'Charlie', starring Aidan Gillen as Charlie Haughey, had 724,000 people tuning in to watch the political drama series when it aired on Sunday, January 4th, with an additional 21,000 people watching it on the player.
The first episode was directed by Kenny Glenaan, written by Dublin-born award-winning playwright and screenwriter Colin Teevan and was labelled ‘Rise’, as it chronicles the period 1979-1981 when Haughey confounded his critics and succeeded in his bid to become Taoiseach.
The titular role is played by two-time IFTA-winning actor Aidan Gillen - who is already well known to Irish television audiences after an acclaimed starring role as ruthless mob boss John Boy Power in the first two series of ‘Love/Hate’– with the actor already gaining plaudits from publications such as The Irish Independent and The Irish Times for his multi-layered portrayal of the controversial and complex politician.
Speaking about the series, Aidan Gillen stated that he took the role because Haughey was a ‘fascinating, divisive character and because, in a way, you know what people are going to be expecting, which gives a lot of scope to try and deliver something different.’
The ensemble cast also includes IFTA-winning actor Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (PJ Mara), Risteárd Cooper (Dermot Nally), Peter O’Meara (Brian Lenihan), Gavin O’Connor (Sean Doherty) and Marcus Lamb (Des O’Malley. Full sound and picture post production were completed at Ardmore Sound and Screen Scene.
The second episode of the show will air on Sunday, January 11th and will be directed by Charlie McCarthy, with this instalment picking up the story in 1982 when Haughey seized his opportunity to regain power and led Ireland onto the stage of World politics.
‘Charlie’ is produced for RTÉ by Touchpaper and Element Pictures and co-funded by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland with the Television Licence Fee.