Dara is joined this week by Edith Bowman and PJ Gallagher along with panelist regulars Ed Byrne and Neil Delemare, while their guest tonight is Mr. Nice aka Howard Marks.
Background:
The Panel returns for a fifth series. Joining Dara this season will be Colin Murphy, Ed Byrne, Andrew Maxwell and Neil Delamere, while new faces will include comedians Maeve Higgins and PJ Gallagher, and former Rose of Tralee and research scientist Aoibhinn Ni Shuilleabhain, with further names currently being kept under wraps. And, in a decidedly welcome echo of the first ever Panel, the first show of the series will mark the return to Panel duties of Anna Nolan, who featured with Deirdre O’Kane, Ed Byrne and Ryan Tubridy in the shows pilot, broadcast in December 2003. Anna is expected to feature on the Panel a number of times during the series.
Guests confirmed so far include BBC Correspondent, John Simpson; award-winning actress and comedienne, Maureen Lipman; Heston Blumenthal, acknowledged by many to be the world’s greatest chef; ITV’s soccer presenter, Gabby Logan; MTV presenter Edith Bowman; cult novelist, Christopher Brookmyre; and the celebrated smuggler of, er, fragrant things, Howard Marks.
As ever, the content of the show will be dictated by the week’s events, so little can be said about what’s going to be in or out. It’s fair to say though that The Panelistas are delighted with Michael McDowell’s elevation to Tanaiste, examining the proposals for new privacy legislation with forensic attention, and captivated by the appearance of rogue squirrels in America’s national parks