Mock The Week's Dara O Briain on his ‘genuinely weird’ homecoming for new Channel 5 series

ok.co.uk:

We know him best as a comedian, but did you know Dara Ó Briain is a keen amateur astronomer too? He’s celebrating his passion for planets in the new Channel 5 series Wonders Of The Moon With Dara Ó Briain.

However, the 51-year-old admits his comedy career and its nocturnal hours often get in the way of his telescope time. “This is the worst possible hobby to have because I get back at one o’clock in the morning from a show in Woking and the last thing I am going to do is spend two hours setting up a telescope,” says the Mock the Week host, who has recently been on tour. “I have been waiting for the bit which is now when the tour winds down for the summer and I can go back out again.” Dara is looking to the skies for this two-part documentary, which aims to unpack the mysteries of the moon.The star speaks to researchers, scientists, including lunar geologist Professor Katie Joy, and experts at the European Space Agency to understand the moon’s “special kind of magic”.

And, as part of the show, Dara heads to the area close to his hometown in County Wicklow, Ireland. “The Wicklow Mountains for me are Sunday drives and later Gaelic football matches against local villages around Wicklow where we would clatter into each other,” he says. “Where I grew up was at the very foot of the mountains.The programme makers had no idea of the enormous psycho-geography we were driving through.” While revisiting the region sparked fond childhood memories for Dara, he reveals that going back did feel “genuinely weird”. “It’s like if they had said, ‘We’ve booked a hall’ and then it turns out to be your primary school hall,” he adds.