Fair City

Infobox Television
show_name = Fair City


caption = Current logo
genre = Soap opera
creator = Margaret Gleason
starring = Present Cast
country = Ireland
language = English
executive_producer= Brigie de Courcy
location = RTÉ Headquarters, Dublin
camera = Multiple-camera setup
runtime = 25 mins.
network = RTÉ One
first_aired = September 18, 1989
last_aired = present
website = http://www.rte.ie/tv/faircity/
imdb_id = 0170930
tv_com_id = 16265

"Fair City" is an award-winning television soap opera , first broadcast in Ireland on September 18, 1989. Storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the residents of Carrigstown, a fictional suburb on the north side of Dublin. Since 2006 Fair City has been the longest running soap opera in Ireland beating Glenroe's seventeen years.

The series was originally screened as two half-hour episodes per week, from September to May. Today four episodes are broadcast each week on RTÉ One all year round. It is the most popular Irish soap opera and one of the most popular soaps on Irish television. [" [http://www.medialive.ie/Television/top-tw.html RTÉ/TV3 Top 20 Programmes] " "Medialive". URL last accessed 2007-03-16]

The series is produced by Radio Telefís Éireann. It is currently broadcast on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at 20:00 on RTÉ One. Episodes are normally repeated at 12:30 the following weekday on the same channel. The programme is sponsored by FBD Insurance.

etting

"Fair City" is set in Carrigstown, a fictional suburb of Northside Dublin. Most of the scenes take place around the main street in Carrigstown, with notable landmarks on the main street including K. Mc Coys, Phelan's, The Bistro and Fusion Restaurant. Some scenes are set outside of the main street, in areas such as Carrigstown Community College or The Public House.

Characters

The series was originally based around four families - the Molloys, the Doyles, the Cassidys and the Babayaros. This was similar to the British Soap soap EastEnders, which also originally focused on a number of families and the community in which they lived. Over time the emphasis moved away from the four families and grew to include the wider community of Carrigstown. As of 2008, only one member of the Molloy family and three members of the Doyle family remain on the show.

The Halpin family were gradually introduced in the early 2000s, but since then the show has shifted to individual characters more than family groupings. Notable characters introduced in the early 2000s include Carol Meehan, Tracy Kavanagh, Ray O'Connell and Jo Fahey. Another change in recent years has been the introduction of ethnic minority characters such as Lana Dowling and the Udenze family.

The former Executive Producer Niall Matthews believes the soap's success is down to the large cast and the fact that no single character or group of characters dominates. "Difficulties are inherent if you are dealing with just one family," he says. "Look at Dallas and Dynasty; both did well at the beginning, but because all the action was centred on a single family, the writers ran out of things to say." [" [http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/why-its-success-in-the-city--for-rtes-soap-319178.html] " "Irish Independent". URL last accessed 2007-03-16]

The acting of "Fair City" has also met some criticism. Many actors have only done theatre work before appearing on Fair City. They are only trained as stage actors, so they give a wooden performance on television." [http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=245028&page=2] " "boards.ie". URL last accessed 2007-08-12]

Production

Each week rehearsals for the four episodes take place on Saturday and Monday. From Tuesday to Friday, the interior scenes are recorded on two RTÉ sound stages. The schedule runs from 08:00 to 18:30. The exterior scenes are filmed on Thursday and Friday either in the RTÉ Headquarters, or in various locations in Dublin. The series is planned in blocks of 12 episodes. The first stage is the development of story and plot. This work is done by a small team of storyline writers. Once the stories have been fleshed out and agreed, the scene breakdown writers decide how the stories should be translated into scenes for each episode. The episodes are then assigned to script writers, who create the dialogue and stage directions for the actors. [" [http://www.rte.ie/tv/faircity/bs.html] " "Fair City website". URL last accessed 2007-06-16]

Running in parallel with the writing process is the production process, which includes casting, wardrobe, make-up, design and construction of sets, purchase of props, finding locations, booking facilities, developing schedules and the myriad administrative tasks involved in managing a successful soap. All exterior shots were initially recorded in Drumcondra on Dublin's northside, where residents were politely asked to stay indoors during shooting. Two years later, Carrigstown moved south of the Liffey to RTÉ where set designers replicated the façades and interiors of the original houses. The writing and production comes together in the hands of the directors who marry the various inputs to produce the finished product of "Fair City". [" [http://www.script.ie/pages/art_writing_fairc.htm] " "Irish Playwrights & Screenwriters Guild". URL last accessed 2007-06-16]

