The former managing director of TG4, Si·n N∅ Raghallaigh, has been appointed chief executive of independent television company Tyrone Productions. She succeeds Joan Egan who recently moved to take up a position as executive chairman of Abhann Management, which oversees Tyrone Productions and Abhann Productions (producer of Riverdance: The Show). N∅ Raghallaigh joined Teilif∅s na Gaeilge in 1994 and was responsible for its re-branding in 1999 from TnaG to TG4. Tyrone Productions makes Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Open House and Wanderlust for RT╔ as well as the soap opera Ros na R·n for TG4.
The long awaited fourth edition of EastEnders is to be screened on Friday evenings and will go head-to-head with Coronation Street in its first week. The additional visit to Albert Square will begin on August 10th with a regular time slot of 8 pm. Coronation Street has been pushed back to that time on August 10th instead of its usual 7.30 p.m., because of an hour-long edition of Emmerdale. The first EastEnders episode will be preceded by an hour-long celebration of the show called EastEnders: It's Your Party, which reunites current cast members with famous faces from the show's past. Hosted by Jonathan Ross, the special will focus on five characters from the series - Peggy Mitchell, Sharon Watts, Ian Beale, Pauline Fowler and Pat Evans.
A six-part observational documentary based on the lives of nurses at University College Hospital in Galway goes on air next Tuesday. Filmed over three months coming up to Christmas last year, Nurses examines what it means to be a nurse in Ireland today. Nurses was produced by Galway-based Power Pictures for RT╔. The series was shot and co-directed by Niamh Walsh and Pat Comer.
A second series of the children's drama series Custer's Last Stand-Up has gone into production at Ardmore Studios in County Wicklow. The RT╔/BBC co-production is based on the adventures of teenage would-be stand-up comedian Jamie Custer (George McMahon) and his best friend and manager Dallas O'Rourke (Ciaran Nolan). Conflict arises when Dallas's younger cousin - who is also an Elvis impersonator - decides he wants to usurp Dallas and take over his job as Jamie's manager. The series, which is being shot in Ardmore and on-location in Bray, is being produced by Ferdia MacAnna and will be aired on RT╔ and BBC early next year.
The man who holds what's widely regarded as the best job in British television is giving it up to pursue a career in the US. Michael Jackson, Channel 4's chief executive, is to take up a position with the American TV and film production company USA Entertainment Group. Jackson was controller of programming at both BBC1 and BBC2 before becoming chief executive of Channel 4 four years ago. He is credited with moving the channel from the margins to the mainstream, with programmes such as Big Brother, Queer as Folk, So Graham Norton and Da Ali G enjoying both critical and commercial success. But Jackson is not without his critics - some have accused him of dumbing down the channel and steering it away from its minority-interest remit.
Best-selling novelist, Stephen King is set to produce his first full TV series for American network ABC. The 13-part series, entitled The Kingdom, is based on a 1994 mini-series of the same name made by Danish director Lars Von Trier. The show will include "shocking and frightening tales" set in a hospital built on an ancient graveyard. Many of King's novels have been successfully adapted for the cinema, including Carrie and Misery. The series is King's biggest undertaking since he was badly injured in a serious accident.
mkearney@irish-times.com