Paths to Freedom

Paths to Freedom
Written by	Michael McElhatton
Starring	Michael McElhatton Brendan Coyle
Country of origin	Ireland
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	6
Production
Running time	24 minutes (avg)
Release
Original network	Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ)
Original release	13 November – 18 December 2000

Paths to Freedom was a popular comedy on the Irish television network RTÉ Two. The shows stars two characters, Jeremy (Brendan Coyle) and Rats (Michael McElhatton), who have both recently been released from a Dublin prison. The show takes the format of a mockumentary, with a fly-on-the-wall camera crew following the two characters, who are from thoroughly different backgrounds, as they try to reintegrate back into society. There were six episodes of the show produced, the first airing on 13 November 2000, and the final episode airing one month later. The series was followed-up by a movie based on the character Rats, Spin the Bottle.

Dr. Jeremy Fitzgerald, played by Brendan Coyle, was a distinguished gynaecologist, living in the affluent Dublin suburb of Blackrock, before being convicted of dangerous driving causing injury. He was sentenced to a custodial sentence and sent to Dublin's Mountjoy Prison. After his release, with his license to practice medicine lost, Jeremy pursues the release of his controversial book, 'Women inside Out'. However, he struggles to find a publisher given his recent legal troubles, and this eventually leads to a breakdown. During the series, Jeremy displays his love towards a wealthy style of life, driving a new Mercedes-Benz, playing golf at his local club 'The Fitzhatton', and repeatedly describing his admiration of Michael Flatley. This is demonstrated at one point in the series when Jeremy is questioned by the camera crew as to what affect prison has had on him, and he responds that it caused him to lose his 'no-claims bonus' and raise his golf handicap by six strokes. The legal costs of defending himself in the case brought by the Ukrainian man that he hit while drink driving are large, and this causes the Fitzgeralds to sell their home in Blackrock to raise funds. Repeatedly, Jeremy disputes the man's claim that he is paralysed, and at one point Jeremy attacks the man in attempt to prove he is lying. At this stage in the series, Jeremy is seriously mentally ill, and he soon takes up home in a tent on the 7th green at the Fitzhatton. The series ends with Jeremy, now separated from his wife Helen (Deirdre O'Kane), in full-time psychiatric care [1].

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