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‘Here We Go' TV review: This dom-com is a rare breed of comfort watch, but it's not cutting edge

‘Here We Go' TV review: This dom-com is a rare breed of comfort watch, but it's not cutting edge

It's a very English BBC comedy, but sometimes you just want something gentle to curl up to
It seems like a long time since we had a domestic comedy on television. But does The Simpsons count? The Simpsons has swept all before it. Not since Malcolm in the Middle have we had an outstanding domestic comedy about your average (white) family. Maybe Outnumbered. The Cosby Show, which was very successful in its day, has been swept from collective memory for obvious reasons. And, looking back on it, Bless This House, starring the legendary Sid James – ask your nana – wasn't that great.
Here We Go, now in its third season on BBC One, isn't great either. But it's very efficient. It's very well acted. And it is a pleasant watch. That is more than can be said for 90pc of what is on our screens today. (Channel 4's The Dog House is an outstanding exception, maintaining its place in the top 10pc of telly, providing its sobbing audience with happy ending after happy ending and easily overtaking both First Dates and Gogglebox. I never thought I'd say that.)
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Owners of pub which hosted surprise Ed Sheeran Fleadh gig were ‘sworn to secrecy'
Owners of pub which hosted surprise Ed Sheeran Fleadh gig were ‘sworn to secrecy'

Sunday World

time36 minutes ago

  • Sunday World

Owners of pub which hosted surprise Ed Sheeran Fleadh gig were ‘sworn to secrecy'

'IT WAS LIKE MI6' | The English superstar was a surprise face that popped up at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in Wexford town. Just over two weeks ago, the family had been contacted by a representative from Warner Music, scouting out potential venues for an unnamed artist to make an appearance during the Fleadh. Taking over the negotiations was Caolan Barron, son of owners Johnny and Nuala. "We were first approached around a fortnight ago,' he reveals. 'Representatives were down looking at a potential site for something, but it was all very vague. We didn't know what or who. It was very secretive and very hush, hush, but we got on quite well with them.' A short time later, still not quite sure who this star was going to be, the Barron family received word that The Sky & The Ground had been chosen and they set about putting a plan in place with Warner, Guinness, Fleadh organisers and gardaí. "I think it was only around five days ago that they actually confirmed it was Ed Sheeran,' Caolan said. 'It was an interesting week. I effectively found myself thrown into organising this massive thing. It's been M16 level preparations. The WhatsApp groups I'm in are insane – top level gardaí, event management people for the Fleadh, Ed Sheeran's security detail. We were getting minute, by minute updates like 'currently on the M50, this is our estimated arrival time'. Read more "In fairness, everyone put their heads together and made sure we were very well prepared when he arrived.' While rumours that Ed Sheeran may be making an appearance at the Fleadh had been circulating, Caolan says that he, parents Johnny and Nuala and sisters Enya and Sabia, were absolutely sworn to secrecy. "We were sworn to secrecy,' he laughs. 'I only told my own girlfriend it was happening the day before. We kept it one hundred percent within the family, so any rumours certainly didn't come from us anyway. In the end, the bit of misinformation etc out there probably helped." "We've had loads of famous acts through the pub over the years, but we obviously knew this was a different level. That's why we linked in with the gardaí etc. It wouldn't have been in our interest to start talking about it, because the last thing we wanted was 20,000 people turning up on our doorstep!' Ed Sheeran at The Sky & The Ground pub in Wexford. (Photo: Mark Surrdige) The upshot was that Ed was to record a podcast with The 2 Johnnies as well as a host of radio interviews with national radio stations upstairs before coming down and performing in the pub. "Everything was very fluid,' Caolan says. 'We had the PA system set up for him in the pub, but we didn't know what he'd want to do, whether he'd just go out to the stage out the back or what. The pub was pretty much locked down from early on in the day. We didn't want too many people inside. "It was really busy. We didn't even manage to get a family photo with him. We were too busy running around making sure everything was okay. My phone was absolutely hopping all day!' For those that were inside, it was a memorable affair with Ed joined by the likes of Amble and Biird as he played through hits like Castle On The Hill and Nancy Mulligan, the song which was written about his beloved grandmother and source of his Wexford connections, who passed away in 2023. Ed Sheeran performing at Fleadh Cheoil na hÉireann in The Sky & The Ground pub in Wexford town. The global superstar also joined in with amazing renditions of Irish classics like Raglan Road and The Parting Glass . Before departing in his blacked out mini-bus, Ed paused outside and gave a completely unplugged, acoustic performance of his hit Perfect to the crowd in the garden area where the pub's Fleadh stage is set up. "It was great that he did that,' Caolan said. 'It gave everyone who was there something to go home with. "From our point of view, we're just delighted everything went smoothly. Our biggest fear was overcrowding, but things went really well. Between ourselves, gardaí and security, I feel it was handled very well and now we can sit back and enjoy it after it went off without a hitch. "Obviously, it's a huge thing for ourselves, but I think it's a big thing for the Fleadh too. It's one of those things that people will remember for a long, long time.'

