{"id":803145,"date":"2026-07-16T03:36:24","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T03:36:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/803145\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T03:36:24","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T03:36:24","slug":"best-irish-tv-shows-from-blue-lights-to-leonard-and-hungry-paul-narrated-by-julia-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/803145\/","title":{"rendered":"Best Irish TV shows: From Blue Lights to Leonard and Hungry Paul, narrated by Julia Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Who gets fan mail from Julia Roberts<\/a>? Irish civil servant R\u00f3n\u00e1n Hession certainly didn\u2019t anticipate it in response to his debut novel. But that\u2019s what happened after Leonard & Hungry Paul <\/a>was published in 2019. Six years later, the Oscar-winning American actor agreed within hours to the invitation to narrate the six-part TV adaptation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Roberts\u2019 warm, whimsical tone is perfect for this delightful comedy-drama which had its Australian premiere earlier this year and is now streaming on ABC iview. But this utterly original charmer still hasn\u2019t attracted the attention it deserves.<\/p>\n

Editor’s pick\"Michael<\/a><\/p>\n

Sweet, quiet and gentle are not typical descriptions applied admiringly to shows designed for adults. For kids, maybe.<\/a> But recommended viewing for an older audience tends to attract more vigorous types of endorsement: gripping, ground-breaking, propulsive, addictive.<\/p>\n

One of the many delights of this poignant yet potent production is its carefully calculated restraint, a lightness of touch that director Andrew Chaplin and the beautifully cast actors bring to the tale of ostensibly ordinary people going about their lives. Although, as Alex Lawther, who plays Leonard, has observed<\/a>, \u201cThere\u2019s something quite bold about its gentleness.\u201d In the best possible way, the series is deliberately out of tune with its times.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Adapted by Richie Conroy and Mark Hodkinson, the series follows the outwardly unexceptional lives of the two men of the title: mild-mannered friends in their early 30s living in suburban Dublin. Leonard happily shares a home with his widowed mother, Elizabeth (Amelia Crowley), and has an office job ghost-writing children\u2019s encyclopedias. Hungry Paul (Laurie Kynaston) \u2013 whose name remains unexplained \u2013 lives with his parents (Helen Behan and Lorcan Cranitch) and sister, Grace (Niamh Branigan), and has a Monday morning job as a postie. Grace\u2019s impending wedding provides a frame for the story.<\/p>\n

The show focuses on the rhythms and rituals of the title characters\u2019 daily lives: neat and precise Leonard waking and heading to work, dealing with his arrogant boss (Paul Reid); Hungry Paul happily eating his customary breakfast and visiting an ageing hospital patient, meetings where the pair sit comfortably in silence.<\/p>\n

The men are content with their routines and a friendship that revolves around a mutual passion for board games. However, for different reasons, each begins to ponder life\u2019s possibilities and to wonder if the universe might have more to offer them.<\/p>\n

\"LaurieLaurie Kynaston (left) and\u00a0Alex Lawther in Leonard & Hungry Paul.ABC<\/p>\n

As their world comes to vivid, lovingly evoked life, it also emerges that both have supportive and protective mothers. In an early flashback, Elizabeth is called into a school meeting to face concerns that teachers seem unable to get through to her impassive young son. As the bespectacled boy stares dreamily into the middle distance, Elizabeth, unperturbed, simply explains, \u201cLeonard, like his father, simply lacks a eureka face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor’s pick\"Tina<\/a><\/p>\n

While visiting an aquarium, Hungry Paul\u2019s mother, Helen, has an epiphany that her boy resembles a sunfish, possessing \u201can idiosyncratic charm, drifting contentedly through the waters of life at his own pace\u201d. She resolves to \u201cnever ask more of him than to move at just the pace that nature has intended\u201d.<\/p>\n

An irresistible, uplifting current of empathy and tolerance bubbles through the series as it details the changes that motivate the men to reconsider their circumstances and encourage them to alter their established patterns. For Hungry Paul, one of these is Grace\u2019s wedding, which will mark a significant shift for his family. For Leonard, there\u2019s the arrival of a vivacious new colleague, office fire-warden Shelley (Jamie-Lee O\u2019Donnell).<\/p>\n

