Moone Boy
Irish sitcom
title: "Moone Boy" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["2012-irish-television-series-debuts", "2015-irish-television-series-endings", "international-emmy-award-for-best-comedy-series-winners", "irish-television-sitcoms", "sky-uk-sitcoms", "television-series-about-children", "television-series-set-in-1989", "television-series-set-in-1990", "television-series-set-in-1991", "television-series-with-live-action-and-animation", "television-shows-set-in-the-republic-of-ireland", "television-shows-filmed-in-the-republic-of-ireland"] description: "Irish sitcom" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moone_Boy" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Irish sitcom ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox television"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| image | Moone Boy title.jpg |
| genre | Sitcom |
| creator | Chris O'Dowd |
| writer | {{Plainlist |
| director | {{Plainlist |
| starring | {{Plainlist |
| theme_music_composer | The Sultans of Ping FC |
| opentheme | "Where's Me Jumper" |
| company | {{Plainlist |
| composer | Rónán Johnston |
| country | {{Plainlist |
| language | English |
| runtime | 22 min |
| network | Sky One |
| first_aired | |
| last_aired | |
| num_series | 3 |
| num_episodes | 18 |
| :: |
| image = Moone Boy title.jpg | caption = | genre = Sitcom | creator = Chris O'Dowd | writer = {{Plainlist |
- Chris O'Dowd
- Nick Vincent Murphy | director = {{Plainlist |
- Declan Lowney
- Ian Fitzgibbon
- Chris O'Dowd | starring = {{Plainlist |
- Chris O'Dowd
- David Rawle
- Deirdre O'Kane
- Peter McDonald
- Ian O’Reilly
- Aoife Duffin
- Clare Monnelly
- Sarah White | theme_music_composer = The Sultans of Ping FC | opentheme = "Where's Me Jumper" | company = {{Plainlist |
- Baby Cow Productions
- Sprout Pictures
- Hot Cod Productions
- Grand Pictures | composer = Rónán Johnston | country = {{Plainlist |
- Ireland | language = English | camera = | runtime = 22 min | network = Sky One | first_aired = | last_aired = | num_series = 3 | num_episodes = 18 | list_episodes =
Moone Boy is an Irish sitcom created, co-written by and co-starring Chris O'Dowd for British broadcaster Sky One. The series is co-written by Nick Vincent Murphy and is produced by Baby Cow Productions, Sprout Pictures, Hot Cod Productions, and Grand Pictures. The series is semi-autobiographical of O'Dowd and focuses on a young boy's life growing up in Boyle, County Roscommon, in the west of Ireland in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Moone Boy is the second series produced from Sky One's Little Crackers shorts and is inspired by O'Dowd's contribution, "Capturing Santa", which was produced by Sprout Pictures.
The introductory music for much of each episode is "Tico's Tune" by Geoff Love (recorded by him under the name "Manuel & The Music of the Mountains"). This piece of music has near-iconic status in Ireland as it was used as the theme music for The Gay Byrne Show, a long-running and immensely popular morning radio show on RTÉ Radio 1. Background music and soundtrack pieces were composed for the series by Rónán Johnston. The opening credits are accompanied with the song "Where's Me Jumper" by The Sultans of Ping FC.
Moone Boy aired its third and final series in 2015.
Synopsis
Seán Murphy is the imaginary friend of 12-year-old Martin Paul Moone, the only boy in a family living in Boyle, a small town in the north of County Roscommon in the rural West of Ireland. Martin, aided by his imaginary friend, has a unique perspective on life. His imagination comes into play both in his childish drawings, which come alive through animation, and in the ridiculous schemes he comes up with, against Seán's better judgement. With Seán's help, Martin negotiates life as the youngest member of a chaotic, scatterbrained family.
Production
Chris O'Dowd said: "Moone Boy is a fantastic comedy which centres on a twelve-year-old boy who has an imaginary friend. It is set in the late eighties/early nineties and all of the experiences are ones that I had. It's a really funny show which has loads of animation and a number of laughs that I hope people will love. It was essential to film in Ireland and what was great about Sky was they wanted us to film here and they were really supportive. That wouldn't have happened at any other channel."
Moone Boy is Sky's second commission based on a Little Crackers short. The series is a co-production between Sprout Pictures, who produced the original Little Crackers short, Baby Cow Productions, Hot Cod Productions and Grand Pictures, and began filming in early 2012 on location in Boyle and other places in County Roscommon, as well as County Wicklow.
Cast
- Chris O'Dowd as Seán Caution Murphy
- David Rawle as Martin Moone
- Deirdre O'Kane as Debra Moone
- Peter McDonald as Liam Moone
- Ian O'Reilly as Padraic O'Dwyer
- Aoife Duffin as Trisha Moone
- Clare Monnelly as Fidelma Moone
- Sarah White as Sinéad Moone
- Steve Coogan as Francie "Touchy" Fehily
- Evan O'Hanlon as Paulie
- Johnny Vegas as Crunchie Haystacks
- Steve Wall as Danny Moone
- Norma Sheahan as Linda
- Ronan Raftery as Dessie
- Tom Hickey as Granddad Joe
- Mark Doherty as Fr. Linehan
Episodes
Series 1 (2012)
::data[format=table]
| Episode | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EpisodeNumber=1 | Title=Men of the Houses | DirectedBy=Declan Lowney | WrittenBy=Chris O'Dowd & Nick Vincent Murphy | 2012 | 9 |
| :: |
Series 2 (2014)
::data[format=table]
| Episode | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EpisodeNumber=1 | Title=Boylé, Boylé, Boylé | DirectedBy=Ian Fitzgibbon | WrittenBy=Chris O'Dowd & Nick Vincent Murphy | 2014 | 2 |
| :: |
Series 3 (2015)
::data[format=table]
| Episode | Title | Directed by | Written by | UK Ratings | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EpisodeNumber=1 | Title=Where The Streets Do Have Names | DirectedBy=Chris O'Dowd | WrittenBy=Chris O'Dowd & Nick Vincent Murphy | 2015 | 3 |
| :: |
Reception
The show has been well received by critics. The Guardian called it "the most life-affirming delight to have hit our screens in a long time", and said: "It is surreal, within decent limits, and it is derivative, but I think the derivations are happily if tacitly acknowledged".
Moone Boy won an International Emmy for Best Comedy and was also nominated for two awards at the 2012 British Comedy Awards. In 2014, it won an IFTA Award for best entertainment programme.
Home media
The first series of Moone Boy was released on DVD on 15 October 2012. The second series of Moone Boy was released on DVD on 31 March 2014. A boxset containing the first two series was also released on 31 March 2014.
American remake
It was announced in October 2014 that the show received a "Put-pilot" from ABC. O'Dowd was said to be a writer and producer, but was not expected to star.
References
References
- [http://evoke.ie/showbiz/moone-boy-season-3-final-season-confirmed End of the Moone Boy: Chris O’Dowd’s show set in Roscommon will end after next season]. Evoke.ie, 23 June 2014
- (February 2012). "MOONE BOY – rayballdesign". cargocollective.com.
- "Weekly Top 10 Programmes". [[Broadcasters' Audience Research Board]].
- Ferguson, Euan. (16 September 2012). "Moone Boy Review". The Guardian.
- "Moone Boy Wins Best Comedy Emmy Award". Find and Watch.
- "Irish Film & Television Academy – Irish Film & Television Awards". ifta.ie.
- "Moone Boy [DVD]". [[Amazon (company).
- Goldberg, Lesley. (15 October 2014). "ABC Adapting 'Moone Boy' With Chris O'Dowd". hollywoodreporter.com.
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