While other broadcasters lurch about in a state of perma-crisis, TG4 cheerfully chugs along churning out Irish-language variations of popular television formats. There is no fuss, no hysteria – just a conveyor belt of modestly budgeted television that often takes a familiar format and adds a local twist.
That’s what is in the offing with Aperitíf (TG4, Wednesday, 9.30pm), which is essentially First Dates as Gaeilge. It’s quietly charming, visibly put together on a shoestring and will slip out of your mind five seconds after you’ve watched – or, as TG4 executives would put it, job done.
There are two twists on Aperitíf. The obvious one is that all the singletons are speaking Irish. The second is that the show is sequenced to a classic three-course dinner format – with prospective dates arriving bearing the starter, main and dessert.
The obvious point to make about all this is that meeting people is hell, especially when you’re on the lookout for a relationship. And so, Aperitíf has its share of toe-curling moments as participants laugh nervously, rush to fill in a sudden uncomfortable silence and try to get the measure of the person seated opposite without looking like they’re trying to get the measure of the person seated opposite. So just accept at the outset that your toes will curl and you will break out in a rash of second-hand embarrassment: it just goes with the territory.
That said, the romantic guinea pigs are a personable bunch. Fachtna has a daughter in New York who won’t qualify for an Irish passport until she turns 18; Isibéal is a teacher from Galway who is the voice of Ring doorbells in Ireland and the UK; Oisín is a board game fan with a penchant for frog tattoos.
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The three are welcomed by presenters Mairéad Ní Chuaig and Cúán de Búrca, who engage in some preparatory chatter and then lead the volunteers to their tables, where they are introduced to three dates (one for each course) and banter ensues.
Perhaps it’s a budget thing, but Aperitíf is a lot less annoying than First Dates. It doesn’t try to make characters out of the staff on location at the Iveagh Garden Hotel in Dublin, and it doesn’t use a quirky soundtrack to hit you over the head when an embarrassing moment arises.
Instead, it muddles agreeably through its hour-long run time (in truth, 30 minutes would have sufficed). Must-see viewing it isn’t, but as a no-frills Irish language nightcap, it just about hits the spot.