''If the Cap Fits'' is an Irish television

sketch show Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. The form developed and became popular in vaudeville, and is ...

that aired on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish language, Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the Public broadcaster, national broadcaster of Republic of Ireland, Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on RTÉ Television, telev ...

for one series in 1973. The show was written by and starred

Niall Tóibín Niall Tóibín (; 21 November 1929 – 13 November 2019) was an Irish comedian and actor. Born in Cork into an Irish speaking family, Tóibín grew up on the north-side of the city in Bishop's Field. He appeared in ''Ryan's Daughter'', ''Brides ...

History

The show premiered on 18 June 1973. It was produced and directed by Brian MacLochlainn.

received a

Jacob's Award The Jacob's Awards were instituted in December 1962 as the first Irish television awards. Later, they were expanded to include radio. The awards were named after their sponsor, W. & R. Jacob & Co. Ltd., a biscuit manufacturer, and recipients ...

for ''If the Cap Fits'' in 1973. In Tóibín's 2019 obituary, ''

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

'' called RTÉ's the show "one of the station's rare comedy successes". The show was perceived as "too risqué" to be renewed. Owing to the demands of the fundamentalist Catholics, the show was scrapped and all tapes of it were erased. ''If the Cap Fits'' was the catalyst for the establishment of the Irish League of Decency.

Content

Throughout all the episodes, Tóibín portrayed 90 characters. In a scene, Tóibín's character was a nun who took out

Guinness Guinness () is an Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin, Ireland, in 1759. It is one of the most successful alcohol brands worldwide, brewed in almost 50 countries, and available in ove ...

that was stashed in her clothes. Barbara Brennan, Chris Curran, Maura Hastings, Eileen Murphy, and Derry Power participated in the sketch scenes.

Reception

Ken Gray of ''

'' praised the show for "the variety of voices and accents is marvellous, and marvellously accurate" and said, "There is more savage bite in the comedy, too, than in anything R.T.E. has so far ventured to put on television". Gray said of Tóibín's performance, "He may not always look the part, though the make-up is good, but the accent and inflexion he gets into his satirical impersonations are often deadly." He particularly liked Tóibín's portrays of Dick Burke,

George Colley George Colley (18 October 1925 – 17 September 1983) was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Tánaiste from 1977 to 1981, Minister for Energy from 1980 to 1981, Minister for Tourism and Transport from 1979 to 1980, Minister for ...

, Patrick Hillery, and

Tony O'Reilly Sir Anthony Joseph Francis O'Reilly (born 7 May 1936) is an Irish former businessman and international rugby union player. He is known for his involvement in the Independent News & Media Group, which he led from 1973 to 2009,Dublin, Ireland, ...

. The author

Helena Sheehan Helena Sheehan is an academic philosopher, historian of science, philosophy, culture and politics. Sheehan is Professor Emeritus at Dublin City University, where she taught media studies and history of ideas in the School of Communications. She wa ...

called the show and '' Time Now Mr T'' "some of the best political and social satire produced by RTE" and that all episodes on the two shows were "a veritable tour de force on the part of Niall Tóibín".

References

{{RTÉ Comedies 1973 Irish television series debuts 1970s Irish television series Irish television sketch shows RTÉ original programming