Bringing viewers home-grown documentaries, new music and entertainment, live national and international sporting action, and home-produced Irish children’s content, RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and RTÉjr are set for a busy summer.
Speaking about the summer television schedule, Glen Killane, MD of RTÉ Television said: “We’re putting an emphasis on the best-of-Irish this summer on RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and RTÉjr. As well as new, home-grown documentaries about some of Ireland’s most powerful figures, we’ll showcase the best in Irish music with Imelda May on RTÉ One and Electric Picnic on RTÉ2. Add to that all the summer sporting action and brand new award-winning Irish animation on RTÉjr, and we’re confident that audiences in Ireland will enjoy some uniquely Irish viewing this summer on RTÉ.”
RTÉ ONE
Upcoming documentaries for RTÉ One include three part series ‘A Legacy’, which has profiles of Brian Lenihan, Tony Ryan and Páidí Ó Sé. One-off documentary ‘Collusion’ tells a different side to the dirty war in Northern Ireland, while ‘McGeever’ sees reporter Brian Carroll travel to Dubai and the United States following the trail of former property developer Kevin McGeever’s alleged kidnapping.
‘The Others’ has Pat Leahy looking at how the political landscape has shifted with a growing number of independent TDs while ‘The Long Shot’ tells the story of David Keoghan who spent half a million Euro buying and training six young horses in an attempt to beat the biggest names in the horse racing industry.
With unique access to the Cochlear Implant Unit of Dublin’s Beaumont hospital, ‘Breaking the Sound Barrier’ documents an extraordinary journey from a world of total silence to a world filled with sound. In ‘Where I Am’, American writer Robert Drake (author of The Gay Canon) returns to the small town of Sligo from his home in Philadelphia, in an attempt to revisit the memories of his time in Ireland. Twelve years have passed since he was the victim of a violent and bloody attack by two local men there. Will going back to where the drama began trigger his memory of the actual events?
‘The Irish Pub’ is a eulogy to the the pub, or more specifically, the traditional Irish publican. ‘The Gleneagle’ is RTÉ’s One’s new fly-on-the-wall series, which goes behind the scenes at one of Ireland’s leading entertainment venues – the Gleneagle Hotel in Killarney.
Also coming to RTÉ One this year is the new season of ‘Winning Streak’ while ‘Fair City’ continues with enthralling storylines featuring favourite characters Dolores, Pete, Damien and Caoimhe.
Miriam O’Callaghan is also back this summer with a new series of ‘Saturday Night With Miriam’ airing from June 20, as is Imelda May with the ‘Imelda May Show’ which celebrates Irish music and musicians. ‘Lords & Ladles’ is a six-part series taking viewers on a historical journey and features chefs Derry Clarke, Catherine Fulvio and Paul Flynn.
Dáithí O Sé returns to the Festival Dome in Tralee in August to present the perennially popular ‘Rose of Tralee’ over two nights.
In Creedon’s ‘Wild Atlantic Way’, John Creedon sets out on a road trip from Kinsale in Cork right up to the very top of the island,Donegal’s Malin Head.
Friday nights in July see a ‘Late Late Show’ highlights show featuring the best of the season just finished.
RTÉ2
New acquired drama and comedy for RTÉ2 includes ‘CSI: Cyber’, which takes inspiration from the advanced technological work of a real cyber psychologist, Dubliner, Mary Aiken; ‘Selfie’, a romantic comedy in which the social media-obsessed Eliza enlists marketing expert Henry to rebrand her reputation; and in ‘American Odyssey’ a team of U.S. soldiers in North Africa discover that one of the men they killed was al-Qaida's top man.
Also coming to RTÉ2 this summer are new Danish television drama ‘1864’, the most ambitious and expensive drama to date from Danish state broadcaster, DR, whose previous shows Borgen, The Killing and The Bridge have reached cult status worldwide; and six-part Norwegian WWII drama, ‘The Saboteurs’, a huge hit in its native Norway.
Returning series this summer include, ‘The Walking Dead’, ‘The Americans’, ‘CSI: Crime Scene Investigation’, ‘The Big C’ and ‘Hawaii Five-O’.
‘Exiles’, a new eight-part series, will follow six young Irish people as they emigrate from Ireland to Canada to start a new life and chase their dreams, and viewers will also get a chance to sample the best of ‘Electric Picnic 2015’.
The summer of sport on RTÉ2 continues with the ‘Sunday Game Live’. There will be 31 live games this summer, including all six provincial finals in football and hurling. ‘Thank GAA It’s Friday’ returns to Friday nights in July with a mix of star names, warm human interest stories, grassroots issues and nostalgic moments from years gone by.
There’s lots of horseracing action on RTÉ2 this summer with the three day festival from the Curragh in June, including the 150th running of the Irish Derby on Sunday 27 June and four days live action from the Galway Festival from 27 July.
August sees highlights of Ireland’s Rugby World Cup warm-up games against Wales, Scotland and England.
RTÉJR
Premiering on RTÉjr this summer is ‘The Day Henry Met’, the award winning animation encouraging young children to use their imagination and discover the world around them through play and adventure. ‘Nelly and Nora’ and ‘Wildernuts’ returns for a second series and the Irish language version of the much loved award winning animation series, ‘Lily’s Driftwood Bay’ will begin broadcasting in July.
Introducing new faces, RTÉjr will be presented by a whole host of new characters: Molly the Chef, Zoologist Ferne, RTÉjr’s singing detective Gerry Paul and illustrator Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick.
Viewers around the world can watch RTÉ on RTÉ Player and RTÉ Player International, and on RTÉ News Now online and on mobile. GAAGO will offer viewers outside Ireland a unique opportunity to enjoy the 2015 championships. RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and RTÉjr will also be very active across the summer on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, with a range of content also available on the dedicated RTÉ YouTube channels.
