Ballroom Blitz: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

In Ballroom Blitz Adam Clayton explores the unique phenomenon of Irish showbands who dragged a 1950s conservative black and white Ireland – blighted by widespread emigration and a population of less than 3 million people – to finally shake, rattle and roll into the colourful and glamorous 1960s. Fuelled by a growing ballroom ‘mafia' – who controlled artists, venues and radio shows – over 800 showbands, fronted by Ireland's first ‘pop stars', brought the nation to its feet as a quarter of the population danced, romanced and shared a ‘mineral' in packed ballrooms across the 32 counties. A decade later the ballroom industry was on its knees. This two-hour series deftly dives into the parallel social history of our emerging nation as 1960s Ireland benefited from the economic boom; free secondary education and welcomed its first TV channel as young Irish ‘pop' fans embraced an international revolution in sex, music and fashion.

Series details

• Title: Ballroom Blitz
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Premiere date: 2024-11-27
• Status in TVmaze: To Be Determined
• Network listed by TVmaze: RTÉ ONE
• Network country: Ireland
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 79289

Cast and credited roles

• Adam Clayton — Adam Clayton

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2024-11-27; final listed air date 2024-12-04; episode order: 2.

Source and licence

Adapted from Ballroom Blitz on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.