The Riordans - Controversially Axed

Controversially Axed

The show underwent a number of changes in the mid-1970s, most notably moving from a half-hour to one-hour format, as well as a change in theme tune. The music originally used to introduce each episode was Seoirse Bodley's orchestral arrangement of the Irish traditional tune, "The Palatine's Daughter". The decision of the actor Tom Hickey to leave the series caused some problems. His character, Benjy was not killed off but went abroad "on the missions" (i.e., to work with the Catholic Church in Africa). A new farm labourer, played by new actor Gabriel Byrne, was introduced in 1978 and he played the love-interest for Maggie, Benjy's wife, who had remained after refusing to go to Africa with him. While the show had declined somewhat from its heyday, it still regularly battled with The Late Late Show to top the TAM ratings and was itself surprised when one episode, which unusually departed from the 1970s and focused on Tom Riordan as a young man in the 1930s at a family céilí, was critically acclaimed by the media and many older viewers, who viewed it as an accurate representation of life on an Irish farm in the 1930s and 1940s. With its considerable popularity, large cast of respected actors and high production values, and its central location on the schedules of RTÉ 1, few expected the show to be axed, let alone so suddenly.

There was however considerable surprise, and a lot of criticism, when the new Director of Programming at RTÉ, Muiris MacConghail decided that the show had run its course and so axed it. Part of the justification was cost: it was one of RTÉ's most expensive shows to make. With the launch of RTÉ 2 in 1978 the station believed that it needed to produce more shows for its limited budget as a small station, and it could not do that if The Riordans took up much of the budget. Critics however suggested that RTÉ had failed to market the show internationally and that, given the size of the Irish diaspora internationally, all interested in 'home', it could have had an international market among stations in countries with large Irish audiences, with its sale recouping much of the cost involved in its making.

The public, the media and politicians all criticised the axing of one of the most popular shows on RTÉ. However, notwithstanding the outcry, and condemnation by John Cowley who argued that the cast had been badly treated, the last television episode was broadcast on RTÉ television in May 1979.

Fine Gael TD Tom Enright, during a 1980 debate in Dáil Éireann said of the decision:

“The Riordans”, one of the finest programmes that I can remember seeing and was most enjoyable, was dropped from television some time ago. It touched on many important social aspects of not just rural Irish life but all aspects of Irish life. It incorporated many delicate matters and matters which people shied away from and it was an in-depth study of life in Ireland. I am certain that the cost factor had a lot to do with the removal of this programme, but it was a mistake to remove it and this is evident when we see some of the programmes that replace it on the television service.

The show was resurrected for RTÉ Radio 1 as a fifteen-minute daily show where it lasted a few years. The move to radio allowed some of the older actors to retire, while departed characters, such as Benjy, could be brought back, albeit not with the original actors but with actors who sounded like the person who played them in the television series. The Riordans was later dropped from the radio schedules as part of a re-organisation of the schedules.

The series was replace by a spin-off series Bracken, which saw Gabriel Byrne's character move from Kilkenny to Wicklow. Bracken became the second in a trilogy of agricultural soaps/dramas produced by RTÉ, the final such soap being Glenroe.

While occasional media reports have wondered whether the show should return, notably when the independent TV3 was launched and was seeking to capture the audience, something it might have done had it had The Riordans in its schedule, there is in reality little chance of its return, given the death of some of its leading actors, including John Cowley (Tom Riordan), Chris O'Neill (Michael Riordan), Anne Dalton (Minnie Brennan), Tony Doyle (Fr. Sheehy), Joe Pilkington (Eamon Maher), Christopher Casson (The Rector) and Jack O'Reilly (Johnny Mac) as well as the retirement from acting of Biddy White Lennon (Maggie Riordan) and the unavailability of Tom Hickey (who does not want to reprise his role of Benjy) and Gabriel Byrne, now a Hollywood actor.