Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland

Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland is a 2023 British documentary television miniseries covering the Northern Irish conflict, the Troubles. Directed by James Bluemel as a follow-up to his 2020 series Once Upon a Time in Iraq, it consists of five episodes that features interviews with members of Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries, members of the British Army who served in Northern Ireland, along with others caught up in the conflict.

Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland
Poster
Genre	Documentary
Directed by	James Bluemel, Sian Mcilwaine
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	1
No. of episodes	5
Production
Executive producers	Will Anderson Andrew Palmer
Producers	Vicky Mitchell, Rachel Hooper, Sian Mcilwaine, Stewart Armstrong, Louise Duffy
Running time	318 minutes (BBC)
Production company	KEO Films Walk on Air Films BBC The Open University PBS
Original release
Network	BBC Two
Release	22 May (2023-05-22) – 19 June 2023 (2023-06-19)

Overview

The series chronologically covers the Troubles from its early beginnings emerging from the 1960s civil rights movement in Northern Ireland into the following three decades of armed conflict in the region between those fighting for a united Ireland and those fighting to remain part of the United Kingdom through to the Good Friday Agreement and beyond. The first episode was broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 22 May 2023.^[1]

Reception

Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland received acclaim from critics within the UK. The Guardian wrote of how "by marking how the Troubles affected individuals, Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland finds profound wider truths".^[2] The Daily Telegraph gave it five stars out of five, praising it as "a superb piece of work, not merely a litany of horrors but an opportunity for those involved to look back".^[3] The Financial Times also gave the series five stars, saying it was “of vital importance to those involved, and necessary viewing for those who were not”. Rachel Cooke in The New Statesman threw praise on the series, declaring that it "may be the best television ever made about Northern Ireland."^[4]

The series also received positive reviews from foreign outlets. In the Los Angeles Times, Robert Lloyd praised how the series focused on how those interviewed "grapple with who they were then from the standpoint of who they are now".^[5] Reviewing the first episode for the Irish Examiner, Pat Fitzpatrick regarded it as "mesmerising", and the "narrative time-shifts" as elegant.^[6]

References

1. "Once Upon a Time: BBC series takes personal look at the Troubles". BBC News. 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
2. Seale, Jack (2023-05-22). "Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland review – civil war rages before your very eyes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
3. Singh, Anita (2023-05-22). "Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland, review: superb and haunting retelling of the Troubles". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
4. Cooke, Rachel (2023-05-22). "Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland reveals the madness of sectarianism". New Statesman. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
5. "Review: 'Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland' grapples with the Troubles through emotional testimonies". Los Angeles Times. 2023-08-28. Retrieved 2024-08-13.
6. Fitzpatrick, Pat (2023-07-28). "TV Review: Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland is mesmerising storytelling". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 2024-08-13.

External links

• Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland at BBC Online
• Once Upon a Time in Northern Ireland at IMDb
• "New Documentary About Northern Ireland’s ‘Troubles’ Warns Against Political Violence" by Christopher Jacobs, The Federalist (September 14, 2023)