THE NOT-SO-HEADY DAYS of 1989 are the focus point of Chris O’Dowd and Nick Vincent Murphy’s comedy series Moone Boy.
The Importance of Mary Robinson, the glory days of the simple bag of crisps, the vegetable before we knew what al dente meant and television memories (Grange Hill, MacGyver) all feature in the superb trip down memory lane.
Young David Rawle is hilariously endearing as Martin Moone, a clever kid growing up in Boyle, county Roscommon. He is helped (or mostly hindered) in his daily tasks and troubles – bullies, older sisters, odd friends – by the ‘imaginary’ Seán Murphy, played by O’Dowd.
Not since Father Ted has Ireland produced a clip-tastic show, worthy of hours of YouTube trawling.
We’ve done some of the hard work for you to mark the comedy’s third series commission, announced by Sky this week. The television station has only aired the first season, with the second to start this autumn (it begins with Italia ’90, which will be fantastic). It received five nominations at this year’s IFTAs, winning the award for ‘Best Entertainment Programme’.
Here’s a taster of what to expect:
The Mary
(YouTube: Martin Moone)
Crisps
(YouTube: skyonezone)
Irish Boys
(YouTube: MarkDTS)
The Irish Da
(YouTube: Martin Moone)
The Creme Egg centre
(YouTube: Sammy J Cola)
Altar Boys
(YouTube: kalafudra)
MacGyver
(YouTube: mjuggie)
The Slapper
Period Talk
We heart Chris O’Dowd
(YouTube: rte)
