Last Friday was Holocaust Remembrance Day, and there were several related programmes of interest during the week. How The Holocaust Began (BBC Two, Monday) was one of the most chilling. So many documentaries have been made that it must be hard to find some fresh angle. Even so, it is essential that we are frequently…
It’s pro-life season in the USA, with the Marches for Life in Washington and on the East Coast. The EWTN channel is broadcasting a range of pro-life programmes for the occasion. One of the best was Fearfully and Wonderfully Made (EWTN, Saturday), a new documentary from Canadian Kevin Dunn. Comprised of four personal story vignettes…
One of my favourite Christmas albums is Phil Cunningham’s Christmas Songbook and one of my favourite TV shows is the Transatlantic Sessions, so I was in my element last Friday night on BBC Four. It was the start of Wayfaring Stranger with Phil Cunningham, a three part series on the links between the folk music…
The word ‘unprecedented’ has had many outings in the last three years, and media commentators reached for it again in relation to the funeral of Pope Benedict XVI. Benedict was already a master of the unprecedented thanks to his surprise resignation in 2013. Some early coverage of his death was inclined to be lazy, clichéd…
Looking back over the Christmas programming I was on the lookout for something different, original and creative amidst the huge amount of repeats. Pick of the bunch for me was A Christmas Postcard: The History of the Nativity Story (Lyric FM Christmas week). Each morning there was a reflection with Scripture readings, dramatisation and music…
TV & Radio Review 2022 I can still remember my unprintable language when I woke up on the morning of February 24 to hear that the long-dreaded Russian invasion of Ukraine had started. At the end of Newstalk Breakfast that day Cormac Smith, former advisor to the Ukrainian government, said “the fog of war has…
Pick of the Season Cliff at Christmas BBC Two, Saturday December 17, 9.35pm Cliff Richard is joined by special guests for this festive TV show from Hackney Church in London. The multi-award winning artist performs some of his Christmas classics. A Christmas History of Sacred Music BBC 4, Saturday (night) December 17, 1.50am and Tuesday…
Two items last week captured a telling moment, a sign of the times as we head towards Christmas. Both items were on Morning Ireland (RTÉ Radio One, Tuesday). A report from the Mid-West Simon Community food bank service in Limerick, showed a strong demand. One woman had asked for porridge, with tears in her eyes…
The World Cup has been dominating the media for the last week or so, and even though a sporting event that might lift all spirits it has been dogged by controversies. Most media coverage I came across was critical of the governing body FIFA for not allowing LGBT supportive armbands being worn by players on…
In the middle of head-wrecking controversies it’s welcome to come across a programme that front-loads positivity. The Leap of Faith (RTE, Friday) was well timed as the COP27 Climate Change Conference was drawing to a close. It was good to hear positivity and optimism in a new book The Parish as Oasis: An Introduction to…
Brendan O’Regan
Breda O'Brien