Changes to RTÉ radio schedule as Late Late plans Toy Show ‘like no other’

Some big changes and big drama is headed our way this autumn on RTÉ radio and television. 

New faces, familiar faces in new places, and a range of the nation’s favourites lead RTÉ’s autumn 2020 line-up across television, radio, and online. File picture.

Listeners to RTÉ Radio 1 can expect a “big refresh” this autumn with a number of familiar names switching roles on flagship programmes, while the Late Late Show will return next week and promises to deliver a Toy Show this year “like no other”.

Hot on the heels of Claire Byrne’s move to the mid-morning radio show this week, Sarah McInerney and Cormac Ó hEadhra will now present Drivetime from 4.30pm while Áine Lawlor and Mary Wilson are moving to the Morning Ireland team.

Announcing its new autumn schedule, RTÉ also confirmed that Prime Time reporter Katie Hannon will present a Saturday current affairs show that was earmarked for recently retired broadcaster Sean O'Rourke, who was dropped as the potential host following his attendance at the controversial Oireachtas golf event in Co Galway last week.

Other changes will see Bryan Dobson move from Morning Ireland to present RTÉ News at One, while David McCullagh and Caitriona Perry will anchor the Six-One News from next week.

Head of News on RTE Radio 1, Peter Woods, said the changes were in train for some time and the launch was a “vindication of a generation of talent that we’ve been working with in Radio 1”.

On TV, the Late Late Show returns to our screens on September 4, without an audience, but promises to deliver a Toy Show “like no other” this Christmas.

New faces, familiar faces in new places, and a range of the nation’s favourites lead RTÉ’s Autumn 2020 line-up across television, radio and online

Show host Ryan Tubridy said: “Without question, it will be the most important Toy Show we’ve ever done for obvious reasons. The kids have been so good; they’ve had the weirdest year of their lives and it’s absolutely up to us to make the sun shine for them again”.

RTÉ director general Dee Forbes said the autumn schedule offered a “compelling, diverse and impactful” range of programmes, including 18 hours of new Irish drama and a “slate of important new documentaries”.

New dramas include the South Westerlies about an Irish coastal town earmarked for a Norwegian-owned wind farm, Dead Still, a mystery set in Victorian-era Dublin and Smother, a family thriller set in a small town in Co Clare, while popular soap Fair City returns on September 6 after five months off air.

Home-grown documentaries looking at how Covid-19 has shaped our lives, include Love and Loss in a Pandemic and A Big Week in September, while others will examine the housing crisis, true crime stories, and chart the lives of the late Martin McGuinness and Marian Finucane.