A new series of ‘Foyle’s War’ is to begin shooting in Ireland later this year, it has been confirmed.
Producers of the popular British detective drama have confirmed to IFTN that they will film three feature-length episodes in Dublin and are currently scouting potential locations as pre-production gets underway.
They are currently eyeing a mid-September start date to begin filming with the series set to also shoot in London.
UK-based Eleventh Hour Films will produce the new series alongside Irish co-production partners Octagon Films.
Jill Green, founder of Eleventh Hour Films, will executive produce alongside Ronan Flynn of Octagon. The series will be produced by British producer Jeremy Gwilt, who has previously executive produced ‘Ballykissangel’ in Ireland. The project will receive funding under Section 481.
The new series – the eighth from creator Anthony Horowitz – will once again see actor Michael Kitchen reprise the role of detective chief superintendent Christopher Foyle with Honeysuckle Weeks (The Wicker Tree) expected to return to the role of Samantha Stewart. Horowitz will write the first and third film with David Kane set to pen the second film.
The series will be set in London during the early period after the Second World War and will see Foyle “focus his attention on the world of espionage as he gathers secret intelligence in support of Britain’s security, defence and foreign and economic policies,” according to a synopsis. It added: “The stories will range from Foyle identifying highly placed atomic spies to a true story of government corruption. A world of transition where the values and certainties of the war have given way to austerity, exhaustion and doubts about the direction the new government is taking.”
Speaking to IFTN about the decision to film in Ireland, producer Jeremy Gwilt (The Reckoning) said: “Creatively Dublin is a fantastic city. There are some wonderful buildings that we think will help us to create what is London in 1946, which is obviously a very important element of the production. There are obviously other financial incentives as well and, all in all, Ireland really is a fantastic place to film, not least because of the wonderful talent base that exists here.”
While the highly experienced producer confirmed that the production will “absolutely” use Irish cast and crew, he emphasised that the project still remained at “a very early stage” with exact details as to the length of the shoot; cast, crew and an exact start-date yet to be finalised. Gwilt, however, confirmed that the production would not be using Co Wicklow’s Ardmore Studio as had been speculated by some industry observers. He added that he was “95 per cent certain” that the production’s Irish base would instead be in Dublin.
He added that although post-production on the three TV films will not take place in Ireland, an Irish post facility will be used to set up a cutting room and data back-up for review of daily rushes of the three films, which will be shot on digital.
ITV1 is expected to broadcast the three two-hour films in 2013 with the distribution rights held by Acorn Media.
