Whistleblower

ianrush

As extremely worthy and important as we all know the subject matter is, I just could not get my head around such a poor production. The script was one dimensional and not even up to soap opera quality for the most part. Some of the acting, in particular the English nurse who has to anchor the whole story, just seemed amateurish (but maybe this was the script's fault again). Overall, while I'm not doubting the good intentions of the programme makers, it all felt rather rushed and under developed.

Zippie_84

I actually disagree and thought it was well acted. something about it made it seem very real. i thought the english actress was very good. and top marks to the girl who played the mother. heavy and hard viewing tho

is_that_so

I think this is one of those things like the Stardust where the subject is more important than the script. Being based on reality makes it more difficult sometimes. Thought the performances were reasonable overall although I accept the script only focussed on a small part of the story. Mind you with 39 cases and the subsequent inquiry dealing with it was always going to be a problem. Incidentally the report on it is worth a read even at 360 pages. Puts it all into context.

Zippie_84

is_that_so wrote: »

I think this is one of those things like the Stardust where the subject is more important than the script. .

+1 so true

Phototoxin

is_that_so wrote: »

Being based on reality makes it more difficult sometimes.

you mean rude receptionists, and all but one woman we see who is pregnant getting a hysterectomy ?

I know its drama, but drama has to have some element of reality to it to be feasable.

the good intentions of the programme makers

to make money ?!!

is_that_so

Phototoxin wrote: »

you mean rude receptionists, and all but one woman we see who is pregnant getting a hysterectomy ?

I know its drama, but drama has to have some element of reality to it to be feasable.

No. From what I understand most of those characters are composites and serve to tell the story of what happened. In my view it was written more to inform than to entertain and I treated it as such. On that basis I thought it was adequate.

EdgarAllenPoo

I thought it was well acted (or as well acted as an RTE programme can be). Stanley Townsend could make an excellent Bond villian.

lucozader

I can't believe that monster DR Neary wasn't really punished for his crimes.

The state should be ashamed of themselves for letting him live as a free man.

They should send him to a country that allows torture and have them torture the truth out of him.

Then take all of his assets and give them to the victims and leave him penniless.

Then he should be sent to mountjoy for the rest of his life and made to share cell with sodomites.

He should only be fed maalox and all bran for the rest of his days.

ianrush

Phototoxin wrote: »

to make money ?!!

Maybe you're right to be cynical, I never said it wasn't a business. Certainly in interviews I've read with the programme makers, they seemed to be very determained that this drama would bring the case to the public's attention again. Fair deuce to them, it's just a shame that they couldn't write a better script.

Wheels

If they weren't going to try to make a quality drama what was the point? Would a documentary not have been better and had a bigger impact? Serious waste of money on RTÉ's part.

darkdubh

Was the nurse English in real life i wonder cos i cant help noticing theres always an obligitary English character in Irish drama series.Maybe an attempt to sell it to a british audience.

baldbear

Yes she was from Manchester. It took the English person to spot what the big thicko Paddys couldn't or chose not to. I didn't think the programme was badly made. RTE did there best, i suppose. Your man who played Neary is one scary looking man.

Phototoxin

lucozader wrote: »

I can't believe that monster DR Neary wasn't really punished for his crimes.

what crimes ? In his opinion at the time he was doing what he believed necessary to save women's lives.

The state should be ashamed of themselves for letting him live as a free man.

Again nothing illegal was coducted. Doctors have to cover themselves legally - wavers etc

They should send him to a country that allows torture and have them torture the truth out of him.

LoL

Then take all of his assets and give them to the victims and leave him penniless.

says a lot about the motives of the victims. Addionally he remains quite popular in the louth/drogheda area.

Then he should be sent to mountjoy for the rest of his life and made to share cell with sodomites.

right if all your suggestions were followed, we'd be worse than Nazi Germany...
He should only be fed maalox and all bran for the rest of his days.[/quote]

clairefrilly

This man "castrasted" these women for no real medical reason.He was at best incompetent. He did not consult with other doctors and treated these women like animals.He delivered me .Years later my mother moved to a different part of the country and when she was having my younger sister the doctor actually guessed who haddelivered her first child just by examining the state he had left her in.
I doubt any of his actions would have been tolerated if he had been needlessly removing testicles but then of course it seems the penis and male reproductive organs are viewed with far more reverence than a woman could ever wish to be.

lucozader

that's the problem with irish society,

the focus getting away with things LEGALLY

but what about MORALITY and JUSTICE and FACTS

LEGALLY a gangster can shoot someone in the head and if there are no witnesses etc. then legally he is innocent

the FACT is he commited murder

The FACT is that Neary was a sick, arrogant bastard that maimed and ruined many people's lives.

I don't give a damn about what legal protections/loopholes people come up with.

amacachi

Short version: **** the law!



I thought it was a pretty poorly scripted, poorly acted programme.

amdublin

I thought it was very well done. (Unusual for RTE!) I thought it was quite well acted, in particular the english girl. I am very much looking forward to the conclusion tonight...

lucozader

the law is terribly flawed

we need a better legal system

lucozader

Phototoxin wrote: »

says a lot about the motives of the victims. Addionally he remains quite popular in the louth/drogheda area.

[/QUOTE]

so you are saying that the mutilated women are only motivated by money ?

