In his third Late Late Toy Show (RTÉ One, 9.35pm), Patrick Kielty makes playing Dr Seuss’s rhyming curmudgeon, the Grinch, look a cinch – and doesn’t flinch as, in a pinch, he goes on to deliver a night brimming with tear-jerker moments and celebrity cameos.
It is a brilliantly slick turn from the presenter, who comes to Studio 4 in Montrose after a challenging year that includes the death of his mother and his separation from his wife of 13 years, Cat Deeley.
What a Toy Show natural he is. If the Ryan Tubridy years were a riot of boggle-eyed mania – and the occasional f-bomb – then Kielty’s Toy Show tenure is a far calmer affair, and this enjoyably sweet evening – with its unlikely Grinch theme – is perhaps his strongest yet.
It has lots of what you would want from a classic Toy Show – and Kielty, who materialises in a green jumpsuit in a fun CGI opening, isn’t even the biggest Grinch on screen. That honour is shared by Liam Neeson, who grouchily narrates an opening Dr Seuss poem, and Roy Keane, who turns up to deliver grumpy encouragement to friends Keelan and Dylan as they prepare to climb a huge Jenga block.
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Keelan and Dylan’s friendship gives us the first goosebumps of the evening. Keelan has Tourette’s, and watching his pal offer encouragement as the attention (quite reasonably) becomes too much is a great big “aaah” moment tied up with a bow. Then comes the latest in a steady clip of celeb cameos as singer Lewis Capaldi, who has spoken about his own Tourette’s, sends the friends an encouraging video message and tickets for his Dublin show next year.
People love the Toy Show - but they also love to complain about the Toy Show. The big gripe often is that there’s too much show and not enough toy. Kielty, who quickly swaps his Grinch costume for a sort of Hugh Hefner gentleman’s cardigan, is aware of such rumblings, and it’s straight into the good stuff with an opening segment in which golf enthusiast Declan shows off his putting skills in a toilet.
He also provides Kielty with the gift of a plastic poo – and a classic Toy Show line. “When you’re feeling down, you can cuddle up with your Christmas poo and think of me.” They’ll be printing that on T-shirts a week from now.
As with every Toy Show, some bits work better than others.
There’s a spirited group cover of Rosé’s APT – presumably nobody at RTÉ flagged that it’s named after a Korean drinking game. However, an appearance by the inescapable Kingfishr with their song Killeagh – think the 2 Johnnies pretending to be Mumford & Sons – goes on far too long. As someone who grew up close to the actual Killeagh, I can only say … enough … enough!
Still, the Toy Show has always been about ups and downs, and an eleventh hour appearance by CMAT caps off a star-sprinkled evening. The takeaway from this year’s toy show is that, three years in, Kielty has subtly yet definitively remade a seasonal institution in his image.
In terms of his interactions with kids, he’s far superior to previous Late Late hosts – he genuinely appears to enjoy bantering with the children. He is good at putting them at ease without condescending to either them or the viewer.
But RTÉ has to be running out of Christmas classics to adapt, we are surely getting close to the day when Kielty leads a Die Hard-themed Late Late. But whatever the future holds for the Toy Show the biggest night in Irish television is in safe hands.
Tonight, Kielty makes being green seem like the easiest thing in the world.
