Hall's Pictorial Weekly
| Hall's Pictorial Weekly, Incorporating the Provincial Vindicator | |
|---|---|
Cover of DVD The Very Best of Hall's Pictorial Weekly, Vol.1! released in 2004
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| Also known as | Hall's Pictorial Weekly |
| Genre | Satire |
| Written by | Frank Hall |
| Presented by | Frank Hall |
| Starring |
Frank Kelly Eamon Morrissey Paul Murphy Pat Daly Michael Twomey Frank Duggan |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 9 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | Studio 2, RTÉ Television Centre, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, Ireland |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 30–40 minutes |
| Production company(s) | Radio Telefís Éireann |
| Release | |
| Original network | RTÉ, RTÉ One |
| Original release | 29 September 1971 – 19 March 1980 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Ballymagash |
Hall's Pictorial Weekly, Incorporating the Provincial Vindicator was an Irish satirical television series which was broadcast on Radio Telefís Éireann from 1971 to 1980.
Regarded as RTÉ's flagship comedy show, it featured satirical sketches on current news stories, politics and popular culture, as well as parody songs, comedy sketches, re-edited videos, cartoons and spoof television formats. The show was written, presented and edited by Frank Hall and featured an ensemble cast including Frank Kelly and Eamon Morrissey.
Hall's Pictorial Weekly had its origins in the daily regional news magazine Newsbeat, which ran between 1964 and 1971. The programme was noted for concentrating on colourful characters and off-beat reportage, as well as occasional comedy sketches. According to Hall, it occurred to him one day that he would be much more the master of the situation if he simply sat at home and wrote sketches, instead of looking for stories around the country.
The first episode of Hall's Pictorial Weekly aired on 29 September 1971. Set in the offices of a mythical provincial newspaper in the fictional town of Ballymagash, it initially continued to cover offbeat regional news in the manner of Newsbeat, but gradually gave over more time towards comedy sketches and parodies.
In testament to the show's popularity, the term "Ballymagash-style politics" quickly became common parlance as a shorthand way of describing the type of "parish-pump" politics which became one of its key satirical targets.
Hall's Pictorial Weekly was at its strongest during the 1973–1977 term of the Fine Gael-Labour Party coalition government. So sharp and constant was its satirical send up of the government ministers of the time, that it is generally accepted that the programme played an important part in bringing the coalition into disrepute and perhaps even contributed to bringing it down. Ireland at the time had a very volatile economic situation and the show spared no political expense in portraying the then Taoiseach, Liam Cosgrave, as the "Minister for Hardship," while the Minister for Finance, Richie Ryan, was portrayed as "Richie Ruin".
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