''The Folks on the Hill'' is a satirical sketch show, which started in January 2001 as a Saturday morning

BBC Radio Ulster BBC Radio Ulster is a Northern Ireland, Northern Irish national radio station owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland, a division of the BBC. It was established on New Year's Day 1975, replacing what had been an opt-out of BBC Radio 4. Acc ...

broadcast. In 2004, it evolved into an animated television show, first aired on 9 January 2004, on

BBC One Northern Ireland BBC One Northern Ireland is a Northern Irish free-to-air television channel owned and operated by BBC Northern Ireland. It is the Northern Irish variation of the UK-wide BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television ...

. In its 10th year, the final, 17th series was broadcast on BBC Radio Ulster from Saturday 8 October until 12 November 2011, the day before writer and voice-over star Sean Crummey died. The show is a light-hearted, comic parody of the prominent figures of

Northern Irish The people of Northern Ireland are all people born in Northern Ireland and having, at the time of their birth, at least one parent who is a British Nationality Law, British citizen, an Irish nationality law, Irish citizen or is otherwis ...

politics, and occasionally other politicians including

Tony Blair Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. Previously, he was Chancellor of the Ex ...

Bertie Ahern Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, and as Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008. A Teachta Dála (TD) from 1977 to 2011, he served ...

and

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

. The term 'folks on the hill' refers to the Northern Irish parliament and government at Stormont Hill. The programme was written by Belfast impressionist, Sean Crummey, animated by

Liam O'Neill Liam O'Neill is a Gaelic games administrator, who served as the 37th president of the Gaelic Athletic Association. He is from County Laois. Biography A former chairman of the Leinster Council, O'Neill initially sought the GAA presidency at th ...

(later Ciaran Boyle) and produced by Owen McFadden. The music was by Paul Rocks. Female voice impersonations were by

Kathy Clugston Kathy Clugston (born 22 August 1969) is a Northern Irish presenter, newsreader and continuity announcer on BBC Radio 4, BBC Radio 4 Extra and the BBC World Service. Biography Born in Belfast, Clugston attended Methodist College and then studi ...

, who provided the voices for

Anne Robinson Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is a British journalist and television presenter, best known as the host of BBC game show ''The Weakest Link'' from 2000 to 2012, and again in 2017 for a one-off celebrity special for ''Children ...

Iris Robinson Iris Robinson (née Collins; born 6 September 1949) is a former Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) politician in Northern Ireland. She is married to Peter Robinson, who was First Minister of Northern Ireland from 2008 to 2016. Robinson was firs ...

, Camilla, the

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

, Bairbre de Brun and many others.

References

Musical Reference

The Folks Who Live On the Hill "The Folks Who Live on the Hill" is a 1937 popular song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. It was introduced by Irene Dunne in the 1937 film '' High, Wide, and Handsome'' and was recorded that year by Bing Crosby for Decc ...

" (1937) is a ballad written by

Oscar Hammerstein II Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II (; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and director in musical theater for nearly 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Award ...

and

Jerome Kern Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over ...

. (Note that unlike the show, there is no "the" before "folks" in the song title.) For more information see

Darby and Joan Darby and Joan is a proverbial phrase for a married couple content to share a quiet life of mutual devotion. Usage ''The Nuttall Encyclopædia'' defined the phrase as "a married couple celebrated for their mutual attachment", the ''Random Hous ...

External links

* Folks on the Hill audio clip

* Folks on the Hill video cli

BBC Radio comedy programmes BBC Radio Ulster programmes BBC television comedy BBC Northern Ireland television shows Irish comedy television shows British satirical radio programmes 2004 British television series debuts 2011 British television series endings 2000s British satirical television series 2010s British satirical television series 2000s television series from Northern Ireland 2010s television series from Northern Ireland British English-language television shows Irish political satire {{BBC-comedy-tv-prog-stub