Posted on September 17, 2008 - by John

Raw

Raw started on RTE 2 last week, with the second episode yesterday. I was shocked that RTE produced such a good drama (to begin with). It is very entertaining. When you consider  past attempts at home made RTE productions such as Fair City, you must congratulate them on it.

Raw is set in a restaurant, which I passed a few times on Camden street, while under the impression that a new restaurant was opening soon, I just realised this was the outside set for the show.

Dissapointingly there only seems to be six episodes in the making, and you can watch them online also, once they have aired on RTE 2.

Jojo’s life is Raw, the thriving Dublin restaurant where she works as a commis chef.  In this kitchen, Jojo has finally found the perfect outlet for all her pent up energy - she loves the camaraderie and the intense adrenaline buzz of life in a restaurant and, most of all, working there has awakened her passion for food and cooking. It’s not perfect of course - Tanya, the restaurant manager is constantly stressed, and always on Jojo’s case, while Tanya’s husband and head chef Mal, is a wayward genius, with the emphasis heavily on the wayward.  Sous chef Geoff is Australian, gay and, during a service, without doubt the hardest taskmaster Jojo has ever worked for.  But she gets on with virtually all the staff - Pavel, the shy Czech waiter, even Tiny the huge, silent African kitchen porter.  And then there’s her best friend and housemate Bobby - Raw’s head barman and Dublin’s chief womaniser, who now seems to be falling for student waitress Rebecca.  But what Jojo can’t figure out, or doesn’t want to think about, is why the thought of Bobby and Rebecca together bothers her so much.  Into this mix arrives Shane, Jojo’s older and supposedly more sensible brother looking to her to sort him out.

And I love this report from the Independent

Full-frontal nudity, gay sex scenes and lesbian kisses now seem to go over the head of the Irish public — with both the Broadcasting Commissioner of Ireland and RTE saying they have had no complaints about the “soft porn” opening scene of a 9.30pm drama, Raw