The second series of ‘True North’ begins on BBC One Northern Ireland tonight at 10.35pm. It is a series of fresh, revelatory and uniquely personal single documentaries from BBC Northern Ireland.
‘True North: Life and Times of Master Hamilton’, which airs tonight, is produced and directed by Louise Liddy from Erica Starling Productions and follows the story of Hunt Master Andy Hamilton – a family man who is determined to pass on his talent and traditions to his two sons before it is too late. The programme was filmed on location in Co. Antrim and executive produced by the BBC’s Justin Binding.
Next week’s episode ‘True North: Run Grandad Run’ on February 17th is produced by Graham Little from Century TV and filmed in Co. Down, Co. Tyrone and Turin. Directed by Ronan McCloskey (Charles Byrne-Irish Giant, Irish Rappers Revealed), the programme follows a generation of senior athletes, including Patsy Forbes and John McKeag, who explain how their history and attitudes to ageing and life helped them enjoy many decades of competitive sport.
‘True North’ also gives young filmmakers such as Eimhear O’Neill the chance to showcase their talents and abilities. Eimhear, who is part of Below the Radar TV, will broadcast her 30 minute ‘True North’ documentary entitled ‘The Joy of Sets’ later this year in the series.
Susan Lovell, Head of Local TV Commissioning for BBC Northern Ireland, said: “The series gives new emerging talent a voice. We consistently welcome a wide and diverse range of ideas from young filmmakers in order to attract new audiences to the BBC.”
The strand, which is currently scheduled for BBC One Northern Ireland on Monday nights, will run a number of times throughout the year and air between five-six programmes per series. The documentaries look at modern-day life in Northern Ireland.
Susan added that: “Series one brought in a diverse range of audiences who don’t usually watch BBC documentaries. In the second series beginning tonight audiences can expect high quality and distinctive content.”
The first season of ‘True North’, which began in September of last year, was made up of four programmes. ‘The Miraculous Tales of Mickey McGuigan’ was produced by Daniel Vernon from Erica Starling Productions and filmed in Newry, South Armagh and Belfast. Eamonn Devlin from Triplevision Productions produced two programmes for the series; ‘The Wall’, which was filmed in Belfast and ‘Scoop’, which was filmed on location in Co. Fermanagh. ‘The Summer on Rathlin’ was a production by Vincent Kinnaird from Notasuch Films and was filmed on the island of Rathlin and also off the north coast of Northern Ireland.
BBC Northern Ireland is hoping to create three runs of six programmes this year and intends to build the ‘True North’ brand over the coming years.
For more information on the ‘True North’ series visit their website here
