Gogglebox Ireland
Gogglebox Ireland is an Irish reality show, broadcast on Virgin Media One from 22 September 2016 onwards and a co-production between Kite Entertainment (Dublin) and Studio Lambert (London.) The series is based on the original UK version and features 15 groups of families and friends from around Ireland who react to Irish, British and American television shows broadcast in Ireland. As well as RTÉ, Virgin Media Television and TG4, British channels BBC One, BBC Two and Channel 4 are also available to ROI viewers so these are included in the programmes reviewed along with some broadcast on satellite channels such as Sky One, TLC and MTV.[3][4][5][6]
| Gogglebox Ireland | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Reality television |
| Narrated by | Deirdre O'Kane Rory Cowan |
| Theme music composer | Kodaline – "Perfect World" & "Brand New Day" |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 57 (inc. specials) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Stephen Lambert Darren Smith |
| Producer(s) | Simon Proctor |
| Camera setup | Dual cameras |
| Running time | 60 minutes (inc. adverts) |
| Production company(s) | Kite Entertainment[1] |
| Distributor | All3Media[2] |
| Release | |
| Original network | Virgin Media One |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 22 September 2016 – present |
| External links | |
| Website | |
| Production website | |
History
The show, which follows 15 groups of families and friends from Ireland, is part of the international Gogglebox franchise. It was ordered in early 2016 and premiered on TV3 airing fourteen episodes from Thursday 22 September 2016 until 29 December 2016 in series 1 and returning on Wednesday 8 February 2017 with series 2 which ended with a highlights episode subtitled 'Best Bits' on Wednesday 3 May 2017. Series three began on Wednesday 13 September 2017 - with repeats on Saturday nights at 10.30pm - and ended on Wednesday 22 November.
The series broke new ground in the final episode of Series 1 when it featured cast's children and additional family members joining them to review the biggest TV show of the year in Ireland The Late Late Toy Show.[7]
Following strong ratings, the series was renewed for a second series on 20 November 2016, which began broadcasting on 8 February 2017, consisting of twelve episodes and a highlights show.[8][9] Series 2 saw the introduction of five new house holds from all around the country; Lauara and Aisling (Greystones), Tadgh and Ettie (County Clare), Shelly and John (Ballina), Dawn and Dale (Cork) and The Moran Family (Portlaoise)
Series 3 introduced two new households from Dublin City Centre (Couple Siobhán and Pat) and the Cooley Peninsula (Friends Michael, David and Gerry.) Jamie welcomed baby Cobey to the Cabra household while, in Navan, Loretta gave birth to baby Asha in early November.
In the final episode of Series 3, the cast of Daddy's Home 2 - Mel Gibson, John Lithgow, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg - featured as a guest 'family' on the show and reviewed 'Ireland's Fittest Family', 'Fair City' and 'Stetsons and Stilettos.' [10]
On 23 August 2018, it was announced that Gogglebox Ireland would return for a fourth series.[11] The series returned to Virgin Media One on 5 September 2018.
Once TV3 was bought by cable TV company Liberty Global, via their Virgin Media Ireland label, the "Googlebox Ireland" version of the series became very confusingly meta between corporate siblings, and in effect advertising for Virgin Media Ireland (the cable TV company), and Virgin Media Television (the former TV3 group of television channels, owned by the same cable TV company). Googlebox Ireland (the series format and actual series), is ultimately owned and made by All3Media, a company ultimately owned by Liberty Global & Discovery, and shown on a TV channel (TV3/Virgin Media Television Ireland) owned by Liberty Global, in turn featuring programmes shown on their own TV3/Virgin Media channels available in Ireland, with some programmes in turn also made by other parts of the All3Media/Discovery programming library, as well as featuring third party programmes from other Irish and UK channels, and online such as Netflix, also available via the Virgin Media cable TV hardware. In yet more corporate sibling cross-promotion, the show understandably features product placement of the Virgin Media Ireland cable TV equipment, such as the remote, and the series, shown on a channel owned and branded as Virgin Media Television, is sponsored by Virgin Media Ireland (the cable TV company), which also confusingly also both feature the series in their own on-demand catch-up service catalogues.
