May 27th May

Words of Gentle Tolerance
Another in the series of short animation based on monologues from Radio Ulster's Days Like THis. in this episode we learn the importance of handed-down wisdom.

Days Like This, the popular BBC Radio Ulster series in which members of public share monumental days in their lives is now a stunning new animated television series.

This captivating series features individual monologues first heard in the BBC Radio Ulster series and gives them a colourful new life through beautiful animation which both captures and compliments the strength of the spoken word.

These spectacular visual interpretations of the Days Like This stories come courtesy of Belfast-based animation company
Flickerpix, the team behind the successful 3D animation series On The Air, which used real audio clips from BBC Radio Ulster’s
Gerry Anderson programme.

Like the Days Like This radio series, which has been broadcast every day on BBC Radio Ulster since January 2007, this 15-part
television series features an eclectic, enchanting mix of personal stories, some upbeat and funny, others reflective and wistful, but all talking about a day which has left a lasting impact on an individual’s life.

Among the Days Like This stories which can now be seen, as well as heard, in the television series are: a man’s nostalgic look at his older brother’s generosity when he bought him a blue chopper bicycle; a woman telling of how a trip to the Great Barrier Reef cured her fear of water; a man recalling how a one-off trip to an international football match resulted in a rare precious day with his father; a former prisoner of war remembering how a priest with a gramophone offered a shining light in the darkest of times; and a woman recalling how words of wisdom imparted on her as a child left a lasting impact on her life.

Joel Simon, producer and director of the Days Like This television series, says: “This series presented a whole new interesting
challenge for me, as my background is very much in portraying cartoon characters saying funny things. With Days Like This,
however, I tried to illustrate a whole range of true stories – some of them very moving and emotive- without ever showing the narrator or putting the spotlight on them.

"Rather, the approach on this series was to convey how the narrator felt through illustrations and period footage and images.
We did not want to represent the scenes described by the narrators too literally. We were also careful to be quite respectful
towards the stories, and not embroider or distort them.

“Each of the 15 episodes has an individual look and style to suit the mood of the story. For instance we used a vivid photo-montage technique for one lady’s story recounting her experience of going underwater in the Great Barrier Reef; some of the more
comedic aspects of her story suited a highly stylised, collage-like treatment.

"Another story set during World War II was illustrated
in beautiful drawn animation with pastel colours. Another story set in a Belfast book shop was animated in stylised CGI, like Toy
Story.

“We had over 250 interesting, personal stories to choose from the BBC Radio Ulster archives, but we chose these 15 particular ones as they are very visual, best suited to animation, and obviously they are very engaging as short stories with a captivating beginning, middle and end.”

Days Like This producer for the BBC Radio Ulster series, Pauline Currie, says “This wonderful television series gives the stories
originally heard on BBC Radio Ulster a whole new life and a new audience.

“When the Days Like This team and I saw the first pilot we were just choked. The first time I met Joel Simon from Flickerpix he
explained what he wanted to do with the series, which was to get the power and the emotion of each story across and not just
focus on the humour which you would so often associate with animation.

"I might not have had a clear picture of what the animation would turn out to look like, but I trusted Joel and the team at Flickerpix implicitly. And when I finally saw the first programme I was truly just blown away and wanted watch to watch it over and over again.

“Of course we are completely indebted to our contributors. At the end of the day, we would be nowhere without the people who
came in and generously let us share in their personal and often powerful stories.”

Days Like This starts on BBC One Northern Ireland on Monday December 1 at 10.35pm and will run on consecutive weekday nights until Friday December 19.

Days Like This can be heard weekdays on BBC Radio Ulster at 11.55am and 11.50pm, Saturdays at 8.55am and Sundays at 11.55am and 3.55pm. 92–95FM & DAB digital radio, digital TV and online at bbc.co.uk/radioulster and bbc.co.uk/ni/dayslikethis