Another helping of the RTE drama ‘The Clinic’ is about to get underway with the first of this seasons episodes broadcasting Sunday 25th of September on RTE One. Visiting ‘The Clinic’ set in a Sandyford warehouse, IFTN discovered the prognosis for the coming weeks is set to be a good one.

With over 70 cast and crew working on the current series of ‘The Clinic’, it is one of the largest productions undertaken by RTE in recent years. Since 2003 the show has built a huge fanbase of dedicated Sunday evening viewers who weekly check in with their favourite characters for a dose of drama, scandal and some medical trials and tribulations. Series two ended spectacularly with married doctors Cathy (Aisling O’Sullivan) and Ed (David Wilmot) deciding to split and plastic surgeon Dan (Dominic Maffam), who blatantly has the hots for Cathy, has seized the opportunity to buy a share in the troubled clinic. Series three picks up with Ed out the door and encounters Dan with his feet under the table and his eye quite firmly fixed on Cathy’s bed!

Down on set, speaking to producer Eoin Holmes, IFTN discovers the new series has been extended to a 10 x 1hour episode run with the usual drama, some surprise fresh faces and, of course, the return of the cast favourites all on the agenda for the coming weeks.

We checked in with the cast and crew whilst they were busy filming key scenes for the final episodes of the series and there we found director Robert Quinn (Dead Bodies, Cinegael Paradiso) at the helm with actors Dominic Maffam (Dr. Dan), Gary Lydon (Patrick) and Marian Araujo (last seen in Conor McMahon’s ‘Dead Meat) playing the cleaner Marta. The atmosphere is relaxed but as producer Holmes explains, a 15 week shoot can sometimes take its toll: “It’s been a long 15 week shoot and I suppose from time to time it can be tiring,” he says with a sigh. “Having said that we have had a fantastic crew and a really, really great cast and everybody has mucked in and we get on with it. Even now, in week 14, it is a very pleasant atmosphere, we’re very focused and confident it will work. It has been a great pleasure to work with these people and there’ll be a fantastic wrap party, because everybody has deserved it.”

Shooting wraps on ‘The Clinic’ this Friday (16th Sep) and the experienced crew working on the show will say their goodbyes until, if all goes well, series four. The majority of the crew has worked on all three shoots but there are some fresh faces behind the camera as well as in front. This time out directing duties are shared amongst a host of big name Irish directors; the aforementioned Robert Quinn; ‘Pure Mule’

director Declan Recks; Liz Gill (who wrote and directed the feature film ‘Goldfish Memory’); Janet Traynor (best known for her work on Prime Time) and actor Liam Cunningham (Showbands) who takes a seat behind the lens again at ‘The Clinic’ after successfully directing two episodes in series two.

The Irish public’s appetite for Irish drama is growing fast, proven by the success of recent productions like ‘Love is The Drug’, ‘Showbands’, ‘Bachelors Walk’ and the current RTE Two drama ‘Pure Mule’. The numbers say it all with audience figures for series two of ‘The Clinic’ were 34.3% with a TVR of 12.9, enough to motivate RTE’s Mary Callery to commission this third installment. ‘The Clinic’ was created by independent production company Parallel Films with the current series produced by co-creator Orla Bleahen-Melvin and Eoin Holmes with Alan Moloney executive producing.

Eoin Holmes produced the 2000 smash comedy ‘Path’s to Freedom’, ‘Bachelors Walk’ (2001), and ‘Love Is The Drug’ (2004) with is own production company Great Western Films and he is currently involved in ‘The Last Furlong’ (shooting now). Holmes agrees that, to some extent, the success of his earlier shows have paved the way for new drama commissioned by RTE. “I think the success of ‘Paths to Freedom’ and the shooting model that we created to shoot that particular series, like breaking a lot of rules and working cleverly in terms of the budgets available, possibly gave the broadcaster the courage and confidence to expand into drama because it was something they really wanted to do anyway. You can’t put it down to any one project, but I think it’s clear Irish audiences like Irish drama; they like to see themselves, people and places they can relate to. RTE knows that and has got that really right with The Clinic.”

As always the scriptwriting for ‘The Clinic’ is given top priority and a team of scribes have been enlisted to lend their talents to the latestseries. “The real focus for a producer on something

like this is actually the script,” says Holmes. “You keep working hard to get the scripts to a high standard and beyond. That has been challenging in the time frame.” Writers on the current series include John Moloney (Showbands), Barbara Bergin (Love Is The Drug), Lilie Ferrari (Casualty, Peak Practice), Lauren Mackenzie (On Home Ground) and Ted Gannon (Ballykissangel).

Series three is taking strides behind the scenes as well as in front of the camera with all photography being shot by DOP Cedric Culleton on Hi Definition format, a first for ‘The Clinic’.  Cameras were provided by The Production Depot, lighting by Cine Electric, and the off-line post production will be handled by Egg, with over half of the current series ready from broadcast.  

So as anticipation mounts for the first episode, audiences a re  looking forward to seeing a distraught Cathy attempt to cope with the collapse of her marriage, without letting her state of mind impinge on her ability to work. The other Clinic regulars will try to help out as best they can but only seem to be making matters work…Tune in to RTE One on Sunday 25 th of September at 9.30pm to find out what happens next.

By Tanya Warren