Episodes
| Series | Episodes | Originally aired | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First aired | Last aired | ||||
| 1 | 14 | 22 September 2016 | 22 December 2016 | ||
| 2 | 13 | 8 February 2017 | 26 April 2017 | ||
| 3 | 13 | 13 September 2017 | 22 November 2017 | ||
| 4 | 13 | 5 September 2018 | 14 November 2018 | ||
| 5 | 8 | 11 September 2019 | TBA | ||
Series 1 (2016)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Series 1, Episode 1" | 22 September 2016 |
| 2 | 2 | "Series 1, Episode 2" | 29 September 2016 |
| 3 | 3 | "Series 1, Episode 3" | 6 October 2016 |
| 4 | 4 | "Series 1, Episode 4" | 13 October 2016 |
| 5 | 5 | "Series 1, Episode 5" | 20 October 2016 |
| 6 | 6 | "Series 1, Episode 6" | 27 October 2016 |
| 7 | 7 | "Series 1, Episode 7" | 3 November 2016 |
| 8 | 8 | "Series 1, Episode 8" | 10 November 2016 |
| 9 | 9 | "Series 1, Episode 9" | 17 November 2016 |
| 10 | 10 | "Series 1, Episode 10" | 24 November 2016 |
| 11 | 11 | "Series 1, Episode 11" | 1 December 2016 |
| 12 | 12 | "Series 1, Episode 12" | 8 December 2016 |
| 13 | 13 | "Series 1, Episode 13 - Maddest Moments" | 15 December 2016 |
| 14 | 14 | "Series 1, Episode 14 - A Year of Great Telly" | 22 December 2016 |
Series 2 (2017)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | 1 | "Series 2, Episode 1" | 8 February 2017 |
| 16 | 2 | "Series 2, Episode 2" | 15 February 2017 |
| 17 | 3 | "Series 2, Episode 3" | 22 February 2017 |
| 18 | 4 | "Series 2, Episode 4" | 1 March 2017 |
| 19 | 5 | "Series 2, Episode 5" | 8 March 2017 |
| 20 | 6 | "Series 2, Episode 6" | 15 March 2017 |
| 21 | 7 | "Series 2, Episode 7" | 22 March 2017 |
| 22 | 8 | "Series 2, Episode 8" | 29 March 2017 |
| 23 | 9 | "Series 2, Episode 9" | 5 April 2017 |
| 24 | 10 | "Series 2, Episode 10" | 12 April 2017 |
| 25 | 11 | "Series 2, Episode 11" | 19 April 2017 |
| 26 | 12 | "Series 2, Episode 12" | 26 April 2017 |
| 27 | 13 | "Series 2, Episode 13 - 'Best Bits'" | 3 May 2017 |
Series 3 (2017)
| No. overall |
No. in series |
Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 | 1 | "Series 3, Episode 1" | 13 September 2017 |
| 29 | 2 | "Series 3, Episode 2" | 20 September 2017 |
| 30 | 3 | "Series 3, Episode 3" | 27 September 2017 |
| 31 | 3 | "Series 3, Episode 4" | 4 October 2017 |
| 32 | 5 | "Series 3, Episode 5" | 11 October 2017 |
| 33 | 6 | "Series 3, Episode 6" | 18 October 2017 |
| 34 | 7 | "Series 3, Episode 7" | 25 October 2017 |
| 35 | 8 | "Series 3, Episode 8" | 1 November 2017 |
| 36 | 9 | "Series 3, Episode 9" | 8 November 2017 |
| 37 | 10 | "Series 3, Episode 10" | 15 November 2017 |
| 38 | 11 | "Series 3, Episode 11" | 22 November 2017 |
Series 4 (2018)
| No. overall |
No. in series |
Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 39 | 1 | "Series 4, Episode 1" | 5 September 2018 |
| 40 | 2 | "Series 4, Episode 2" | 12 September 2018 |
| 41 | 3 | "Series 4, Episode 3" | 19 September 2018 |
| 43 | 4 | "Series 4, Episode 4" | 26 September 2018 |
| 44 | 5 | "Series 4, Episode 5" | 3 October 2018 |
| 45 | 6 | "Series 4, Episode 6" | 10 October 2018 |
| 46 | 7 | "Series 4, Episode 7" | 17 October 2018 |
| 47 | 8 | "Series 4, Episode 8" | 31 October 2018 |
| 48 | 9 | "Series 4, Episode 9" | 7 November 2018 |
| 49 | 10 | "Series 4, Episode 10" | 14 November 2018 |
Series 5 (2019)
| No. overall | No. in series | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 | 1 | "Series 5, Episode 1" | 11 September 2019 |
| 51 | 2 | "Series 5, Episode 2" | 18 September 2019 |
| 52 | 3 | "Series 5, Episode 3" | 25 September 2019 |
| 53 | 4 | "Series 5, Episode 4" | 2 October 2019 |
| 54 | 5 | "Series 5, Episode 5" | 9 October 2019 |
| 55 | 6 | "Series 5, Episode 6" | 16 October 2019 |
| 56 | 7 | "Series 5, Episode 7" | 23 October 2019 |
| 57 | 8 | "Series 5, Episode 8" | 30 October 2019 |
| 58 | 9 | "Looks Back - Part One" | 16 February 2020 |
| 59 | 10 | "Looks Back - Part Two" | 23 February 2020 |
