Launching a Comic Relief Marathon Telethon is a huge undertaking at any time – to tackle it in the middle of a major pandemic and a comprehensive lockdown seems like folly on a grand scale.

But that‘s what RTÉ producers Clare Hughes and Michael Hughes (no relation-it‘s a long story) managed to pull off. How did they do it? In the event, it was a runaway success, with casts of (allegedly) thousands, and starry talent like Normal People‘s Marianne and Connell, Fleabag‘s Hot Priest (Andrew Scott) Dara O Briain, Saoirse Ronan (on becoming a Derry Girl) Hozier, Zig & Zag and many, many more. Sketches from the show went viral, and huge sums were raised for charity. Clare and Michael tell us how it was done