The Folks on the Hill is an animated sketch show produced for BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC One Northern Ireland

BBC One Northern Ireland is the national variation for BBC Northern Ireland of the network BBC One service broadcast by the BBC. The service is broadcast in Northern Ireland from Broadcasting House in Belfast...

. Its format involves parodying prominent figures in Northern Ireland politics and has also featured Tony Blair

Tony Blair

Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...

, Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown

James Gordon Brown is a British Labour Party politician who was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 until 2010. He previously served as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Labour Government from 1997 to 2007...

, Bertie Ahern

Bertie Ahern

Patrick Bartholomew "Bertie" Ahern is a former Irish politician who served as Taoiseach of Ireland from 26 June 1997 to 7 May 2008....

 and George W. Bush

George W. Bush

George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....

. The term 'folks on the hill' refers to the Northern Ireland parliament and government at Stormont

Parliament Buildings (Northern Ireland)

The Parliament Buildings, known as Stormont because of its location in the Stormont area of Belfast is the seat of the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Northern Ireland Executive...

 Hill.

Written by Sean Crummey, animated by Liam O'Neill up to 2006 and now Ciaran Boyle, and produced by Owen McFadden. Music was by Paul Rocks. Series 10 started airing on BBC One NI from 2 May 2008.

External links

• That's not all folks... (BBC)
• Complete The Folks on the Hill episodes from last two seasons (BBC)

Musical Reference

"The Folks Who Live On the Hill

The Folks Who Live On the Hill

"The Folks Who Live on the Hill" is a 1937 popular song composed by Jerome Kern, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II.It was introduced by Irene Dunne in the 1937 film High, Wide, and Handsome. It has become particularly associated with Peggy Lee, who sang it on her 1957 album The Man I Love. Lee's...

" (1937) is a ballad written by Oscar Hammerstein II

Oscar Hammerstein II

Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...

 and Jerome Kern

Jerome Kern

Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...

. (Note that unlike the show, there is no "the" before "folks" in the song title.) For more information see Darby and Joan

Darby and Joan

Darby and Joan is a proverbial phrase for a married couple content to live a quiet shared life.-Usage:The Nuttall Encyclopædia defined the phrase as "a married couple celebrated for their mutual attachment", the Random House Dictionary as "a happily married couple who lead a placid, uneventful...

.