Specials (2018)
| No. overall |
No. in series |
Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | 1 | "Gogglebox Does TV3" | 20 September 2018 |
| 43 | 2 | "Gogglebox Does The 80s and 90s" | 9 January 2019 |
| 44 | 3 | "Gogglebox Does The 00s and Now" | 16 January 2019 |
Series 1 (Featured Programmes)
Series 2 (Featured Programmes)
Series 3 (Featured Programmes)
Series 4 (Featured Programmes)
Series 5 (Featured Programmes)
Cast
| Family | Series | Background |
|---|---|---|
| The Grufferty family | 1 - | Husband and wife, Des and Laura with their daughter Danielle. Living in Athy, Des and Laura met 14 years ago when Des walked into Laura's salon for a haircut. The couple have four children but only Danielle (13) joins them on the couch.[12] |
| Jamie, Lindsay, Ashley and Gráinne: The Cabra Girls | 1 - | The group of friends from Cabra, Dublin are self-confessed reality TV addicts and their ideal Friday night is staying in with some TV and white wine. Lindsay and Ashley are sisters, but the foursome have been inseparable for years. Jamie recently gave birth to her first child, a baby boy, Cobey and is absolutely smitten.[12] |
| Fergal and Neal Tully | 1 - | The identical twins grew up on a farm along with three older brothers. The two are extremely close claiming that they speak to each other more than their own wives. Neal has three daughters and has been married 15 years. He lives his life through the four Fs, Football, Family, Friends and Fianna Fáil. Fergal, on the other hand, is described as managing local football teams while working on the family pig and dairy farm. He loves sport and is jealous of his brother's Sky Sports package.[5] |
| Angela and Eileen | 1 - | They met at a retirement club and have been best friends since. Angela is from Dublin while Eileen is originally from Kilkenny. They are usually accompanied by Michael T Higgins, their much-loved tea cosy.[13] |
| The Ryan Family | 1 - | Single Mum Eva and her sons James and Alex live in Monaleen, Limerick. James and Alex are studying Computer Science and they have a close relationship with their Mum even though she likes to mortify them at any opportunity.[14] |
| John and David | 1 - | Friends John and David have been best friends for 10 years and love their TV so much that they organise their social schedule around their favourite shows. John's claim-to-fame is that he once appeared on Graham Norton's red chair to tell a story about Madonna - and didn't get tipped out of it! David works as a Designer and a MSc Student.[15] |
| The Naughton Family | 1 - 2 | Blessington residents Sheila and Alice Naughton appear on the series with their Dad Declan and have a shared hobby of Amateur Drama. Declan is an HR Consultant and Sheila is studying at Trinity College.[16] |
| Tracie and Anita | 1 - | Friends Tracie and Anita grew up together in The Liberties area of Dublin. Their Mums were best friends and now their children are. Anita reckons she's the sister Tracie never had. Tracie's much-loved pets Kenny Dog-Leish and bold cat Bibby often feature in Gogglebox Ireland and occasionally steal the show.[17] |
| Tadhg and Ettie | 2 - | 16 year old Tadhg and his Granny Ettie live 10 minutes apart in Clonlara, County Clare and first appeared in the first episode of Series 2. Ettie spent 8 years working as a nurse in the UK and returned to raise her family in the mid 70s. She and student Tadhg are extremely close and have been travelling together to the US and Australia.[18] |
| The Adenuga Family | 1 - 4 | The Adenugas moved to Navan in 2004 and quickly settled into the Meath community, with mum Yemi becoming one of the most prominent female figures in African-Irish society. Dad Deji is a renowned Nollywood actor, splitting his time between Ireland and movie sets in Nigeria. Opinionated oldest daughter Loretta got married last year in a traditional ceremony in Nigeria. Now living in Drogheda with her husband, they are expecting their first child in the autumn. Aishling is the only one of the four born in Ireland and heading into her leaving cert year.[19] |
