RTÉ2 has given us plenty to look forward to with a very exciting schedule for the new season. VIP attended the launch earlier today in Donnybrook which announced an increase in home production with over 30 new series and 18 documentaries – many starring some our favourite well-known faces.
Following her winning stint on Bear Grylls: Mission Survive, Vogue Williams will return to our screens as she meets women who defy traditional perceptions of the ‘fairer sex’ in three-part series Mean Girls, which looks at the sexually adventurous, the MMA fighting and some law breaking women.
Baz Ashmawy returns to RTÉ2 to explore his Muslim heritage in a compelling new documentary series, The Lost Muslim, while Bressie tackles a subject close to his heart as he seeks to demonstrate the link between physical exercise and positive mental health, training four people to compete in a gruelling half-Ironman challenge in Bressie’s Iron Mind.
Maia Dunphy and Angela Scanlon will also each host a documentary series this season: Maia looks at matters close to her own heart, childbirth and the modern Irish emigrant experience, and Angela explores celebrity life for some well known Irish names including WWE’s Sheamus in Close Encounters.
Twenty new episodes of the hard-hitting Reality Bites strand, which reflects real Irish life, will be delivered on Thursday nights, tackling topics from cancer to mothers on methadone, sulky racing, dangerous dog breeds and recreational drug use. The series also introduces some fresh faces to RTÉ2: Louise McSharry tells her deeply personal journey of battling cancer with F**k Cancer; Nine Stone Lighter follows Jules Coll through her life changing gastric-band surgery; and RTÉ 2fm Breakfast Republic’s Keith Walsh and other volunteers subject themselves to gruelling training and nutrition plans in pursuit of the perfect body in The Gun Show.
We’re also looking forward to the feature length documentary Panti: The Queen of Ireland, which follows Ireland’s most famous drag queen and self-styled “accidental activist” and Jennifer Maguire returning to the small screen in the 80’s-tastic series Bridget and Eamon.
