Based on an Australian format, The Panel was a weekly RTÉ topical comedy-style chat show made by Happy Endings.
Originally hosted by Dara O’Briain on RTÉ TWO with four panellists who changed from week to week, it eventually moved to RTÉ ONE by which time it was chaired by Craig Doyle.
Regular panelists included Colin Murphy, Andrew Maxwell, Neil Delamere, Mairead Farrell and Eleanor Tiernan.
They discussed current events, interspersed with interviews with special guests. Panelists were comedians, and as such the show aimed for pure comedy, rather than any hybrid of discussion or analysis and topical jokes. The producers and regular performers were clear that the show was distinguished from other panel shows by the absence of games, rounds, scores or other contrivances.
After its one-off 2002 pilot, which I produced, The Panel eventually ran from September 2003 to January 2011.
