''Moone Boy'' is an Irish sitcom created, co-written by and co-starring Chris O'Dowd for British broadcaster

Sky One Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non- terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1 ...

. The series is co-written by

Nick Vincent Murphy Nick Vincent Murphy (born 23 October 1977) is an Irish screenwriter and novelist. He is best known for his work on the TV comedy series '' Moone Boy'' (2012–15), the Moone Boy novels, the animated series ''Dorg Van Dango'' (2020–21) ...

and is produced by

Baby Cow Productions Baby Cow Productions Ltd is a British comedy television production company based in London and Manchester, founded by Steve Coogan and Henry Normal. Since its establishment it has diversified into radio, animation and film. According to their ...

, Sprout Pictures, Hot Cod Productions, and Grand Pictures. The series is semi-autobiographical of O'Dowd and focuses on a young boy's life growing up in Boyle,

County Roscommon "Steadfast Irish heart" , image_map = Island of Ireland location map Roscommon.svg , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Ireland , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 = Connacht , subdi ...

, in the west of

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the late 1980s and early 1990s. ''Moone Boy'' is the second series produced from

's ''

Little Crackers ''Little Crackers'' is a British Christmas comedy-drama that was broadcast on Sky1. It consists of a series of short films featuring stars of British and Irish comedy, including Stephen Fry, Catherine Tate, Chris O'Dowd, Kathy Burke, Victoria ...

'' shorts and is inspired by O'Dowd's contribution, "Capturing Santa", which was produced by Sprout Pictures. The introductory music for much of each episode is "Tico's Tune" by Geoff Love (recorded by him under the name "Manuel & The Music of the Mountains"). This piece of music has near-iconic status in Ireland as it was used as the

theme music Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances ...

for '' The Gay Byrne Show'', a long-running and immensely popular morning radio show on

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for th ...

. Background music and soundtrack pieces were composed for the series by Rónán Johnston. The opening credits are accompanied with the song "Where's Me Jumper" by The Sultans of Ping FC. ''Moone Boy'' aired its third and final series in 2015.

Synopsis

Seán Murphy is the imaginary friend of 12-year-old Martin Paul Moone, the only boy in a family living in Boyle, a small town in

in the rural West of Ireland. Martin, aided by his imaginary friend, has a unique perspective on life. His imagination comes into play both in his childish drawings, which come alive through animation, and in the ridiculous schemes he comes up with, against Seán's better judgement. With Seán's help, Martin negotiates life as the youngest member of a chaotic, scatterbrained family.

Production

Chris O'Dowd said: "''Moone Boy'' is a fantastic comedy which centres on a twelve-year-old boy who has an imaginary friend. It is set in the late eighties/early nineties and all of the experiences are ones that I had. It's a really funny show which has loads of animation and a number of laughs that I hope people will love. It was essential to film in Ireland and what was great about

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from outer space. In the field of astronomy, ...

was they wanted us to film here and they were really supportive. That wouldn't have happened at any other channel." ''Moone Boy'' is Sky's second commission based on a ''

'' short. The series is a co-production between Sprout Pictures, who produced the original ''Little Crackers'' short,

, Hot Cod Productions and Grand Pictures, and began filming in early 2012 on location in Boyle and other places in

, as well as

County Wicklow County Wicklow ( ; ga, Contae Chill Mhantáin ) is a county in Ireland. The last of the traditional 32 counties, having been formed as late as 1606, it is part of the Eastern and Midland Region and the province of Leinster. It is bordered ...

Cast

* Chris O'Dowd as Seán Caution Murphy *

David Rawle David Rawle (born 16 October 2000) is an Irish actor from Carrigallen, County Leitrim. He is best known for starring in the Irish sitcom '' Moone Boy'', co-written by and co-starring Chris O'Dowd. His first audition for acting was for Santa ...

as Martin Moone * Deirdre O'Kane as Debra Moone * Peter McDonald as Liam Moone * Ian O'Reilly as Padraic O'Dwyer * Aoife Duffin as Trisha Moone * Clare Monnelly as Fidelma Moone * Sarah White as Sinéad Moone *

Steve Coogan Stephen John Coogan (; born 14 October 1965) is an English actor, comedian, producer and screenwriter. He is most known for creating original characters such as Alan Partridge, a socially inept and politically incorrect media personality, whic ...

as Francie "Touchy" Fehily * Evan O'Hanlon as Paulie *

Johnny Vegas Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...

as Crunchie Haystacks * Steve Wall as Danny Moone * Norma Sheahan as Linda * Ronan Raftery as Dessie * Tom Hickey as Granddad Joe

Episodes

Series 1 (2012)

Series 2 (2014)

Series 3 (2015)

Reception

The show has been well received by critics. ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide ...

'' called it "the most life-affirming delight to have hit our screens in a long time", and said: "It is surreal, within decent limits, and it is derivative, but I think the derivations are happily if tacitly acknowledged". ''Moone Boy'' won an

International Emmy The International Emmy Awards, or International Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. Bestowed by the New York–based International Academy of Television Arts and ...

for Best Comedy and was also nominated for two awards at the 2012 British Comedy Awards. In 2014, it won an IFTA Award for best entertainment programme.

Home media

The first series of ''Moone Boy'' was released on DVD on 15 October 2012. The second series of ''Moone Boy'' was released on DVD on 31 March 2014. A boxset containing the first two series was also released on 31 March 2014.

American remake

It was announced in October 2014 that the show received a " Put-pilot" from ABC. O'Dowd is said to be a writer and producer, but is not expected to star.

References

External links

Official website

Chris O'Dowd interview (40:08) 5.29.2014
by

Terry Gross Terry Gross (born February 14, 1951) is an American journalist who is the host and co-executive producer of '' Fresh Air'', an interview-based radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed nationally by NPR. Since joining NP ...

Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated t ...

on NPR
Moone Boy Series 1
at

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of ed ...

Moone Boy Series 2
at

* * {{Sky1 2012 Irish television series debuts 2015 Irish television series endings International Emmy Award for best comedy series winners Irish television sitcoms Sky sitcoms Television series about children Television series set in 1989 Television series set in 1990 Television series set in 1991 Television series with live action and animation Television shows set in the Republic of Ireland Television shows filmed in the Republic of Ireland