He once begged RTÉ for a job but was turned down, now BBC star Craig Doyle is on Irish TV for the first time, writes Emmet Oliver.
Craig Doyle wouldn't mind presenting The Late, Late Show. He wouldn't turn down the opportunity to become the new Alan Whicker. Fronting the Olympics, I'll do that. The British Open, that's the one for me.
Back in Dublin to present a new Sunday night show for RTÉ, the 33-year-old Dubliner just might fulfil some of these career objectives. Which station he achieves them with is another matter.
Doyle, who comes from Stillorgan, is one of the BBC's most versatile broadcasters, presenting its flagship sports show, Grandstand and his new RTÉ chat show should increase his profile here. It's a fresh approach, interviewing guests in their own surroundings where they can relax and open up a bit more.
Stints on the BBC's Holiday show and, for a time, Tomorrow's World, have given Doyle a high profile on British television. His jaunty, self-deprecating humour have endeared him to British audiences who seem to like his slightly chaotic feel, at least when placed alongside the more straight-laced approach of presenters like Steve Rider.
While refusing to play the professional Paddy, Doyle is immersed in everything Irish. He attends London Irish rugby matches and still hangs out with many of his friends from Blackrock College. His wife Doon is Irish and they recently bought a house back here. They gave their 17-month-old son the Irish name, Quin.
Doyle was so keen to work in RTÉ that as a young graduate, he offered to work for free, but the station rejected his approaches. His subsequent high profile on British television could have fuelled a certain "I told you so" attitude, but Doyle is not prepared to go down that road and is more anxious to defend RTÉ.
Asked were RTÉ right to reject him, he says: "I'm sure I was awful". He gave up badgering RTÉ for a year and took a post-graduate course in London. At the end of it, BBC news editors were knocking the door down to recruit the students, among them Doyle.
"So I said, I'll give home one more go. I went out to RTÉ looking for a bit of work experience so they said we've no place to give you work experience. So I said I will work for free in the newsroom, like I can do it. And they said no, no, no."
RTÉ is often criticised for not nurturing young talent or over-exposing the few young stars it has, but Doyle says: "Now in fairness, there is a fairly good chance I was absolutely awful. I reckon I was probably absolutely rubbish. The gas thing is they said no to me, I went home and I had three weeks paid work with the BBC during the Easter break, then I got a staff job with the BBC as a reporter.
"It's very easy now to look back and go he's on TV in the UK, you should have given him a job. I was probably s**t. So people have got very excited about it, but people love to knock RTÉ don't they? But I think they do a great job actually, most of the time".
Pressed on why he agreed to take on an experimental chat show on RTÉ1, Doyle replies: "I am not taking a risk doing this and I'll tell you why. I am doing this because I have never worked in Ireland and I want to know what it's like. There is nothing better than a home fixture. Yes, I have decisions to make in the next few years possibly, I want more children. I want to know where I am going to be."
Ratings-busting shows no longer hold the same appeal for Doyle. "I have done that. I have worked on big network shows for 10 years. I have worked on the biggest travel show in the world. The Holiday programme went out to 40 million people worldwide. I wanted to do something for me, for my head and this is what this is allowing me to do."
Where it will take him is anyone's guess. If successful, Doyle will be added to the long list of young broadcasters who might one day take up the poisoned chalice that is The Late, Late Show.
"I would love to do a proper chat show. I think Grandstand is a great gig. I have to say that. Presenting the flagship sports show on British television is something. Sport is a bit more genuine. You can't fix the outcome of things. We are not the stars of it. It's down to the people on the track, field, court and pitch and I love that."
The new RTÉ show is risky, but not high-risk, Doyle explains. "This could be a lousy show and I could go: 'What have I done?' But what I have done is sign a three-year deal with BBC before I even got into this project.
"The premise is to have a lead interview and then interesting Irish elements throughout. You need a long time to work on that and the show is kind of an organic process, it needs to grow a bit and mature. It's very early days for it so I'd love to have another go at it."
Doyle knows the best-laid plans in TV land can go wrong.
"I don't tend to watch TV before eight in the evening," he says. "I loved Alan Whicker and I always thought, maybe I have romantic ideas about myself, I could become the new Alan Whicker, but instead I became the new bloody Judith Chalmers."
The Craig Doyle Show starts on RTÉ1 tomorrow, 8.30 p.m.