Richard Dormer (‘GOT’, ‘Good Vibrations’), Ardal O’ Hanlon (‘Father Ted’, ‘London Irish’) and newcomer Orlagh O’ Keefe from Belfast are confirmed key members of the all-star cast for new Nick Jr. series ‘Driftwood Bay’. Stephen Fry, Peter Mullan, Tameka Empson, Jane Horrocks and Annette Crosbie will also lend their voices to the pre-school animated series.
‘Driftwood Bay’ (52 X 7mins), which is scheduled to be transmitted on Nick Jr. in May, is ‘about a little girl who creates an imaginary world from treasures she finds washed up on the beach’. The series received funding from the Northern Ireland Screen Fund supported by Invest NI and was partly funded by the European Regional Development Fund also.
Orlagh O’ Keefe voices Lily, a five year old who lives in a beach hut by the sea with her father, voiced by Dormer. Lily’s imagination is sparked when the sea washes up strange and wonderful treasures and she decides to explore what is happening ‘across the way on Driftwood Bay’.
Lily’s friends include a host of animals, including best friend Gull (a seagull voiced by Paul Currie), Hatsie Hen (Empson), the boisterous Bull (O’ Hanlon), Wee Rabbit (Horrocks) and Lord Stag (Fry), as well as people such as the sailor Salty Dog (Mullan), and sage Nonna Dog (Crosbie).
‘Driftwood Bay’, which has been described as ‘a unique series about making fun and adventure from things that you find’, was based on an original idea from artist Joanne Carmichael. The series was created by Belfast-based children’s television production company Sixteen South, who have previously partnered and produced with Sesame Workshop, the Jim Henson Company and BBC among others.
Producer Colin Williams from Sixteen South expressed great enthusiasm at the casting announcement: “Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine attracting a cast of this magnitude to ‘Driftwood Bay’. These incredibly talented people have taken our characters off the page and made them alive in the most wonderful, creative way.”
Tim Patterson, VP Director of Programming for Nickelodeon UK and Ireland, added, “Driftwood Bay is completely different in look and feel to any other pre-school properties around at the moment. With its distinctive visual appeal and wonderful, warm characters we think it will quickly become a firm favourite with our young viewers and their parents.”
Besides Nick Jr., the show will also air on RTÉ, Sprout in the USA, ABC Australia, Kika in Germany, MTV in Finland, NRK in Norway, SVT in Sweden and HOP! in Israel later this year (IFTN previously reported on the show’s confirmed worldwide distribution – see here). Broadcasters in Australia and the US will be keeping the original voices for the series.
