Give My Head Peace

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Give My Head Peace
Give my Head Peace Title Card (2016).jpg
Title card (2016 special)
Created by Tim McGarry
Damon Quinn
Michael McDowell
Written byTim McGarry
Damon Quinn
Michael McDowell
StarringTim McGarry
Damon Quinn
Michael McDowell
Martin Reid
Olivia Nash
BJ Hogg (S1-12)
Nuala McKeever (S1–2)
Alexandra Ford
Country of origin Northern Ireland
No. of series16
No. of episodes99 (incl. specials)(list of episodes)
Production
Running time30–40 minutes
Original release
Network BBC Northern Ireland
Release31 August 1995 (1995-08-31) (pilot)
Release16 January 1998 (1998-01-16) 
28 December 2007 (2007-12-28)
Release28 December 2016 (2016-12-28) 
present

Give My Head Peace is a satirical television comedy series on BBC Northern Ireland that pokes fun at political parties, paramilitary groups and the sectarian divide in Northern Ireland. The programme is written by Tim McGarry, Damon Quinn and Michael McDowell, also known as "The Hole in the Wall Gang", who also perform as the characters. Episodes are recorded in front of a live studio audience at the BBC Blackstaff Studio A in Belfast.

Contents

Background

The concept originated on BBC Radio Ulster music programme Across The Line in the late 1980s, as a five-minute slot. The radio version used many of the characters and plot ideas used in the later TV series.

Pilot: Two Ceasefires and a Wedding

Its first TV appearance was in a made-for-TV film called Two Ceasefires and a Wedding, shown on BBC Northern Ireland (31 August 1995), poking fun at the clichéd "love across the barricades" plot that features in many dramas about Northern Ireland. In this case the lovers were Emer, the daughter of a "prominent" Sinn Féin activist, and Billy, an RUC constable. Their wedding is opposed by their respective families, and ends in farce, although Billy and Emer were happily married.

In the Pilot episode, Ma & Da have a second son, Paul, who suffers anxiety from being wrongly imprisoned for one of Da's failed missions in England. He is best man at Billy & Emer's wedding. He does not appear in the main series.

Main series

A full series was then commissioned by BBC Northern Ireland. Some changes were made to the format prior to the series going ahead – with the character of Cal (Emer's brother) changing substantially, and the introduction of other recurring characters such as Big Mervyn and Red Hand Luke. A few years into the series, Nuala McKeever (Emer) left the series to pursue other interests, and a new love interest for Billy was introduced in the form of Emer's previously unseen sister, Dympna.

The series continued to run on BBC One NI until 2005, taking a hiatus as the Hole in the Wall Gang began work on a new series called Dry Your Eyes . Give My Head Peace usually screened in a prime-time Friday night slot, opting out from network BBC One. In mid-2004, a selection of episodes were shown across the UK on BBC Two in a late-night slot during weekends.

The 50th episode, entitled "Secondary Colours" aired on 27 December 2002. [1] [a]

Cancellation

The final Give My Head Peace episode was transmitted on BBC One Northern Ireland on 28 December 2007. This was supposed to be the last ever episode but during the final few seconds, a graphic stating "That's All Folks?" appeared, suggesting that the show could return in the future. According to Tim McGarry, the reason for the show's cancellation was due to a mis-sent email, received by a BBC executive in charge of the show's production.[ citation needed ] Allegedly, McGarry had hit reply rather than forward to the intended recipient.[ citation needed ]

2016 special and soft reset

Give My Head Peace returned for a one-off 40-minute long episode titled "The Farce Awakens" on 28 December 2016 – exactly nine years to the day since it last aired. It was filmed in Northern Ireland in October 2016. Television presenter Christine Lampard made a cameo appearance.

With this special, they overwrite the events of the original final episode. In that episode, Billy kills Uncle Andy and Big Mervyn after learning they had lost Billy's house and money in a scam. While Billy is in custody, Cal's Protestant girlfriend Siobhan is revealed as an undercover police officer trying to get close to Da. When Siobhan tries to kill Da, Ma suspects them of having an affair. This, combined by the knowledge that Da had prevented Liam Neeson from proposing to their daughter Dympna, drives Ma to kill him. Dympna confesses to the murder to spare Ma from prison. Billy is released after being granted a pardon by Ian Paisley and Martin McGuiness. He learns of what happened to his wife Dympna and devotes himself to trying to clear her name, despite now living with two other women. The special now makes these events non-canon.

2018 return

The series returned with an eleventh series which began broadcasting on 19 January 2018. This was followed by a Christmas Special called "Shallow Grave" which aired on Thursday 27 December 2018 on BBC One Northern Ireland. [2] The show returned for a Christmas Special in December 2019, as part of the 12th series consisting of four episodes leading into 2020.

