I had the pleasure of seeing the Blind Boys of Alabama live in Cork Opera House a few years ago and thankfully they’re still going strong. Gospel music is a central part of their repertoire as was clear from their slot on Edinburgh Nights (BBC2) last Friday. Nish Kumar looked in on their rehearsals and…

Films and TV programmes, when dealing with religious themes often go for the cultish, extreme or even twisted versions of Faith, but on good days it’s just the pleasantly offbeat. Last Saturday night’s film on BBC2 was all of the above. Stations of the Cross is a German film, serious, well made, but not easy…

There are some programmes I like and some I dislike, and then there are programmes I find inspiring at times, and irritating at others. Liveline (RTÉ Radio 1) fits into the latter category, and last week I was definitely irritated. It all started on the Tuesday when ‘Diane’ (not her real name) expressed how upset…

One of last week’s biggest news stories was the election of Boris Johnson as leader of the UK Conservative Party and therefore Prime Minister. It has made for some fascinating political discussions in the media. Last weekend, Sunday (BBC Radio 4) asked the question ‘Does Boris do God?’  It was an interesting discussion but rather…

We’ve had the exposure of child abuse scandals in the Church, in sports, in scouting and there’s been the #MeToo movement. But I still feel there’s a scandal to hear about relating to the abuse of children in the film industry. A few years ago former child actor Corey Feldman made accusations but it didn’t…

I like a film with positive messages, a redemption theme (not necessarily religious) and maybe even a feel-good ending. But often such films can be predictable, preachy, overly sentimental, and even corny. I couldn’t accuse Rudderless (TG4) of any of those faults. The unpredictable storyline featured a school shooting, some great songs and a family breakup,…

It doesn’t often happen, but I love it when broadcasters do something really imaginative and innovative in religious programming. Life and Soul (RTÉ1 and Radio 1 Extra) is a new addition to RTÉ’s Sunday morning religious services slot and based on last weekend’s first episode it has a lot going for it. An occasional series,…

I find it hard to enjoy TV dramas if there isn’t someone to ‘root’ for, if there aren’t sympathetic characters. And so I have mixed feelings about Wild Bill (ITV and Virgin Media One).  It’s a crime thriller with an American cop taking over a UK police department, ironically in the English town of Boston, Lincolnshire.…

A few weeks ago in this column I lamented the false dichotomy between science and religion – someone must have been paying attention! Last Friday BBC Radio 4 launched a new series, The Secret History of Science and Religion, presented in an amiably cheerful fashion by Nick Spencer. It’s not exactly easy listening, and not easy…

So, you want to explore the state of religion in the country today, what do you do? Send an agnostic, avowedly cynical, gay comedian to do the job? Well, it might work? That’s what happened with Divorcing God (RTÉ1, Wednesday) presented by Oliver Callan. The show was interesting, there were some reasonably fresh perspectives, observations…