - 16:21
Feis Ceoil agus craic: 120 years of celebrating classical musicAnnual event continues to celebrate the music skill it has highlighted since 1896Sat May 07 2016 - 05:00
Game of Thrones: the problem with the deadThe fantasy series built its reputation on bloody murder. But is its body count – and its blase attitude to death – starting to sap the series?Wed May 04 2016 - 15:07
Making The Late Late Show: What Tub's tie tells usWe go behind the scenes at one of the world’s longest-running chatshowsSat Apr 30 2016 - 10:00
A mini rebellion at the GPO: ‘Don’t laugh. You’re being shot at’As the 100th anniversary of the Rising approaches, 5ft rebels storm the GPO with wooden rifles and funny moustaches. Spirits are so high, The O’Rahilly dances during lulls in the fightingFri Apr 22 2016 - 06:00
Who Can Govern? The answer might just surprise you... but it probably won’tInvestigating the most boring crisis in living memory, TV3’s latest hysteria-maker was little more than an hour of competitive cynicism, handwringing and blame throwingWed Apr 20 2016 - 13:42
From ’Allo ’Allo! to Brexit, Euroscepticism has always been close to the British heartAs Brexit-obsessed Britain threatens to turn back the Euro clock, the parallels between the classic BBC sitcom and Tory nativism become clearWed Apr 13 2016 - 17:31
Liam Neeson: on iconic roles, Irish pride, and the influence of Ian Paisley...Ahead of receiving an industry award at the IFTAs, Liam Neeson on the journey that saw him play Michael Collins, a Jedi and GodSat Apr 09 2016 - 06:00
Sex Box does exactly what it says on the container, is oddly uptight and awfulThe Channel 4 series returned this week, this time featuring a Flemish sexologist, an eyebrow-raising Welshman and far too many double entendresWed Apr 06 2016 - 13:42
Illicit trade in prescription drugs a growing problem for Dublin’s north inner cityPrescription drugs have changed the inner-city Dublin drugs scene in the past two years. Dealing in these semi-legal products is low risk and takes place in full public view, yet their effects on addicts are no less severe than other drugs with more fearsome reputationsSat Apr 02 2016 - 06:00
While the Late Late steps lightly past, Bob Geldof rips into the legacy of the RisingFrom a vintage car piled high with RTÉ celebs in period costumes to Geldof’s scathing analysis of its legacy - the optics of the centenary got a little strange this weekFri Apr 01 2016 - 00:19
The art of sending hate mail: ‘People enjoy being insulted’Mr Bingo’s Hate Mail started as a joke on Twitter but his deliberately rude postcards quickly became a profitable enterpriseWed Mar 30 2016 - 06:00
Daytime TV is the perfect antidote to the current barrage of 1916 programmingTo find out what’s really going on, look no further than Midday, Today with Maura and Dáithí and The Seven O’Clock ShowWed Mar 23 2016 - 13:02
From James Connolly to Bernie SandersJacobin, a left-wing US magazine, is publishing an issue on the legacy of 1916. Its publisher, Bhaskar Sunkara, explains why it’s a fitting subjectSat Mar 19 2016 - 05:45
Saints and begorrah – here’s a list of the greatest-ever Irish fictional charactersFrom Batman’s Chief O’Hara to the Healy Raes, from X-Men’s Magneto to the Aliens in Toy Story, the Irish have always loomed large in pop cultureWed Mar 16 2016 - 15:15
‘Most prisoners are not violent and shouldn’t be there’U-Casadh, a programme initiated by a one-time prison officer, provides support and training to former prisoners. The results have been startlingMon Mar 14 2016 - 06:00
Does TV like celebrities in extremis? Does Bear Grylls sh*t in the woods?'Bear Grylls: Mission Survive' and 'Rich, Famous and Homeless' offer more proof, if any was needed, that we love watching celebrities in extreme situatlonsThu Mar 10 2016 - 21:48
‘The election? I couldn’t give a f***’: battling voter apathyLow turnout in inner-city Dublin reflected a lack of faith in politics, but that may be changingSat Mar 05 2016 - 19:16
