Grand Pictures has announced details of a new 6 x half hour comedy series ‘Val Falvey, T.D.’ Written by Arthur Mathews (Father Ted) and Paul Woodfull (Stew) and directed by PJ Dillon (Stew), the series stars Ardal O'Hanlon (Father Ted) and Owen Roe (Alarm).
O’Hanlon stars as Val Falvey T.D., a man who has inherited a job of importance and status only to realise that he is hopelessly out of his depth. While getting his name in the paper and meeting celebrities makes the life of a politician appealing to Val, the daily grind of dealing with his constituents’ demands lands Val in continuous trouble. His side-kick and fixer, Pat Daly (Owen Roe), has a full-time job handling Val and ensuring he emerges unscathed.
Supporting cast includes Amelia Crowley (The Wake Wood), Phelim Drew (The Nephew), Simon Delaney (Bachelors Walk) and Brendan Dempsey (The Revenge of Alistair Fury). Five weeks of filming on various locations in Kildare and Meath is due to wrap on 5 June. Shooting on DV, Fionn Comerford is on camera with Driscoll Calder (32A) as costume designer. Editing is by Ray Roantree (George Gently, Rock Rivals) and will take place at Screen Scene in Dublin.
Grand Pictures’ Paul Donovan is producing with Michael Garland as exec-producer. Breda Walsh is line producer.
The series sees O’Hanlon and Roe re-unite after starring together in Grand Pictures’ recent feature film ‘Wide Open Spaces’ – written by Arthur Mathews and directed by Tom Hall (Bachelors Walk). ‘Wide Open Spaces’ hits Irish cinemas on July 17th after its world premiere at the Edinburgh Film Festival in June.
‘Val Falvey T.D.’ is scheduled for broadcast on Sunday nights during RTE One’s autumn 2009 schedule.