| Martin and Rory | 1 - 3 | Living in Dublin, Martin and Rory have been close friends and bridge partners for over 10 years and still play bridge together up to three times a week. Rory runs the biggest Bridge congress in Ireland. Martin is a university lecturer.[20] |
| Paul and Paul | 1 - 2 | Despite an age gap of over twenty years, the two Pauls get on famously. They met several years ago at Paul Roche's IT shop; the two bonded over a love of music and conversation. Paul Healy Roberts calls into Paul Roche's house about three times a week for a catch up and to watch a bit of telly.Paul Roche is originally from Kilkenny but came to visit Youghal 16 years ago and never looked back. Paul Healy Roberts grew up on a farm. He has lived a "colourful" life with a variety of jobs, from running a restaurant to selling sandwiches outside a Michael Jackson concert.[21] |
| Shelly and Jonny | 2 | Shelly and Jonny met 13 years ago when they were both working in a local bar. Fast forward to now and they are happily married. Although they live in Ballina, Jonny is originally from Crossmolina and Shelly is a Roscommon woman. Shelly and Jonny are both daredevils and love rollercoasters. They have ridden 7 of the world's top 10 rollercoasters and are determined to finish the list.[22] |
| Laura and Aisling | 2 - 3 | Laura and Aisling have been friends since they met in a Greystones nightclub as teenagers. Now both Mums with three children each, they still live in the Greystones area.[23] |
| The Morans | 2 - | The Morans from Portlaoise are a GAA and soccer mad family, who enjoy watching TV together and having a laugh. Dad Denis is originally from Kilkenny and is devoted to Manchester United and Brian Cody's Kilkenny Hurlers. Anne-Marie and Denis met through mutual friends at a party in Dublin and have been married for 30 years. Eldest daughter Chloe works in Dublin and younger sister Gráinne is heading off to college for her first year. Miniature Yorkshire terriers Bella and Scooby join them on the sofa and Chloe says her Mum treats them nearly better than her own kids.[24] |
| Dawn and Dale | 2 - | Dawn and Dale met on the same course in Cork IT six years ago and now work together in retail. Both girls are from large Cork families but, while Dale is from the city, Dawn is a country girl. Their dream is to buy a house together in the future and properly move in together. At the moment, Dawn has just moved into a new place and Dale spends all of her time at Dawn's place so, although they feel like they live together they are looking forward to having their own space.[25] |
| Micheal, David and Gerry: The Louth Lads | 3 - 4 | Micheal, David and Gerry have been best friends since childhood and all live within five minutes from each other in the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth. The trio all attended the same primary and secondary schools, but then went their separate ways for college. Despite their busy lifestyles, they still make time for a weekly 'Lads Night In' to catch-up on the telly in Gerry's parent's house. |
| Pat and Siobhán | 3 - | Siobhán and Pat have been together for 25 years and live near Dublin's City Centre. Pat is an Archaeologist from County Limerick who says he fell in love with Dublin the minute he arrived here. Siobhán was born in Dublin, studied Architecture and is now an Illustrator. They met at the National Museum, where Pat worked for more than 40 years. They own two dogs - brother and sister Misto and Daze. |
| Deirdre and Áine | 4 - | Mum Deirdre Murphy and daughter Áine Flynn hail from Courtlough, Co. Dublin. Áine, a member of the Irish Clay Pigeon shooting team, plays an active role in running the family business; an adventure centre and clay pigeon shooting grounds. When Deirdre, aka “Nana Dee” is not chasing around after eleven grandchildren, she works as a psychotherapist. Áine and Deirdre describe themselves as being similar to the Gilmore girls, except older and Irish! |
