Programmes: K to S
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Officer and Commander
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'The Poo Pipe', 'The Prosser' and 'The
Fin' are words which may mean
nothing to anyone at the moment, but
will become clearer after watching the
four-part series Officer and
Commander on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Northern
Ireland.
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The series follows Commander Steve Aiken from Northern Ireland over a year, through
the trials and tribulations of command of
HMS Sovereign, the Royal Navy's oldest
nuclear submarine, as the boat was prepared
for a major mission - her last before she was
due to be decommissioned.
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³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Northern Ireland was there to capture
every step of the 'work up' to this
deployment – from major repairs and re-fit
of the submarine to sea trials around the
coast of Britain.
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Over many weeks on board, the series
follows the Royal Navy crew, not only
through their training in diving and torpedo-firing
operations, submarine escape, firefighting
and safety exercises, but also their
day-to-day routines in cramped conditions
with no natural light; and it reflects the
boredom, the entertainment and their
thoughts on home and the families they have
left behind.
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It is also there when severe technical
problems and emergencies on board the
submarine delay the training and place
the whole mission in jeopardy.
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Officer and Commander is a glimpse of a
life which is very rarely seen, a life which
can be claustrophobic, uncomfortable and
extremely hazardous.
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As Commander Aiken replies when asked if
it was dangerous: "You take a metal tube, fill
it with hi-tech equipment, hazardous
materials, explosives and a nuclear reactor
and then you sink it! What part of dangerous
do you not understand?"
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Officer and Commander is producer by
Louis Edmondson, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Northern Ireland.
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On The Air
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You've seen him as a chat show host,
you've seen him in a Stetson, you've
seen in a wedding dress, but now get
ready to see Gerry Anderson as you've
never seen him before, in 3D
animation!
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The ever-versatile Mr Anderson is starring
in a new ten-part series of short animations,
entitled On The Air, on ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Northern
Ireland.
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With wonderful models and animation by
Belfast-based animation company Flickerpix,
this cutting-edge series gives viewers a
hilarious behind-the-scenes insight into life
on Gerry's ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Ulster programme.
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Featuring real, unedited clips from Gerry's
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Radio Ulster/Foyle programme, On The
Air is a rib-tickling take on Gerry Anderson,
his radio sidekick Sean Coyle and the many
colourful characters who phone into his
programme.
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Whether it's Miss Dungannon 1957, the
listener with the lazy husband, the lady with
a crow problem, the Sean Coyle admirer or
the farmer looking for his dog only to wind
up talking about his love life, On the Air will
make viewers see Gerry's listeners and,
indeed, Gerry himself in a side-splitting new
light.
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On The Air is produced by Flickerpix
Animation for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Northern Ireland.
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A Pilgrim's Progress
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In this six-part series, the Rt. Reverend Dr
John Dunlop retraces the journey
taken by Reverend Colin Corkey as he made
his way across the Atlantic, Canada and
Japan to China as a young missionary,
into Japanese-occupied Manchuria in
the Thirties.
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Colin's journey from West to East took him
across cultures, from a developed
democratic world to an undeveloped postfeudal
world.
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In this series Dr Dunlop compares the world
he travels through today to the world Colin
travelled 70 years ago and asks: "Is today's
world a more or less spiritual place than it
was in Colin Corkey's time?"
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A Pilgrim's Progress is an Imagine Media
production for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Northern Ireland.
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Play It Again Sam
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In September 1971, Sam McAughtry
was admitted to Shaftesbury Square
Hospital suffering from chronic
alcoholism and severe depression.
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At
the time, Sam, a dedicated trade
unionist and Labour party activist, had
seen his world shattered by the
beginning of the Troubles and the
escalating sectarian violence across
Northern Ireland.
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At only 50 years old,
temporarily homeless and separated
from his wife and children, the future
seemed bleak for Sam McAughtry.
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However, Sam would be
reborn.
From Tigers Bay to the Irish Senate, with a
detour on board The Peace Train, Play It
Again Sam is the story of one of Northern
Ireland's most important literary icons.
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Now
85 years old and still as sharp and witty as
ever, author and storyteller extraordinaire
Sam takes us on a compelling
journey through an artistic past to reveal
vivid memories of his encounters with
writers, politicians and celebrities - Van
Morrison, Sam Hanna Bell, Spike Milligan and
Charles Haughey to name but a few.
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Sam also shares another side to the story
of his life. He talks of the heartbreak and
lasting effect of the early, tragic deaths of
his father and brother; the heights of a
Lifetime Achievement Award from the Irish
Writers' Union; and the pain of watching his
beloved old Belfast tear itself apart with the
relentless worsening of the Troubles.