The show returned in December 2020 for a Christmas special, to be followed by three other specials in early 2021. Recording of the 2020 Christmas Special and 2021 episodes had to be conducted under strict health guidance due to the Covid-19 pandemic with production moved from their usual location at BBC Blackstaff Studio in the centre of Belfast to a new studio located elsewhere in Northern Ireland to ensure social distancing could be maintained. No studio audience was present for the filming of the episodes, but a virtual audience watched and reacted to the recordings online. The 2020 Christmas special aired on Sunday 27 December 2020 on BBC One Northern Ireland, and saw the cast give a proper send off to the character "Big Mervyn", as the actor who played him BJ Hogg died earlier in 2020. Three more episodes were aired from mid January 2021. [3] [4]

Three more series (of 4 episodes each) were televised in January 2022, January 2023 and January 2024. A Christmas special, "Merry Christmas Mr Begbie" was broadcast in December 2024. [5]

Live

In recent years, they have performed live shows at a selection of venues across Northern Ireland. The 2004 show was chiefly made up of scripts from the 2004–2005 series. In 2007 a new live show entitled Dry Your Eyes it's Give My Head Peace was held in Derry's Millennium Forum and the Grand Opera House to celebrate ten years of the show. This production showed material from GMHP and Dry Your Eyes and was very well received. The next live show in 2008 followed on from the final television episode, called Give My Head Peace: Back From The Grave, and also featured the Dry Your Eyes characters. In 2009, the gang went on their last tour called "Give My Head Peace: The Final Farewell Tour". However, the show returned on an annual basis with "Give My Head Peace: The Annual Review" touring Northern Ireland. The performance features the show's regulars, with the notable exceptions of Mervyn and Red Hand Luke, and also features a stand-up set from Tim McGarry who plays Da.

Since the show was renewed in 2018, the group have also revived their live shows, with events in the Grand Opera House Belfast, the Riverside Theatre, Coleraine and other venues throughout NI. [6] [7]

In 1999 a Give My Head Peace book was released.[ citation needed ] The only DVD released to date is of series 6, in November 2009. [8]

Characters

The principal characters are:

Other occasional characters are:

There have been other characters that have made one-off special appearances over the series to an effect. One such example was a Christmas special entitled "The King and I" [9] where Elvis Presley (played by impersonator Martin Fox) [10] saved Andy from a very dangerous situation.

Episodes

Series
SeriesEpisodesOriginally released
First releasedLast released
Pilot 31 August 1995 (1995-08-31)
1 616 January 1998 (1998-01-16)20 February 1998 (1998-02-20)
2 622 May 1998 (1998-05-22)25 June 1998 (1998-06-25)
Special 18 December 1998 (1998-12-18)
3 625 May 1999 (1999-05-25)2 July 1999 (1999-07-02)
Special 17 December 1999 (1999-12-17)
4 812 May 2000 (2000-05-12)30 June 2000 (2000-06-30)
Special 21 December 2000 (2000-12-21)
5 625 May 2001 (2001-05-25)29 June 2001 (2001-06-29)
6 623 November 2001 (2001-11-23)28 December 2001 (2001-12-28)
7 617 May 2002 (2002-05-17)21 June 2002 (2002-06-21)
8 622 November 2002 (2002-11-22)27 December 2002 (2002-12-27)
9 628 November 2003 (2003-11-28)2 January 2004 (2004-01-02)
10 1026 November 2004 (2004-11-26)11 February 2005 (2005-02-11)
Special 23 December 2005 (2005-12-23)
Special 18 April 2006 (2006-04-18)
Special 22 December 2006 (2006-12-22)
Special 28 December 2007 (2007-12-28)
Special 28 December 2016 (2016-12-28)
11 319 January 2018 (2018-01-19)2 February 2018 (2018-02-02)
Special 27 December 2018 (2018-12-27)
Special 27 December 2019 (2019-12-27)
12 330 December 2019 (2019-12-30)17 January 2020 (2020-01-17)
13 427 December 2020 (2020-12-27)29 January 2021 (2021-01-29)
14 427 December 2021 (2021-12-27)21 January 2022 (2022-01-21)
15 426 December 2022 (2022-12-26)20 January 2023 (2023-01-20)
16 428 December 2023 (2023-12-28)19 January 2024 (2024-01-19)
Special 23 December 2024 (2024-12-23)

Home media

VHS

A VHS was released containing the following three episodes; Hollywood on the Falls, Red Hand Luke, The Peace Dividend.

DVD

Only series six has been released on DVD to date. It was released in two parts, with three episodes on each, before being sold together as part of a box set. One notable edit is that the theme song has been replaced.

Release nameNo. of discsEpisodes included
Series 6 Part 11Three episodes - Intiminadation [sic], The Drugs Don't Work, A Christmas Carol.
Series 6 Part 21Three episodes - Day in the Life, Seven, The Shoes of the Fisherman.
Series 6 Vol 1 & 22Includes the six episodes mentioned in above releases.

Digital

The 2016 special The Farce Awakens (21 October 2016) and the documentary A Beginner's Guide (28 December 2016) that was broadcast on BBC One are both available on BBC Store. [11]

Trivia

Notes

  1. "Secondary Colours" actually marks the 53rd episode overall, with the three previous Christmas Specials included.

References

  1. BBC Press Office (12 December 2002). "Give My Head Peace goes south". BBC. Retrieved 13 March 2009.
  2. "Shallow Grave". Give My Head Peace. BBC Northern Ireland.
  3. "Give My Head Peace cast keep their distance for new shows". belfasttelegraph. 21 December 2020. ISSN   0307-1235.
  4. "Give My Head Peace back with new episodes to give Big Mervyn proper send off". www.newsletter.co.uk. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  5. "Give My Head Peace". Apple TV. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  6. "Give My Head Peace 2025 dates". David Hull Promotions. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  7. "Give My Head Peace 2024 dates". Cool FM. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  8. "Give My Head Peace Series 6". Amazon. Retrieved 6 February 2025.
  9. "The King and I". Give My Head Peace. Episode 5. BBC Northern Ireland. 26 December 2003. Archived from the original on 16 March 2005. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  10. "Elvis Impersonator Martin Fox" . Retrieved 10 November 2013.
  11. "Give My Head Peace". BBC Store . Retrieved 25 January 2017.[ permanent dead link ]