Author Tom Coyne and actor Bill Murray travel around Ireland playing various courses in a television series titled A Course Called Ireland, broadcast on BBC Two. Set to air at 9.30pm on Sunday 25 October, the broadcast draws on the travels Coyne recorded in his similarly titled book, which details his time playing every course located within the country.
The introductory sequence features a roadside Irish woman misidentifying the 76-year-old actor as Bill Cosby. Billed as a jocular road trip where the two friends meet colourful characters, reflect on their Irish heritage, and play rugged links, the production quickly deviates as the Hollywood legend resists the format.
Defying the Itinerary and Television Artifice
Bill Murray can’t stop for a wee without being mobbed, while the director pushes for maximum screen time. Instead, the actor rips up the itinerary, digs in his heels, grouches, and cringes at the artifice of making TV, such as pretending to meet people for the first time.
During one particular segment, rather than visiting the pub according to the script, he wanders off to take in a local folk music gathering instead. After production has been called off, he goes back into the establishment to spearhead an intoxicated singalong with everyone present. During the journey, he hoists a groomsman on his shoulders and gently pushes an ice-cream in a woman’s face, joking, If I wasn’t famous, I’d probably have a few more cuts and bruises to the face.
Supporting Characters Provide Voiceovers for the Show
Each episode boasts a voiceover from a supporting character, including a tweed shop proprietor, a junior runner, and Ireland’s former minister of the arts. Margaret, an elderly woman outside a sweet shop, tells Murray he was the best thing in Gorseboosters
and jokes about his heritage, saying, Bill is 98% Irish if you look at his DNA, which I haven’t, but it says so here in the script.
While the show’s introductory sequence states, This is not a show about golf,
adding, It’s not even a show about Bill Murray,
the behind-the-scenes feeling of a crew working around a recalcitrant star becomes the central story.