The opening sequence and theme music has been changed four and three times, respectively. [http://www.rte.ie/radio/mooneygoeswild/fp2008/september16.html] The opening sequence shows several scenes of contemporary Dublin, while the closing credits show a frozen image of the River Liffey.

ocial realism

The show has featured a number of gritty storylines reflecting major issues in Irish society, particularly from the mid 1990's onwards. Rape was shown in 1998, with the rape of Lorriane Molloy by Dr Jack Shanahan, who later committed suicide. The characters of Eoghan and Liam portrayed a homosexual relationship, with "Fair City" showing Ireland's first gay "kiss", although the two never actually touched lips. Abortion was portrayed in the early 2000s as Kay McCoy decided to abort her pregnancy despite her husband's wishes, for fear the child would be born severely disabled. Drug addiction has also been portrayed a number of times. Prostitution was shown in 2001 when Tracey turned to prostitution in order to pay for drugs. Domestic abuse was highlighted with the Halpin family, when Tess was murdered by her husband Marty following years of domestic abuse. The Criminal Assets Bureau was shown in 2008 when Carol Meehan lost her pub due to her marriage with criminal Billy Meehan several years before.

History

The title derives from the opening line of the traditional song "Molly Malone": "In Dublin's fair city, where the girls are so pretty..." and is the only English-language soap opera produced in Ireland. The show was launched in September 1989 and at the time was described as "the most ambitious production of its kind ever undertaken by RTÉ" [The Irish Emigrant - June 25, 1989 [http://www.emigrant.ie/article.asp?iCategoryID=200&iArticleID=31922] ] .

The show was broadcast twice weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 7pm between September and May, taking a summer break, from 1989 until 1997 - when the show started being broadcast all year around. In 1998 an extra episode was added and a fourth was added in 2001. [" [http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/a-tale-of-two-soaps-358690.html A tale of two soaps] " "Irish Independent". URL last accessed 2007-06-16] Up until 2003, the soap only aired two episodes over the summer months however the four episodes were aired all year round from summer of that year. [" [http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2000/09/17/story124281138.asp] " "Sunday Business Post". URL last accessed 2007-06-16] [" [http://archives.tcm.ie/businesspost/2001/12/09/story93710828.asp] " "Sunday Business Post". URL last accessed 2007-06-16] In 2004, Friday's 8.30pm episode was moved to Sunday nights at 8p.m.

On 17 January 2002, "Fair City" reached its 1,000th episode. [" [http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2002/01/17/story21327.asp] " "Irish Examiner". URL last accessed 2007-06-16] In 2004, the soap opera celebrated its fifteenth year by broadcasting an hour-long compilation episode entitled "Fair City: The Ten Commandments". [" [http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2004/09/03/story399769361.asp] " "Irish Examiner". URL last accessed 2007-06-16] This episode showed old clips of characters breaking the Ten Commandments. It also featured interviews from the cast and fans. On 30 November 2006, Fair City reached its 2,000th episode. [" [http://archives.tcm.ie/irishexaminer/2006/11/28/story19392.asp] " "Irish Examiner". URL last accessed 2007-06-16]

International screenings

Viewers in Northern Ireland can watch "Fair City" on RTÉ One, because the domestic population of Northern Ireland have access to view the Irish Channels (RTÉ One, RTÉ Two, TV3 and TG4).

In Great Britain, episodes of Fair City will be aired on RTÉ International when the channel begins transmission in March 2009. There are also plans to launch the channel in Europe and North America, giving those continents access to Fair City as well. [ [http://home.eircom.net/content/irelandcom/topstories/12426696?view=Eircomnet Eircom.net article] on Fair City]

Fair City was shown on the Tara Television network in the United Kingdom via cable and Sky Digital from 1997 until the closure of the station in 2002. [ [http://www.independent.ie/business/rte-live--and-now-its-in-britain-456622.html Independent.ie] article on Fair City moving to British TV] Classic episodes were shown in the daytime and repeated in the early evenings on weekdays, and current episodes were simulcast with RTÉ One.