| Padraig and Anna | 4 - | The pair are from Togher, Co. Cork and met thirteen years ago when Anna became Padraig's personal assistant. After eight years of working together, the pair fell in love and have been with each other for five years now. What's even more exciting is that they have an 18 month old Labrador called 'Juno'. He's being trained to be an assistant dog. |
| Claire and Roger | 4 | Claire and Roger met in University more than 20 years ago and now have 2 children. Claire is originally from Omagh, Co. Tyrone, but her family had a massive TV aerial which picked up the Irish channels. Roger is from Banbridge, Co. Down, but his mum was from Dundalk and insisted on getting her weekly fix of The Late Late Show, so he also grew up watching Irish telly. Roger is a Global IT Programme Manager and Claire is a Clinical Specialist Speech & Language Therapist, specialising in rehab for throat cancer patients. She also lectures in Trinity College. |
| Barbara and Janet | 5 - | The pair are telly-loving sisters from Donegal. Barbara runs her own B&B business while Janet is a retired social worker. Barbara is an avid rugby fan but admits that part of the reason is to get a good look at the player's legs! Meanwhile, Janet loves all things Irish on the telly and can't resist a bit of Nationwide. The sisters ultimate night in is in front of a classic Hollywood film. |
| Canaan, Pam and Jane | 5 - | Hailing from Uganda, husband and wife Canaan and Pam, have lived in Ireland since 2014 with Pam’s sister Jane. But the love affair with Ireland goes back to 2008 when Pam came here on what was meant to be a short holiday and turned into a year-long stint. They first moved to Dublin, then to Cavan before finally settling in Mallow. Pam works in insurance and Canaan has a degree in Digital Media and Marketing and currently works with young adults with learning disabilities. Jane is retired but recently started a course in Business Studies. |
References
- "TV3 to make new Gogglebox series and wants nuns and priests".
- Spanier, Gideon (18 December 2013). "Watching you, watching me: why C4 show Gogglebox is set to go global". London Evening Standard. Retrieved 19 December 2013.
- "TV3 reveal three families of Gogglebox Ireland". Independent.ie.
- "Blessington family to star on Gogglebox tonight". Kildare Now.
- "The Tully Twins – Fergal & Neal - TV3 Xposé".
- "A new family will hit our screens tonight on Gogglebox Ireland".
- Elkin, David. "The cast of Gogglebox Ireland gathered their kids around the telly for the Toy Show". The Daily Edge. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- "Gogglebox Ireland are looking for people to join the next series - Independent.ie". Independent.ie. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- "Gogglebox Ireland review: this is a great way to watch telly". The Irish Times. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- Loftus, Valerie. "Will Ferrell, Mel Gibson and the lads were thoroughly engrossed in Fair City on Gogglebox". The Daily Edge. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- https://www.virginmediatelevision.ie/xpose/article/news/274482/Virgin-Media-Television-announces-NEW-season-schedule
- O'Grady, Sean (16 September 2016). "TV3 reveal three families of Gogglebox Ireland". independent.ie.
- "Micheal 'Tea' Higgins stole the show on Gogglebox Ireland... here's where you can get your own - Independent.ie".
- "Meet the Ryan's".
- "Meet john and dave".
- "The-Naughtons".
- "Tracie-and-Anita".
- "New family joining Gogglebox Ireland tonight". 8 February 2017.
- "The-Adenugas".
- "Martin-and-Rory".
- "The Pauls".
- "The Connaught Telegraph - Meet Mayo's Gogglebox couple".
- "Laura and Aisling latest to Gogglebox - Independent.ie".
- "The-Morans".
- "Dawn-and-Dale".