Are you a solicitor/barrister by any chance, that sounds like a sleazy solicitors arguement, the type of argument rapists and the catholic church use to justify their atrocities, run down the victim, make them the bad guy :mad:


Also Hitler was popular with the German people, that doesn't make him morally right or a nice fellah

i don't give a damn what drogedha people think about their man, what has that got to do with anything (oh wait i see you are from louth, that explains a lot, it's people like you putting Neary on a pedestal regardless of how he acts of what he does that was part of the problem in the first place) (you are as spineless as steve staunton) (if it was up to people like you Neary would still be butchering people, maby your wife, mum, sister, girlfriend , think about that)

http://www.costumesinc.com/SKUimages/large/FW1664-lg.jpg

gordon_gekko

it is truly shocking that a butcher like neary isnt in jail right now for what he did
as for why so many who worked along side him said nothing for so long , was listening to liveline today ,a midwife who never actually worked along side neary , explained that in hospitals there is a hierarchy and that consultants would only ever communicate with nurses when they shouted at them so low level hosptial employees such as nurses wouldnt dare take someone like mr neary to task , in ireland there has always been professions which commanded a certain status , it used to be the case that the parish priest was the top of the food chain followed by the local doctor , now the priest has slipped well down but doctors are still looked up to in this country more than other professions , it is the snobbiest of profesions and such is the status it carrys , any leaving certain student who gets over 580 points , you always without fail hear afterwards that they are doing medicine , they may well be much more suited to nuclear physics but as most people know , becoming a doctor is as much about social climbing as it is about wanting to care for the needs of the sick , its not wonder then that people like neary end up working as consultant
this guy neary was at best an arrogant power monger and at worst a cold blooded psychopath

Enii

I thought it was brilliant. Well acted, well written. Good on RTE!

ianrush

I am so utterly frustrated with this drama. Firstly, dividing it into two parts. Why!? To me it seems an utterly cynical move by RTE to spread the ratings over two nights. Either do it as a feature like Eden and keep us there in our seats for the duration (most movies are longer than two hours anyway) or otherwise make it into a six part series where the story can then be given proper depth and characterisation. What we got over these two nights is an important story told using one dimensional characters for the most part and continual exposition, because the writer felt obligated to fit in as much information as possible, at the expense of involving us in the drama itself. As usual with a lot of RTE dramas these days, the whole thing ended up feeling like a reasonably well shot soap (generally written by ITV hacks brought over to do the job). The tragedy here is that this story deserved much more.

johnnyrotten

I thought it was good overall.
There was one major flaw. The last scene shows the Kid in the back of the car with no seatbelt.
Not a good thing to show on TV!

BendiBus

I really enjoyed it but I do think it should have been shown in a single 2 hour programme.

gaz wac

Does anyone know what Neary is up to nowadays??

cooperguy

johnnyrotten wrote: »

There was one major flaw. The last scene shows the Kid in the back of the car with no seatbelt.
Not a good thing to show on TV!

Now thats what I call nit picking!!

I thought it was well acted and reasonably well told story. Well worth watching

beanyb

gaz wac wrote: »

Does anyone know what Neary is up to nowadays??

He still lives in the area, living off his full pension.

I thought Whistleblower was great for an RTE production. I thought it was vastly superior to most things that RTE make. It wasnt a work of complete genius on the part of the production team, but I really dont expect that from RTE to be honest. I thought the acting was decent, especially Charlene McKenna, who played Karen Harrington.

johnnyrotten

Nit picking?
Do you have any idea how many children road deaths are preventable by a seat belt every year.
RTE being the national broadcaster should show a better example.
I sure the RSA would agree

Brigantia

over the Sunday and the Monday i thought it was just alright, i think it would have been better as a mini series, than just a two night show.
because it was just over the two nights, i don't think you really bonded with the women or what they were going through, or with the nurse who blew the whistle.
so i think it would have faired better as a mini series.
it still left an awful lot of questions unanswered, and the biggest one of all WHY.
and i think they need answering, i think these women need to know WHY.
why did he think he had to do this to save there lives?
is there something in his past that could help to answer that question?
what was going on in his head to make him think that?

it's unbelievable to think that he is now living in his big house, and still getting his pension like nothing had happened.
it's terribly insulting to those women (and to the children they might have had) whose life's have been destroyed, to have just let him retire on a full pension with his good name still intact.

the powers that be, need to strip him of his pension.
after all, what if it was your wife, your daughter.

cooperguy

johnnyrotten wrote: »

Nit picking?
Do you have any idea how many children road deaths are preventable by a seat belt every year.
RTE being the national broadcaster should show a better example.
I sure the RSA would agree

Oh please a 10 second clip from a tv show will not influence any member of the public with two braincells to rub together. Now dont get me wrong I will not leave anybody sit in my car without a seatbelt but to go to that extreme is ridiculas.

And as for the RSA I wouldnt be surprised if they had something to say about it. They have a great habit of creating a song and dance about the stupid little things that are easy for them to do so that they look like they are doing something.

johnnyrotten

cooperguy wrote: »

Oh please a 10 second clip from a tv show will not influence any member of the public with two braincells to rub together. Now dont get me wrong I will not leave anybody sit in my car without a seatbelt but to go to that extreme is ridiculas.

And as for the RSA I wouldnt be surprised if they had something to say about it. They have a great habit of creating a song and dance about the stupid little things that are easy for them to do so that they look like they are doing something.

Its not about influencing people its about setting examples.