Irish Great Famine sitcom sparks outrage

A sitcom based on Ireland’s Great Famine has caused outrage, despite the fact it has yet to be written.

Hugh Travers, 31, is writing the Channel 4 commissioned show, called Hungry, based on the country’s huge famine and ensuing mass emigration to the US. He said that it would be a similar style to the popular British comedy Shameless, which centred on an aimless family led by an alcoholic father living in Manchester.

Following the success of Travers’s play Lambo last year, Channel 4 handed him an open commission to write Hungry after reading some of his other scripts. The writer said that he viewed the show as a “massive opportunity” but also “seriously daunting”.

He explained that he come up with the idea for the Famine-based show because it was well known that “comedy equals tragedy plus time”. He insisted, however, that he didn’t want to do anything to deny the suffering his countrymen went through, but noted that Ireland had a reputation for “black humour”.

However, many people have been angered by the idea of a show based on such a woeful time for Ireland, with one disgruntled commenter taking to social media to ask, “What is funny about the starvation of millions?” Another described the show as the “worst idea I’ll hear about all day and it’s still morning”.