RTÉ festive line-up features a few turkeys

RTÉ could well have been called Ebenezer Scrooge for announcing in recent weeks that it was outsourcing all of its young people’s programmes, but its line-up for the festive season shows the broadcaster really is turning into the grinch.

When the press release announcing the schedule drops into newsroom inboxes and the first programme one sees is Mrs Brown’s Boys, it is likely there is no blockbuster announcement to follow in the ensuing lines.

And when Mrs Brown’s Boys is followed by Bridget & Eamon for some “belly laughs”, the sense of impending disappointment increases.