Final round of series wasn't a knockout

Herald.ie Katie Byrne25th August, 2009

The final of Charity Lords of the Ring was a predictably over-dramatised but largely underwhelming affair, which saw Sean "The Dragon" Gallagher take down Paul "Showbiz" Martin, who was incredulous rather than magnanimous in defeat.

The overjoyed reaction of the runners-up clearly showed which corner of the ring they were routing for. "I would love to have a go at Paul 'Handbag' Martin," said Pat Shortt earlier in the programme.

The bullish Gallagher got the opportunity and he didn't disappoint. It was a clash of ego against id (or a Ferrari and a panzer tank, as one observer remarked) and the latter triumphed.

It was a high-powered final bout, but the programme-makers clearly struggled to fill the required 50 minutes beyond those critical three rounds.

The uninjured contestants stepped back into the ring to bump up the final night bill and there was a cameo by boxing Goliath Tyson Fury (named after Mike Tyson by his bare-knuckle fighting Traveller father).

In the sentimentality favoured by bad Hollywood screenwriters, the contestants returned to the ring for that one final shot. The scene opened with Lucy and the coaches discussing the lads' departures. "And what have they done: left us," she droned. Cut to: A door swinging open triumphantly and the arrival of most of the runners-up.

Less scripted was Martin's reaction. He was devastated and, in true form, almost suggested that victory should have been his. He also failed to acknowledge Gallagher's performance.

Still, credit where credit's due: Martin made the show: His unashamedly priapic, fiercely competitive and overwhelmingly arrogant behaviour left you vying to see a steam of blood coursing from his nose. More contestants of his nature would have made Lords of the Ring compulsive viewing.

It was also the final installment of The Big Story, a series which charted the careers of Ireland's best known journalists and the stories which preceded them. It was infinitely more watchable.

Former RTE security correspondent-turned-children's book writer, Tom McCaughren, recalled some of his biggest stories, including the 1980s kidnapping of dentist John O'Grady, the murder of Phyllis Murphy and the still unexplained case of the six missing women in Leinster between 1993 and 1998.

While Lords of the Ring struggled to fill its time slot, The Big Story had too much content and too little air-time. The result was a discordant narrative and an abrupt revisit to each of the cases.

It's also a shame that it ended on the story of the missing women, which simply reopened the case but brought it no further forward. It's a story that McCaughren said he thinks about every day, so surely he has formulated personal theories on the women's disappearances.

The Big Story failed to deliver the inside scoop on this occasion, but it was an arresting series nonetheless.