Popularity and viewership

Despite the above criticisms of "Fair City", it has consistently high official viewing statistics. The viewing figures for each episode are around 500,000 - 600,000 and rising as high as 700,000 for specials. It has proven particularly popular with viewers outside of Dublin and continues to draw significant audiences into its 18th series.

On 21 November 2001, "Fair City" attracted 800,000 viewers who tuned in to see Billy Meehan being killed by Lorcan Foley. This remains the highest rated episode of an Irish soap in Irish television history. [ [http://www.independent.ie/unsorted/features/why-its-success-in-the-city--for-rtes-soap-319178.html Independent.ie] article on the Billy Meehan fictional murder]

Criticism

Critics believe that the other Irish soap opera, the Irish language "Ros na Rún" on TG4, is of higher quality for a number of reasons mainly social such as charachters consuming alcohol and their parenting.

Awards

The programme was nominated for an IFTA as 'Best Television Drama' in the years 2000 and 2003. Stuart Dunne, who portrayed Billy Meehan, was nominated for an IFTA as 'Best Actor in a Television Drama' in 2003. [" [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0170930/awards List of IFTA Awards] " "RTÉ". URL last accessed 2007-03-30]

Pat Nolan, who plays Barry O'Hanlon, won a Golden Rose Award, in the 'Best Soap Actor' category, at the international Rose d'Or Festival in Switzerland on 7 May 2005. [" [http://www.rte.ie/about/pressreleases/08052005.html] " "RTÉ". URL last accessed 2007-03-23] The series has also been nominated for a TVNow Award as 'Favourite Soap' in 2006, 2007 and2008. [" [http://www.tvnowmagazine.ie/showFavourites.aspx?id=1 List of Nominated Soaps] " "TVNow". URL last accessed 2008-04-05] "Fair City" won 'Best Soap in the International Entertainment' category, at the Mediamixx festival in Bulgaria in July 2007. [Issue 370, "TVnow", published July 10, 2007]

Controversy

RTÉ is paying some of the actors in "Fair City" only €432 a day, although it earns the station in the region of €7m each year. But despite its earnings, Fair City costs nearly twice that amount to produce. [ [http://www.unison.ie/irish_independent/stories.php3?ca=42&si=1788626&issue_id=15335 Star actors in top-earning soap on €432 a day - News & Gossip, Entertainment - Independent.ie ] ] School managers fear that students are starting their own 'copycat' fight clubs in post primary schools around the country as a result of one of Fair City's storylines. [ [http://www.independent.ie/education/latest-news/schoolboy-fight-clubs-copying-fair-city-story-line-48371.html Schoolboy fight clubs 'copying' Fair City story line - Latest News, Education - Independent.ie ] ] RTÉ has launched an investigation into how a convicted paedophile appeared as an extra in the soap.. [ [http://www.independent.ie/national-news/family-feels-betrayed-after-sons-sex-abuser-appears-on-fair-city-1319586.html Family feels 'betrayed' after son's sex abuser appears on Fair City - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie ] ] Fair City was criticised by Down's Syndrome Ireland for using the term "mongo" in the January 20, 2006 episode. [ [http://www.independent.ie/national-news/fair-city-script-angers-downs-syndrome-group-118770.html Independent.ie] article on Down Syndrome controversy]

Further reading

One of Fair City's former scriptwriters, Brian Gallagher, has written a book entitled 'Inside Fair City'. It gives fans an "access all areas" backstage pass to the Dublin soap, glimpsing the hidden stories behind the Carrigstown murders, love affairs, funerals and weddings. The book is an RTÉ/Rooney Media paperback, priced €17.95. [ [http://www.independent.ie/national-news/fair-city-brought-to-book-by-a-man-who-knows-it-all-234059.html Independent.ie] article on Fair City book]

References

External links

* [http://www.rte.ie/tv/faircity/ Official Fair City RTÉ site]
*
* [http://www.tv.com/fair-city/show/16265/summary.html Fair City at TV.com]
* [http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/rtesfaircityfanpage/ Fair City Fan Page]