The Late Late Toy Show: How a television show has become Ireland's greatest Christmas tradition

IIn Ireland, it is neither the publicity of John Lewis nor the Coca Cola bus which announces the arrival of Christmas: it is the Late Late Toy Show.

Since its debut in 1975, the Toy Show has gained a special place in the Irish heart and a legion of viewers. Last year, the 1.35 million people who listened to the audience accounted for an audience share of 72%.

The program is a special edition of The Late Late Show, aired every Friday night. A mix of politics, celebrity interviews, musical guests and public participation, this is where Eurovision entries and controversial referendums are chosen. Since 1962, it has become the flagship program of the national broadcaster RTE and is an essential part of Irish life.

Once a year, a few weeks before Christmas, it presents a festive event: the late toy show. It's essentially a showcase of gifts that dominate Santa's lists this year – and a group of kids are invited to test them.

Music, dance, special guests and other surprises have been added to the mix. Last year, Cork's Burke children opened a huge gift to discover their father inside: a soldier who had participated in a peacekeeping mission in Mali, now at home for Christmas. The clip quickly became viral.

Ryan Tubridy, the host of RTE, elegantly manages this festive cavalcade. "In Ireland, it's like having two Christmas," he told The Independent during a pause in this year's preparations. "There is December 25 and the evening of the toy show."

Tubridy grew up watching at home. He must now release his inner child while supervising the proceedings. "It probably looks like waiting at the bottom of the stairs on Christmas morning to pick up your presents under Santa's Christmas tree," he explains, "and then become an integral part of the operation. to deliver them. "

He believes that the secret to managing children and making the most of it during the two-hour live broadcast is to talk to them at their level.

"You just have to sit down and talk to them as if you were their mate, and they're just starting to chat," he says. "Irish kids have a vision of the world, whether they're talking about agriculture or music – it's funny, fun and entertaining."

Like Santa's program, the planning of the show is a one-year affair. Katherine Drohan is a seasoned producer who has worked on the show for many years. She says that the day after the broadcast of the series, preparations begin for the next year.

"We are still thinking of the Toy Fair," she says. "I go to the toy show in London every January and Ryan always keeps an eye on things that catch his eye. But production starts properly three months in advance, when we organize auditions. "

It's no exaggeration to say that participating in the Toy Show is a childhood dream for anyone growing up in Ireland. So, what is the secret formula that producers are looking for?

"Before Ryan, it was energetic faces, smiling and happy," she says. "What we are looking for now is authenticity – children who are not shy, they can not hide their true personality, their quirks. Ryan is really good at locating the essence of a child and bringing it out. It's a big kid himself, so it's a similar mind!

To create perfect televised moments, the series thinks beyond the surprise of children with a new toy or a celebrity. Drohan recalls the appearance in 2015 of Johnny O'Loughlin, a Clare resident obsessed with the weather, and especially the Weather Girl, Evelyn Cusack.

"He looked at the weather every night with his parents and they guessed which presenter he was going to be – he had even created himself a little weather game he was used to playing. So that year, we decided to appeal to Evelyn Cusack as a big surprise. "

After his initial shock, O'Loughlin was then able to play his homemade board game with his heroine. This kind of personalized surprise has become synonymous with the magic of the toy show.

"We let the kids drive the stories," said Drohan, "and you can not help but love those great moments that come with it."

In many cases, an appearance at the toy show is one that never leaves you. Sean McDonnell was 10 years old when he appeared in the series in 1992. He is now 36 years old and says people still remember him.

"I was selected from around 10,000 people to appear," he recalls. In the evening, he played a song he wrote himself – "You must be faster," with a routine inspired by Michael Jackson.

"The reaction of my whole school on Monday morning was amazing," he says. "It powered me into mini-celebrity when I was a kid in my neighborhood. It was amazing to be part of such a clbadic show and to be famous for a little while. People still ask me so far! "

Whether you've had the chance to participate in the show, sit in the audience or enjoy the family tradition of watching together each year, the Late Late Toy Show is an event that all Irish people enjoy in common.

"It's not a TV show, it's an event," says Drohan. "It's a celebration of irony and Christmas. Everyone in the clbad will talk about it, and they will stay late, and parents talk about it, and the twenty-five years look at it over a drink – it works on many levels.

Tubridy thinks that the show also has a deeper purpose. "It decynates a nation for two hours. The more cynical the world becomes, the more important the Toy Show becomes, because it lacks expectations, notions and policies, or even Brexit. "

It should also be that the Toy Show – and the Late Late Show itself – is a lifeline for the Irish diaspora abroad, a kind of bat signal from the homeland. Many will look at the RTE reader from the United Kingdom, United States or Australia.

"Late Late is like very good Irish butter, Irish tea or Irish bacon, it's at home. And people sometimes have to get to the heart of their home country. One of my friends described it as a big Irish public meeting every week and it's lovely. So imagine that without Christmas – with children, toys and happiness. And jumpers, maybe. Indeed, a long-standing tradition is that the organizer wears a spectacular Christmas sweater and viewers often send their own creations, hoping it will be their choice.

"They're getting worse," he laughs. Is he ready for this year? "I have the most disgusting rider that humanity has known!"

The Late Late Toy Show will air on RTE One in Ireland on Friday 30 November. Viewers around the world can watch live or later the RTE player.