Waddell readies TV ads doc for BBC NI

BBC Northern Ireland is preparing to air a one-off documentary from Belfast-based indie Waddell Media about controversial television ads aired during the region’s sectarian conflict.

Jannine Waddell

Ads On The Frontline (1×60’) focuses on 25 provocative and violent adverts produced by the Northern Ireland Office between 1988 and 1998.

The period came at the end of a 30-year conflict known as The Troubles, between those who wanted Northern Ireland to remain part of the UK and those who wanted to join with the Republic of Ireland. The violence was brought to an official close by The Good Friday Agreement.

Narrated by Eamonn Holmes, the doc will air on Wednesday May 23 at 21.00 on BBC NI.

Waddell Media MD Jannine Waddell said: “I was working as a producer in London at the time these commercials aired and I was home one weekend in Northern Ireland and I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them on UTV, how graphic they were, quite shocking for their time.

“As the Good Friday Agreement anniversary was approaching this year, these ads came back to me and I felt the story of how they came about needed to be told.”