Boxing Clever: We owe a lot to the female laundry workers who went on strike

— our second week of holidays was introduced thanks to them

The Way We Were Mike Murphy for Caroline Delaney

I was confused at the start of The Way We Were (RTÉ One, Sunday 9:30pm). I thought there must have been some mistake and they put on a show called RTÉ People Talk About Stuff. Joe Duffy, Mary Kennedy, Mike Murphy and Brendan Courtney are just four of the people who pop up early doors to tell us about their holidays. It was all ‘far from this you were born’ as familiar figures giggled about how useless Irish people were at going on holidays, because up until 1970, foreign travel from Ireland usually involved a one-way ticket. It felt like a documentary version of the 1970s BBC Comedy, Don’t Drink the Water. (Brendan Courtney’s first contribution was him saying ‘Don’t Drink the Water’, just in case we missed the point.) It was enjoyable but flimsy, when it felt like there was a bigger story to be told about how Irish people treat a vacation. After all, this is part of a three-part series that promises to examine Irish identity since independence — I was expecting a bit more than Joe Duffy saying that a trip on the bumpers in Bray felt like being in Las Vegas.

The Way We Were Maurice Pratt for Caroline Delaney

Things got a bit better. Historians, Sarah-Anne Buckley and Donal Fallon, popped up to put a bit of context on 20 th century holidays and playwright, Peter Sheridan, astutely observed that we basically just aped whatever they were doing in Britain. He also talked about the Mystery Train, driven by his father, where you’d arrive at Heuston or Connolly station and take a trip to some random destination. I’ve been on a few stag parties like that and they’re great fun. Another interesting segment revealed that a strike by female laundry workers in 1945 brought in the second week of paid holidays for everyone, which changed the way we went on vacation.

Cue a clip from the 1970s or 80s, where a young family arrives back at a B&B after a nice day at the beach (14°C and rain). This reminded me that we’re probably stuck with a staycation again this year, which isn’t a great way to start 2021 .

The Way We Were is actually a decent watch. The pace means a quick turnover of RTÉ celebs talking about Bettystown and Bray, and there are some nuggets in among the nostalgia. But it’s all bite-sized information without a theme, other than 'hey look, it’s semi-famous Irish people talking about their hols'.

Spiral BBC Boxing Clever for Caroline Delaney

Spiral (BBC Four, Saturday 9pm and BBC iPlayer) is back for the eighth and final season. It’s so good, I think we should re-join the UK so we can get easy access to all eight seasons on the BBC iPlayer. It’s the same gritty format, following a team of detectives working parts of Paris that will never make it onto a postcard. One critic described it as a bit like Law and Order, which is up there with saying The Simpsons is a bit like Bosco. Spiral, or Engrenages in French, is proper telly. Try and catch it now on BBC Four, or maybe move up north and watch it on the iPlayer.