\"LawtherLawther and Jamie-Lee O\u2019Donnell.ABC<\/p>\n

R\u00f3n\u00e1n Hession, who\u2019s also known as blues musician Mumblin\u2019 Deaf Ro, said during the BBC\u2019s promotion of the series<\/a> that he \u201cnever really had an ambition to be a writer\u201d. But, he explained that, after his kids were born, \u201cI began to notice quiet people. The world seemed like a very intense place, and it was going in the wrong direction. I started thinking about all the gentle people and how much kindness is expressed in private.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know what confident people think because they never stop telling us, and they speak with such certainty. It\u2019s the people who may be standing back and reflecting on life. I just wanted to write about that and celebrate it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Julia Roberts has called the book \u201cmagical\u201d, and this TV adaptation generates a comparable feeling of joy and wonder.<\/p>\n

FIVE UNDERRATED IRISH AND NORTHERN IRISH SHOWS<\/p>\n

The Emerald Isle has been punching above its weight in producing inventive TV in recent years. Some Irish series, such as Normal People<\/a>, Derry Girls<\/a> and Bad Sisters<\/a>, have drawn global attention. But others, like this one, have passed under the radar. Here are a few more you might have missed.<\/p>\n

\"SeamusSeamus (Johnny Flynn) is a self-important journalist who meets his match in The Lovers.Binge\/FoxtelThe Lovers (Binge)<\/p>\n

Romcoms don\u2019t come spikier than this celebrity-commoner union, with an odd couple that meets in the midst of a brawl and a suicide attempt. Seamus (Johnny Flynn) is a smooth and successful British TV journalist working in Belfast; Janet (Roisin Gallagher) is a volatile supermarket worker. Theirs is a rocky road, loaded with surprises, delights and discomforting detours.<\/p>\n

\"InIn The Dry, Roisin Gallagher plays 35-year-old Shiv, a recovering alcoholic who returns to her less-than-helpful family in Dublin.SBSThe Dry (SBS On Demand)<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard for a recovering alcoholic in a community that lubricates every occasion with a drink. That\u2019s the challenge facing Shiv Sheridan (Roisin Gallagher) when she heads home to Dublin after years of living in London. Written by playwright Nancy Harris and hailed as \u201can Irish Fleabag\u201d<\/a>, the black comedy seamlessly switches gears, juxtaposing the characters\u2019 vulnerability, grief or despair with brisk, unsentimental humour.<\/p>\n

\"NathanNathan Braniff (left), Sian Brooke, Martin McCann and Katherine Devlin in Blue Lights.SBSBlue Lights (SBS On Demand)<\/p>\n

Created by former journalists Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson and set at a fictional Belfast police station, this skilfully plotted cop drama<\/a> has its \u201cpeelers\u201d dealing with everything from domestic disturbances and teen homelessness to organised crime. Creating a vibrant community of rookies and veterans, it vividly portrays a city scarred by sectarian violence. A shock shooting in the first season reverberates through the two compelling seasons that have followed so far, and a fourth is on its way<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"LolaLola Petticrew as Dolours Price in the television adaptation of Say Nothing.FXSay Nothing (Disney+) <\/p>\n

Based on the non-fiction book by Patrick Radden Keefe, this deeply unsettling nine-part dramatisation spans three decades as it explores the Troubles and the history of the IRA. Focusing on the Price sisters, Dolours (played in different periods by Lola Petticrew and Maxine Peake) and Marian (Hazel Doupe and Helen Behan), it also takes in the disappearance of Jean McConville (Judith Roddy) and the rise of Sinn Fein politician Gerry Adams (Josh Finan). Powerfully evoking the brutality of life in Belfast, it\u2019s confronting, profoundly moving and steeped in sorrow.<\/p>\n

\"AislingAisling Bea (left), the creator-star of This Way Up, with Sorcha Cusack and Sharon Horgan.This Way Up (BritBox)<\/p>\n

Aisling Bea and Sharon Horgan star as sisters Aine and Shona, as Aine shakily recovers from a nervous breakdown and takes a job as a tutor to the young son of a recent widower (Tobias Menzies). As in many Irish comedies, there\u2019s darkness around the edges of this tale of recovery, and things don\u2019t tend to run smoothly. Alongside the characters\u2019 fragility, there\u2019s ferocity, with the London-set series propelled by a welcome unpredictability.<\/p>\n

Want more TV? We\u2019ve got you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":803146,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[64,63,134,427],"class_list":["post-803145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-entertainment","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803145","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=803145"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/803145\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/803146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=803145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=803145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=803145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}