A New Tongue-in-cheek Documentary on the Apocalypse Comes Looming to TG4

Can We Really Prepare for an Apocalypse? Or are We Better off Dead?

On a national journey that will bring him from a disused nuclear bunker in Galway to the only Survivalist store in the country in County Cork, presenter Oisín Mistéil is determined to ask the awkward questions about how prepared we are for an apocalypse (in Go mBeirimid Beo).

Oisín will meet with preppers and nuclear physicists, with environmentalists and monastic historians. His aim? To discover how previous generations dealt with these existential threats and to ask how prepared we are for those of the future.

Inspired by the Coronavirus pandemic – and the doomscrolling many of us embarked on as a result – Oisín leaves no stone unturned in his research. Here, he will explore Viking raids, nuclear winters, viral pandemics and climate catastrophes. Hasn’t there always been some kind of looming threat to Irish society? And when the end is nigh, Oisín asks – are we all only looking out for No. 1?

Investigating Various Apocalypses

TG4’s Go mBeirimid Beo features rich archival footage and unearths the fascinating tales that surround the various apocalypses we might have faced in Ireland. On his mission, Oisín dissects Government advice brochures from the 1960s and is stunned by the 40,000-strong music festival in 1979 that protested against plans for a nuclear plant in Co. Wexford.

He also explores the apocalypse of the early middle ages (those pesky Vikings), the surprising future of nuclear power, as well as the impending doom of the climate crisis, and how we might be better off avoiding that.

Presenter Oisín Misteil says: “The pandemic brought the end of the world right into view, so it was great to get the chance to explore how it stacks up against other near apocalypses, past present and future – and choosing to laugh in the face of impending doom.”

Producer Paddy Hayes says: “Shot in the style of Louis Theroux, this is a timely and entertaining journey through recent apocalypse planning while always asking the question: is there something innate in the human psyche that imagines the end could be nigh.”

From the producers of Finné and Daniel O’Connell – Forgotten King of Ireland, Go mBeirimid Beo takes the end of the world as its starting point and embarks on an entertaining ride through the hits and near misses of the apocalypse in Ireland.

Airs Wednesday 8th September at 9:30 pm.

Prepared by Suzanna Hayek