Meg Ryan, Graham Norton, cancer and me: Michael Parkinson at 80The journalist and TV host talks about a life spent asking questions, his recovery from serious illness and how he fears he will be remembered for an errant emuFri Mar 04 2016 - 12:15
Ant, Dec and Prince Charles - you can't get much more UTV Ireland than thatAnt and Dec were given a year of access to the future king, and what resulted was an hour-and-a-half of interesting blazers, uninteresting waffling and excruciating truthsWed Mar 02 2016 - 14:55
Tommy Hilfiger and Patrick Freyne set sail for New York Fashion WeekDesigner Tommy Hilfiger's nautical-themed fashion show leaves Patrick Freyne feeling all at sea - and that's before the writer's run-in with Kim KardashianFri Feb 26 2016 - 12:30
Facebook, Vincent Browne, Des Bishop take an off-centre approach to the electionNever mind the leaders' debate. The true pulse of the nation was checked at FB HQ, by Vincent Browne and wherever Blindboy Boatclub lays his head down to sleepThu Feb 25 2016 - 10:04
House of tarot cards: who will win the election?‘That’s the card of stress, of anxiety, of things being all over the place’: we ask two tarot card readers how the general election will goTue Feb 23 2016 - 12:00
The life of an Irish hotel workerCustomers in Irish hotels see little of people who clean up after them: non-unionised foreign staff many of whom, in fear of losing jobs, must do more and more rooms per shiftSat Feb 20 2016 - 10:45
In Vinyl, baby boomers finally get their say; in The Restaurant so do the foodiesTV review: Nostalgia and violence loom large in Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger new series for Sky Atlantic; but there's not a shred of either in TV3’s The RestaurantWed Feb 17 2016 - 21:55
Election 2016: Where the streets have no votesInner-city Dublin is a low-turnout zone, due to broken promises and political alienationSat Feb 13 2016 - 05:00
Patrick Freyne: Why ‘Room to Improve’ makes me feel so patrioticUnderpromising, vaguely defeatist, un-triumphalist and un-specific (and that's just the title) – what could be more Irish?Thu Feb 11 2016 - 12:44
Patrick Freyne: My male friends are all feelings, my female friends are thugsThe most lasting friendships are based on shared interests and values and humour, not the possession of similarly shaped genitalsThu Feb 11 2016 - 10:00
Patrick Freyne: Why ‘Room to Improve’ makes me feel so patrioticIt’s underpromising, vaguely defeatist, un-triumphalist and un-specific – what could be more Irish?Tue Feb 09 2016 - 15:58
The end is nigh for The Good Wife – it’s still the best thing on TVIn 2014 I wrote that the legal drama was the best show around – the news of its demise, and a few dodgy seasons since, haven’t changed my mindMon Feb 08 2016 - 13:09
TV review: The Jump - Cheryl, Bryan and Rickaaay tremble before Ice Queen DavinaCelebrities dressed in multi-coloured onesies being hurtled to their potential death? Channel 4’s winter-sports reality show really should be more fun than thisWed Feb 03 2016 - 14:35
The X-Files review: Scully science-sighs while Mulder mansplainsGillian Anderson and David Duchovny reopen The X-Files, but this one seems like a conspiracy too farFri Jan 29 2016 - 12:13
The Irish actor, the Iraqi producer and the gangster film scamWhen Aoife Madden met Bashar al-Issa they ended up swindling the UK government out of millions through their aptly named movie ‘Landscape of Lies’Sat Jan 23 2016 - 05:00
Patrick Freyne: Turning Tolstoy into an action-packed teen dramaThree episodes in and Patrick Freyne is really enjoying Andrew Davies’s six-part adaptation of War and PeaceWed Jan 20 2016 - 13:07
PJ Mara on his screen persona: ‘Colin Firth should play me’Colin Teevan – screenwriter for the 2015 TV series ‘Charlie’ – recalls meeting the late Government press secretary PJ Mara while researching the scriptFri Jan 15 2016 - 13:50
Making a murderer with Derren BrownPushed to the Edge is an elaborate ruse in which unsuspecting strangers are coaxed into what they think is murder by mentalist Derren Brown. It’s an experiment. And it’s depraved.Wed Jan 13 2016 - 13:40
