Wogan's Sweet Sixteen to reair on RTÉ Radio One on St. Stephen's Day

An acclaimed RTÉ Radio drama about Terry Wogan playing Irish records on the BBC during an IRA bombing campaign is to get a second airing this St Stephens Day, just two weeks after it debuted.

‘Wogan’s Sweet Sixteen’ finds the venerable Terry newly landed at the BBC, after deciding the RTÉ of the time wasn't the place where he could be himself. Despite a backwards audition tape, the BBC took a chance on the Limerick man but it was far from plain sailing, with criticism from both upstairs in the Corporation and in the press about his irreverent presenting style. There was also a wave of anti-Irish feeling sparked by republican violence.

This marvellous production, featuring several radio jingles that might be familiar to fans of The Who Sell Out, centres around an uncannily accurate turn from Irish actor Al McKenna as Wogan, which prompted Darragh McManus to write in the Irish Independent that, "if you walked into the room midway through, you’d assume this was archive audio of the man himself — assisted by a strong supporting cast and nicely nuanced script.”

Wogan attempted to build bridges across the Irish Sea - at a time they were very badly needed - with what might seem now as odd materials, namely The Furey Brothers and Davey Arthur's 'When You Were Sweet Sixteen' and Frank Kelly's 'Christmas Countdown'. Infuriating some and delighting others, Wogan's insistence on playing these records played no small part in their eventual - and unlikely - appearance on Top Of The Pops.

The forty minute radio drama proved wildly popular on the RTÉ Radio player after it first aired on December 12th, with the Irish Times hailing it as “a joyful paean to the pleasures and power of radio." I'm saying that it's a testament to Wogan's quietly revolutionary radio style and his resolve in very trying times. Writer Kenneth Sweeney explains it better than I ever could. “The hardest part for anyone Irish living in Britain then, was going into work the day after an IRA bomb. You’d feel all eyes were on you, hear colleagues talk about it in the canteen. There was shame. What must it have been like for Terry, going on BBC Radio 2, straight after a news bulletin about an IRA attack?"

Wogan’s Sweet Sixteen airs on Stephen’s Day on RTÉ Radio One at 8pm. It is also available from the RTÉ website.