This review first appeared in The Andersonstown News
Ever since THE McCOOEYS (ask your granny), the BBC has been on the hunt for a soap based in NEI. ST MUNGO’S (BBC 1) is the latest shot at bagging one.
The storyline makes few demands. Barry McGurk (Shaun Blaney) returns to his home-town with Madeleine (Róisín Gallagher) and their kids Caoimhe and Óisin. Madeleine is English, so she has to get used to country ways in NEI. Barry plans to build their dream home and sell lots of wind turbines. Action, however – and humour – centres on the local GAA club St Mungo’s.
The jokes are spread with a broad brush, like the middle-aged woman with the megaphone urging on a gaggle of middle-aged women: “Keep your knees up, Cecelia! Do you think you’re here for the good of your health?”
Meanwhile, back at the GAA club-house, the Chairman (Alan McKee) and the vice-chairman (Conor Grimes) are wrestling with club problems. Counting the club jerseys right, dealing with the hair-clogged shower. “I’ve a terrible bad back” the vice-chairman complains. “Your front’s not so good either” the chairman tells him.
Barry plans to register the kids for GAA training on Friday nights. Madeleine hopes they won’t be bullied because of their English accents. Barry hopes the English accent gets bullied out of them – “Every time I hear it, it’s a spear to my heart”. Barry and Madeleine are trying for another baby, and Barry is prepared to play his part at any moment, but Madeleine figures he’d be better out trying to sell his windmills.
Back in the pub, they’re having the draw for a smaller-than-it-should be cash prize. “It’s time for me to tickle my balls” the chairman says.
And did I mention the old pal of Barry’s who is now the local priest?
On a Friday night, just in from the pub, many of ST MUNGO’s one-liners may have you rolling on the floor. If you’re sober, it’s a bit less side-splitting. There are authentic touches – the sign at the entrance to the club (‘Saor ó thabac – Thank you for not smoking’), the wind turbines, the club draw, the priest, the returning-to-roots couple. And the dialogue comes in those short-sentence bursts rural people tend to use. But maybe ST MUNGO’s should give us more of a rural soap with the odd laugh rather than continuous and often limp one-liners. Think RTÉ’s GLENROE and forget THE McCOOEYS.
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