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Despite the upheavals in his life, Sam
McAughtry would later become the author
of eight books, including two novels, an
autobiography, short stories and travel
writing.
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And there was also a highly-successful career
in journalism and broadcasting.
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For after that
dark day in Shaftesbury Square Hospital, Sam
had re-imagined his life.
Quite simply, Sam was to
become one of the most prolific Northern
Irish writers of his generation.
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Play It Again Sam is a DoubleBand Films
production for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Northern Ireland.
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Playing for Time
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The Ulster Orchestra is turning 40,
their principal conductor has just left
and they have got a funding deficit to
try and make up.
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There's a touch of
mid-life crisis in the air!
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Playing for Time goes behind the scenes with
the players as they go through the ups and
downs of their 40th anniversary season; with
Chief Executive David Byers as he tries to
secure a new conductor; and with the new
fundraising team as they try to raise the
extra money they need for a rosy future.
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It is no-holds-barred view of a group of
incredibly highly-skilled people, a place with
its own idiosyncrasies and stresses.
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This is a world which viewers in Northern
Ireland have never been shown before and
this documentary promises to take an eye-opening look at what lies beneath the serene
surface of a workplace where the 'uniform' is dinner jackets, bow ties and black dresses.
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Playing for Time is produced by Johnny Muir, ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Northern Ireland.
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Seanchai
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Seanchai is a series of six free-standing,
dramatised stories of the supernatural
set in specific locations in Northern
Ireland.
As the title suggests, they are presented
mostly in Irish, part dialogue, part narration.
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The traditional ingredients of Irish
storytelling are all here - witchcraft, curses,
ghosts and things that go bump in the night
- but this, the third edition of the series, has
a much more contemporary feel, often
playing at the interface between the ancient
and the modern.
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The stories vary in tone from black farce to
tragedy but what they have in common is
an engaging and literate script, strong
characters and a narrator, or seanchai, who
is also the inner voice of the chief
protagonist.
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Like most storytellers, the seanchai isn't
always trustworthy, never revealing too
much too soon, often playing cat and mouse
with the narrative in a playful and
mischievous spirit.
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However, almost
inevitably, there is a pay-off, a twist in the
tale that leaves a satisfying taste in the mouth as the right people get their come-uppance
in the end.
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The series kicks off with Oiche Shamhna (Halloween Night) - shot, partly at least,
during the traditional celebrations in
Londonderry last year.
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Seanchai is produced by Westway Films for
³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Northern Ireland with the support of
the Irish Language Broadcast Fund of the
NIFTC.
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Sons of Ulster
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"At the beginning we couldn't have
hoped that it would turn out
anything like this," recalls Dan Gordon,
director of Observe the Sons of Ulster
Marching Towards The Somme.
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June 2006 will go down in Northern Ireland
prison history as the summer when the
prisoners of Hydebank Wood performed
Frank McGuinness's Observe The Sons of
Ulster Marching Towards The Somme to
packed houses in a professionally-erected
theatre inside the prison's gymnasium.
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The audience comprised the Director-General of The Prison Service, Robin
Masefield, local politicians, cast members from previous professional productions,
Hollywood composer David Holmes and
celebrated local playwright Marie Jones - to
name but a few.
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And the verdict was
unanimous: "Marvellous, remarkable and
unbelieveable!"
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For much of the audience it was also a very
poignant moment, with the realisation that
the cast would now take their costumes off,
hand back their replica rifles and be marched
back to their cells.
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Sons of Ulster is a gripping four-part
documentary series, produced and directed
by Brendan J Byrne of Hotshot Films, which
charts this remarkable journey from audition
to stage.
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Following celebrated actor/director Dan
Gordon (Red Hand Luke) and his co-worker Mike Moloney (Director of the Prison Arts
Foundation) as they attempt to pull off a
miracle, the series records the rollercoaster
of emotions of both prisoners and the
professionals that went into creating this
unique event.
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However, as well as the tantrums and the
walk-offs, the series also offers a deep insight
into the shortcomings of prison life and a
portrait of proud, yet troubled young men
who are trying, often failing, to find real
meaning to their lives.
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Many of them are
already fathers yet this alone hasn't provided
enough incentive for them to break the
cycle.
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Challenged to become characters of the
same age fighting in the Great War of 1914
who, unlike them, didn't get a second
chance, the cast also come to appreciate and
respect the great sacrifices of the 36th Ulster Division as they learn how Catholic and
Protestant men died side-by-side on the field
of battle.
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Sons of Ulster is a Hot Shot Films
production for ³ÉÈËÂÛ̳ Northern Ireland.
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