Starting in September, RTÉ will launch four brand new dramas and return of popular series such as ‘Raw’ and ‘Single-Handed’. Viewers will have over 82 hours of new Irish drama presented to them next season as RTÉ increases its dramatic output from the same time last year.
The upcoming new drama broadcasts include ‘Love/Hate’, a four-part series set in Dublin’s gangland, starring Robert Sheehan (Misfits), Aidan Gillen (Blitz), Ruth Negga (Trafficked) and Ruth Bradley (Primeval); feature-length drama ‘When Harvey Met Bob’ with a retelling of the relationship between Bob Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith in the run up to Live Aid; ‘Wild Decembers’ by celebrated Irish writer Edna O’Brien, and a new three-part serial featuring the online sensations and winners of RTÉ’s StoryLand competition, ‘Hardy Bucks’ . ‘Raw’ audiences will see the series return for a third installment whilst ‘Single Handed’ also returns for a new run.
Jane Gogan, Commissioning Editor of RTÉ TV Drama, said, “Next season RTÉ Drama will deliver a range of events that explore contemporary Irish stories as well as stories from the past. This year, we are bringing RTÉ viewers more drama than last, and the work of the best creative talent on screen and off, both newcomers to television and established veterans. In recent years we have actively developed co-productions with other broadcasters, adding inward investment to RTÉ’s resources so we can increase the range of high calibre drama across the year.”
An Octagon Films production, the four-part drama ‘Love/Hate’ is produced by Simon Massey, Suzanne McAuley (A Shine of Rainbows) and James Flynn (P.S. I Love You) and is set in Dublin’s gangland community. Furthermore, the shoot for ‘When Harvey Met Bob’ is currently underway with Domhnall Gleeson (Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows) and Ian Hart (Five Daughters) in the lead roles. The drama tells the story of Live Aid and the roles that Bob Geldof and Harvey Goldsmith played in making the event happen 25 years ago.
When ‘Hardy Bucks’ won StoryLand, RTÉ’s drama competition, the web series enjoyed a large online following with three million hits. As a result, this autumn, RTÉ Two will broadcast a three-part ‘Hardy Bucks’ serial. Filmed in Swinford, Co Mayo, ‘Hardy Bucks’ follows the lives of four lazy but likeable lads from the fictional Castletown.
Also, as mentioned, IFTA winning series, ‘Raw’ will return this autumn for a third series. Set in a busy Dublin restaurant ‘Raw’ features an award-winning cast including Charlene McKenna (Whistleblower), Aisling O’Sullivan (The Clinic), Keith McErlean (Bachelors’ Walk) and Ger Ryan (Whistleblower; Family). Also rural Irish drama ‘Single Handed’ will enjoy a second series having debuted on ITV1 as a three-part drama last summer. More than four million viewers tuned in for said premiere and as a result of this RTÉ entered into a co-production arrangement with ITV for the fourth series. This additional funding has enabled the development of a six-part series.
Finally the Edna O’Brien’s interlocking tale of land and love in contemporary rural Ireland, ‘Wild Decembers’ will broadcast in the autumn. Starring Owen McDonnell (Conspiracy of Silence), Matt Ryan (Collision) and Lara Belmont (Henry VIII), the drama features a very fine cast of the best of Irish actors from stage and screen including Sean McGinley (The Butcher Boy), Hugh O'Connor (Killing Bono), Jane Brennan (Intermission) and Andrea Irvine (Evelyn).
