Apart from the excellent Cursai Ealaine, there is a dearth of arts programmes on RTE following the demise of Black Box. Books in particular have been seriously underexposed on the network but UnderCOVER, the new RTE literature series, looks set to change all that. "UnderCOVER really shows Joe Mulholland's [RTE's MD of television] commitment to serious arts coverage," says Colm O Briain, one of the shows producers. "We've taken a couple of risks with the series, as we didn't want to produce programmes that were worthy but boring. Some ideas will work, some won't." His co-producers are Michael Garvey and Michael Davitt, but the series will have no one presenter. Rather, the subject matter will dictate which one of a selection of presenters will guide us through each themed programme. Most of the presenters are themselves writers and many will appear as both interviewer and interviewee in the series.
Hence the first show in the series, which went out on Thursday (RTE 1, 10.10pm) featured renowned folklorist Angela Bourke discussing horror stories from Bram Stoker to Stephen King with Darryl Jones who teaches a course on horror fiction in Trinity College. The format of each show will also depend on its subject matter as the producers are anxious that the series will handle each theme on its own terms rather than mould it to a format. Week three of UnderCOVER is an extended programme, produced and directed by Michael Davitt, which marks the presentation of the Irish Times Literature Awards.
With Mebh Ruane in the presenter's chair, aided by poet Pat Boran and writer Ann O'Connell, the show will look at each of the three winners, Seamus Deane, Paul Muldoon and Declan Kiberd. Deane, who won both the international and Irish fiction categories, is filmed returning to the house on Limewood Street in Derry where he grew up and where his evocative novel, Reading In The Dark, is set. Kiberd is filmed in Clontarf reading his essays on Oscar Wilde from Inventing Ireland, and there is also a piece on Muldoon, who won the poetry prize. "Both A. S. Byatt, the chair of the Irish literature prizes, and Jack Miles, former literary editor and chair of the international literature jury speak on the programme," says Davitt. "What really comes across is how well respected the prize is because it values quality of writing rather than personality and hype as some other prizes tend to. So while the programme concentrates on the three prize winners, there are wider concerns discussed."
Next week's programme, which will deal exclusively with Sean Horgan's recent biography of Sean Lemass, will contain reportage, interviews with Horgan and Martin Mansergh regarding the methodology of the biography, as well as an extensive discussion chaired by John Bowman with John Bruton, Professor Joyce O'Connor and Professor T. K. Whitaker. Future topics for the series include a discussion about literary anthologies; children's books; which books famous folks are giving for Christmas, and the trials and tribulations faced by first-time novelists, a programme which will be presented by scriptwriter Declan Hughes.
O Briain and the team are anxious to point out that the series is not in a magazine format but rather deals thoroughly with its subjects.
"Books and television are not an easy pair to mix, as one medium tends to be cool, the other hot, and there is the danger of trivialising serious issues. All three producers are both serious television men and serious readers so we want to do justice to both media."
UnderCOVER, RTE 1, Thursday, 10.10pm