Seven Ages

Seven Ages
Directed bySeán Ó Mórdha
Music byBill Whelan
Country of originIreland
No. of episodes7
Production
ProducerSeán Ó Mórdha
Running time55 minutes
Production companiesAraby Productions, O'Reilly Foundation
Original release
Network
Release2000 (2000)

Seven Ages is a historical documentary series that was produced by Araby Productions, in association with The O'Reilly Foundation, for RTÉ and BBC Northern Ireland. It charts the birth, growth and development of the Irish state since its foundation in 1921. The series was produced and directed by Seán Ó Mórdha, and the music was composed by Bill Whelan. It was first broadcast in 2000. It won the Television Features and Documentary Award at the ESB National Media Awards in 2000, and was also shortlisted for the IFTA Awards.

Episodes

The series consists of seven 55-minute episodes, each dealing with a different decade, beginning with independence in 1921. The episodes do not, however, stick rigidly to their particular decade in order to avoid certain historical events from being split across two successive programmes (the Arms Crisis is an example of this). The final episode covers both the 1980s and 1990s.

Contributors

Several important Irish figures gave interviews for the series. Among them were ex-Presidents Patrick Hillery and Mary Robinson, and former Taoisigh Liam Cosgrave, Charles Haughey and Garret FitzGerald.[citation needed] There are also contributions from Desmond O'Malley and Michael D. Higgins, as well as historians, journalists, economists, public servants and the sons and daughters of Civil War veterans.[citation needed]

Video and DVD release

In 2002 the series was released as a box-set on both VHS and DVD. The former consisted of three video cassettes, which are in PAL format. The two-disc DVD set, however, was mastered in NTSC format (used in North America and Japan). As a consequence, the DVDs are not watchable an older Irish television sets that can only accept standard PAL signals if used with a DVD player that strictly enforces output coding. Although there may be some interested in the series in America, it is assumed that the NTSC formatting was a mistake by the company that mastered the DVDs. Additionally, neither the DVD inlay nor the DVD itself has any mention of the NTSC formatting.[citation needed]

References

  1. 1 2 3 McCarthy, Gerry (8 February 2004). "Television: Silence, exile and cunning". The Times. Retrieved 1 July 2025. Seven Ages, a history of the Irish state, is his historical masterwork. ... O Mordha left to set up his own company, Araby Productions, in the 1980s. ... As an independent producer, O Mordha has provided RTE with hits: Seven Ages drew 400,000 viewers to its first broadcast.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  2. ↑ Walshe, John (14 November 2001). "Hit TV series Seven Ages to be screened in classrooms". Irish Independent. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 John, Kenny (2000). We Got Things Going (Thesis). University of Galway. p. 2-5. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  4. ↑ "Meteor Industry Award for Bill Whelan". RTÉ. 10 January 2007. Retrieved 1 July 2025. His own compositional work in film includes 'Lamb' starring Liam Neeson, Sean O'Mordha's historical documentary series 'The Seven Ages' ...
  5. ↑ "Portrait of the Irish Artist". The Irish Film & Television Network. Retrieved 1 July 2025. His most recent television series for RTE 'Seven Ages' on the history of the Irish State, won the Television Features and Documentary Award at the ESB National Media Awards 2000.
  6. ↑ "IFTA Awards". The Irish Film & Television Network. Retrieved 1 July 2025. The short listed nominations are: Television: Best Documentary in English: ... Seven Ages Araby Productions for BBC NI & RTÉ...
  7. ↑ McGee, Harry (6 June 2005). "Haughey not 'seriously ill'". Irish Examiner. Retrieved 1 July 2025.