RT╔ celebrates Bloomsday tonight with a new documentary, James Joyce - The Trials of Ulysses, which airs on Network 2 at 8.30 p.m. According to director Ian Graham, the documentary paints a vivid picture of Joyce and his state of mind when he was writing the book. "The film gives us a real sense of the person and the enormous pressure he was under at the time," says Graham. The film explores Joyce's life in Trieste and Zurich, his financial difficulties, his relationship with his wife Nora and brother Stanley and his struggle to get Ulysses published.
The programme features interviews with Joyce scholars and authors including John McCourt, director of the Joyce School at the University of Trieste; Fritz Senn, director of the James Joyce Foundation in Zurich, and Senator David Norris, chairman of Dublin's James Joyce Centre. The documentary is a Roundtable Production for RT╔ and was produced by journalist and author Bruce Arnold.
Independent production company Frontier Films is looking for a number of families to take part in a new series of its travel programme, No Frontiers. The company will select a destination for each family and send them on holiday this summer, accompanied by a director who will document their experiences. The idea is to get the lowdown on the different types of family holidays available. RT╔ has commissioned another 12-part series for broadcast in January, 2002. This year, No Frontiers will feature more Irish holidays, as well as new package holiday destinations. The programme will again include an Contact Derval at Frontier Films on 01-4977077 or e-mail frontier@indigo.ie.
A NEW sitcom for RT╔'s autumn schedule goes into production on Monday. The Cassidys, produced by Graph Films for RT╔, is a six-part series based on the lives of three orphaned siblings sharing a house in Dublin. Comedian Ed Byrne plays "between jobs" actor Barry, while Sinead Keenan and Alison McKenna play his sisters Lisa and Emma. The action centres on the Cassidys' house and their cafΘ hangout - Gohanawa. (This show shouldn't be confused with Sam's Game, currently on ITV, which coincidentally stars Ed Byrne, but with Davina McCall.)
Two weeks of workshop rehearsals begin on Monday, followed by a fortnight of shooting on location. The cast and crew then move to a studio in Montrose for a six-week stint. Each episode will be rehearsed Monday to Thursday and recorded in front of a live audience on Friday nights. Anyone interested in being part of the audience for the recording can contact the production office on 01-2084621 or 01-6777327.
THE BBC admitted this week that it portrayed a top model agency unfairly in a controversial undercover documentary fronted by Donal MacIntyre. The Elite model agency settled its London high court libel action against the broadcaster and its reporter the night before the hearing was due to begin. The writ concerned an episode of the popular investigative series, MacIntyre Undercover, shown on BBC1 in November 1999. The action centred on disputed allegations of under-age sex and drugs in the programme. After the broadcast, two senior Elite staff were suspended. Both were later reinstated. The financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed but the BBC has agreed never to repeat the programme. Donal MacIntyre, who is from Dublin, is in production with a second series of MacIntyre Uncovered for the BBC.
Doctor Who fans can look forward to a new adventure for the Timelord when he steps out of the Tardis and returns to the BBC for a special one-off audio drama on the Internet. Death Comes to Time will be the BBC's first piece of drama broadcast purely on line. It will be the first new Doctor Who story since the television movie in 1996. The 30-minute audio play sees the Doctor enlist the help of a mysterious Timelord, played by Stephen Fry, to do battle with an alien warlord. Death Comes to Time will be broadcast on www.bbc.co.uk at midday on July 13th.
mkearney@irish-times.com