Gerry Kelly returns with a new chat show created by students and TV veterans

By Helen McGurk
Published 17th Oct 2022, 13:02 BST
Updated 17th Oct 2022, 13:02 BST
College students and veteran TV professionals have teamed up to produce Tonight with Gerry Kelly, which will be shown on community station NVTV. Pictured here with Gerry are: student Cora McGoldrick, director William Scott and Belfast Met course coordinator Lynda Bryans. Filmed in front of a studio audience, the well-known presenter will bring his own brand of wit and charm to this eight-week pilot series, which can be watched on NVTV or streamed from October 28th with guests from across the entertainment scene.College students and veteran TV professionals have teamed up to produce Tonight with Gerry Kelly, which will be shown on community station NVTV. Pictured here with Gerry are: student Cora McGoldrick, director William Scott and Belfast Met course coordinator Lynda Bryans. Filmed in front of a studio audience, the well-known presenter will bring his own brand of wit and charm to this eight-week pilot series, which can be watched on NVTV or streamed from October 28th with guests from across the entertainment scene.
College students and veteran TV professionals have teamed up to produce Tonight with Gerry Kelly, which will be shown on community station NVTV. Pictured here with Gerry are: student Cora McGoldrick, director William Scott and Belfast Met course coordinator Lynda Bryans. Filmed in front of a studio audience, the well-known presenter will bring his own brand of wit and charm to this eight-week pilot series, which can be watched on NVTV or streamed from October 28th with guests from across the entertainment scene.
An intrepid team of veteran TV professionals who worked on the iconic Kelly Show have joined forces with students from Belfast Metropolitan College’s e3 studios to bring the king of chat shows back on to the telly

An intrepid team of veteran TV professionals who worked on the iconic Kelly Show have joined forces with students from Belfast Metropolitan College’s e3 studios to bring the king of chat shows back on to the telly.

A dozen former UTV staffers - including Gerry Kelly himself and former news presenter Lynda Bryans - have been collaborating with the next generation of media professionals to produce a brand-new programme, Tonight with Gerry Kelly.

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Filmed in front of a studio audience, the well-known presenter will bring his own brand of wit and charm to this eight-week pilot series, which can be watched on NVTV from October 28 with guests from across the entertainment scene.

Gerry Kelly said: "What a joy it is to be back working with many of my former colleagues on this new weekly show that will be broadcast on NVTV. And what a delight it is, for us all, to be in a position to pass on our many years of broadcasting experience to the next generation of TV, radio and film makers.”

Executive producer Michael McAdam said: “This is a real labour of love for all of us. Once you’ve worked in the buzz of a television studio, it never really leaves your system. Everyone poured their time and experience into this project, sharing their skills with young people who are just about to start their careers.”

The highly experienced team have now founded Havelock Street Productions, a nod to UTV’s former home at Havelock House where the Kelly Show had been filmed from 1989 to 2005.

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Everything fell into place when the group contacted Lynda Bryans who now works as coordinator of the Factual Television & Journalism Higher National Diploma course at Belfast Met’s Film and Television School.

Lynda was delighted by this amazing opportunity for the HND Creative Media Production students to get hands-on experience producing programmes that will be recorded in the college’s state-of-the art television studio in front of a live audience.

She said: “Rather than writing a dissertation about programme production, our students are actually doing it - producing their own content, so it’s fantastic that these highly experienced professionals are sharing their time so freely with this new generation of programme makers.”

One of the students is Cora McGoldrick from Ballycastle who will be working as production co-ordinator for the show said: “This has been a fantastic opportunity to get real TV production experience. Being able to work alongside these industry professionals on a show recorded in front of a live audience and broadcast to the public has given me an invaluable insight into the job.”

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The show will be broadcast at 9pm each Friday night from October 28 on NVTV, which can be found on Freeview Channel 7 or Virgin Media Channel 159. If you’d like to attending the recording of the show, tickets are free and can be booked at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/tonight-with-gerry-kelly-tickets-432571261287.