MasterChef 2025 review: The cursed 21st season has made it to air with all hint of flavour removed
MasterChef 2025 review: The cursed 21st season has made it to air with all hint of flavour removed

Irish Times

time42 minutes ago

  • Irish Times

MasterChef 2025 review: The cursed 21st season has made it to air with all hint of flavour removed

If you think RTÉ has had a rocky few years, spare a thought for the BBC , which has suffered through a series of crises that put ' Tubsgate ' and other Montrose embarrassments in the shade. There was the furore over former Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker's tweets about refugees . Then, a social media meltdown after the BBC's live Glastonbury coverage excluded Kneecap only to spotlight the far more incendiary Bob Vylan . And finally, the pièce de résistance – the radioactive fallout over complaints of inappropriate behaviour against matey MasterChef mainstay Gregg Wallace . He is now very much an ex-MasterChef mainstay after an independent report upheld 45 out of 83 complaints by 13 women who accused Wallace of inappropriate sexual language, cultural insensitivity and an incident of unwelcome physical contact. Joining him in the recycling bin is co-host John Torode – who was dropped for using 'racist language' in a social setting, of which he says he had 'no recollection'. In the normal course, such a litany of complaints would have seen any unaired material binned, never to see daylight. The problem with MasterChef (BBC One, 8pm) is that it isn't about the presenters but the contestants, who have slogged themselves silly to prove they are the best amateur cooks in Britain. Fair enough – cast Wallace and Torrode into the wilderness. But is it reasonable to chuck out the participants with them? Not everyone involved is delighted that the series is making it to air. One contestant, Sarah Shafi, felt strongly that the season should be canned – though in the end, the furthest the BBC would go was to edit her out of the opening episode, which she felt didn't go far enough. 'I didn't say edit me out,' Shafi said. 'I said: 'Axe the show, don't air the show. I'm asking you not to air the show.' Prominent figures have been abusing their power. What message does that send out to women? READ MORE 'For me, it's about the enabling environment. It's that complicity. Those individual powerful men do not [act] in isolation. There is an enabling environment, turning a blind eye … It's about years of these institutions not being accountable.' That's quite a starter course of controversy. But now the main dish – the first episode of the cursed 21st season has finally made it to the air, with Wallace and Torode present and correct, and the hopefuls (minus Shafi) toiling over their hobs. However, anyone tuning in hoping for a whiff of brimstone will be underwhelmed: the BBC has decided to take the sting out of MasterChef by expunging any suggestion of a pulse from proceedings They have done so by minimising Torode and Wallace's screen time and stripping away every trace of banter or bonhomie. They just stand there banging on about flavours and curries and the ticking clock: replace them with two of the masked guards from Squid Game and the experience would have been much the same. 'What do you want from this competition? Why are you here?' Wallace asks New Zealander Penelope early on in one of his few exchanges with the punters. Later, he exclaims… 'Indonesian curry… yeah! That's a crowd pleaser.' Torode says even less, and the hosts are pushed further into the background halfway through as three of 2024's finalists are brought on to help with the judging. [ What does the future hold for popular BBC show Masterchef? Opens in new window ] The Wallace scandal has placed the BBC in an impossible position. Canning MasterChef would have meant crushing the dreams of (most of) this year's contestants. But by airing it, it has left itself open to charges of minimising the accusations against the hosts. Its muddled middle way has been to trim the broadcast to remove all hint of flavour. What's left is a mealy, undercooked hodgepodge – as bland as over-boiled potatoes, and with all the thrill of a triple serving of Brussels sprouts.

Sorcha Cusack set to make special return to Father Brown
Sorcha Cusack set to make special return to Father Brown

RTÉ News​

timean hour ago

  • RTÉ News​

Sorcha Cusack set to make special return to Father Brown

Sorcha Cusack is set to make a special return as Mrs McCarthy in the first episode of the upcoming season of the BBC's long-running crime drama Father Brown. The Irish stage and television actress was one of several key cast members who exited the series ahead of season 10, along with Emer Kenny and Jack Deam. At the time, the BBC announced that the characters had "moved on to pastures new". Cusack, who played Bridgette McCarthy - the devoted parish secretary to Father Brown (portrayed by Mark Williams) at St. Mary's Church - will reappear in the new season's opening episode, joined by a number of guest stars. Filming has wrapped on the upcoming 13th series of the BBC drama, which follows a Roman Catholic priest as he fights crime in the fictional village of Kembleford, located in Gloucestershire. Among the other guest stars of the new series are Absolutely Fabulous's Julia Sawalha, Quadrophenia actor Phil Daniels and soap star Debra Stephenson and Coronation Street star Maureen Lipman. Photos from the set show Lipman, 79, with coiffed hair wearing a patterned dress and red cardigan standing alongside Williams and Sawalha, who wears a French maid's costume, as well as The Inbetweeners star Alex Macqueen – who is in a tailcoat and bow tie. Williams, 65, said: "My Dad was a surveyor and taught me how to look at buildings, not just their architecture but how they were used, and why they were where they are. So one of the constant pleasures of filming Father Brown for me is the places we film in, and I always have the relevant Pevsner's Buildings Of England book to hand. "This year, our 13th, has been a great year for interesting locations. "We have filmed in The Chateau Impney – a French fantasy in Droitwich, the little theatre in Chipping Norton (an ex-Salvation Army citadel), the wonderful 18th century octagonal Crown Courts in Warwick and an atmospheric ex-nunnery in Great Malvern with a glorious chapel by Ninian Comper. "Also, The Fleece Inn in Bretforton which is a English pub time capsule, the spectacular Baroque church at Great Witley, and to top it off a selection of lovely stone Cotswold houses and churches. What a fabulous itinerary. And we filmed an episode at the seaside. Lucky lad, as my Dad would have said." The next series will see the return of cast members including Tom Chambers as Inspector Sullivan, Claudie Blakley as the new Mrs Isabel Sullivan, Ruby-May Martinwood as Brenda and John Burton as Sergeant Goodfellow. Series 13 will see the new Mr and Mrs Sullivan settle into married life after the wedding celebrations at the end of series 12. Elsewhere, Father Brown is tasked by Flambeau to visit excommunicated priest Father Lazarus in prison and Canon Fox plans to enact revenge upon Father Brown. Based on the short stories by English author GK Chesterton, the crime series is set in a quiet village in the Cotswolds and first aired on BBC daytime in 2013.

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