It has long been the hot topic of discussion in the pub, at dinner parties, and on radio chat shows. Now the dreaded property market is set to haunt us from our TV screens as well. RTE is to broadcast a 12-part series called House Hunters beginning on March 1st. The series promises to reveal "the pitfalls, the pleasures, the stress and the excitement inherent in property buying." Made by CoCo Productions, which also produces Our House for RTE. Shot over six months, the programme tracked the experiences of people either trying to get on to the property ladder, or to change their standing on it. It will be presented by Jim Smyth and Cliodhna O'Donoghue.
THE soap quota looks set to rise significantly this year when both Eastenders and Fair City gain an extra episode a week. Both soaps are expected to join Coronation Street in delivering four episodes every week, and insiders believe a fifth episode of Corrie is only a matter of time. Completing the two domestic channels' soap swap, after Coronation Street's move to TV3, Eastenders moves to Montrose on March 22nd. The extra episode of the London soap is due to be on screen by the autumn, while negotiations are still underway within RTE about the planned fourth weekly episode of Fair City. Across the water, casting has also begun for a new soap which has been commissioned by ITV - Trafalgar Square.
Much to the disappointment of parents everywhere, the phenomenally successful children's programme Teletubbies is set to be dropped from the BBC later this year. The corporation will not be renewing the commission from independent production company Ragdoll, when its current contract runs out in October. Just four years old, the programme has been a world-wide hit, broadcast in more than 120 countries and translated into 36 languages. With the global level of success they've enjoyed and 365 episodes in the can, it's certain the Tubbies won't disappear completely from our screens. Already there are plans to use the cuddly foursome as presenters in a new series. But that won't be broadcast until 2002, and so for now it's Tubby bye-bye.
TV3 is to broadcast a new music show which will initially run for 13 weeks. Dynamite TV will air from next Saturday at 11 a.m. and is being made by Old Hat Productions. The half hour format - said to be a "video show with attitude" - is aimed at the teenage market. Unlike, TV3's previous musical productions PopOn3 and The Sound Room, which were fronted by Darragh Purcell, there will be no presenter. Instead the show will be a mix of videos, with information on bands and the music business presented via text and graphics.
RTE has announced a date for the broadcast of Beckett on Film, the showcase of all 19 of Samuel Beckett's plays. Fresh from its successful premiere at the Irish Film Centre in Dublin, the series kicks off on Sunday, March 18th with a documentary about the making of the films, produced by Larry Masterson and directed by Pearse Lehane. The first film to be shown will be Waiting for Godot, directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg, on the St Patrick's Day bank holiday, Monday, March 19th.
Maire Kearney can be contacted atmkearney@ireland.com