The season is packed with emerging comedy talent, gripping new drama and impactful documentaries, alongside household names and returning favourites
The upcoming season of new commissions from BBC Northern Ireland is packed with emerging comedy talent, gripping new drama and impactful documentaries, alongside household names and returning favourites.
Eddie Doyle, BBC Northern Ireland's Head of Content Commissioning says:
“There’s a lot to look forward to this autumn and winter across BBC Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer, with an eclectic mix of stories and entertainment brought to you by the very best in the business.
“Working with local creative talent both in the independent production sector and our in-house production teams, at the heart of everything we do is the desire to create programmes that are authentic and informative, not just for audiences here but across the UK.
“This schedule shines a light on the next cohort of home-grown talent, shares stories that matter from our communities, and boasts brand-new, locally filmed drama.”
Drama
The four-part psychological thriller, Dead And Buried written by Colin Bateman was commissioned by BBC Northern Ireland and Virgin Media Television in association with All3Media International.
Dead and Buried L -R: Cathy (Annabel Scholey); Michael (Colin Morgan) (Image: Steffan Hill)
It will star Annabel Scholey (The Split, The Serial Killer’s Wife, The Salisbury Poisonings) and Colin Morgan (Merlin, Humans, Belfast, Dead Shot) and is produced by Three River Fiction and Vico Films with support from Screen Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen and Coimisiún na Meán.
Hope Street, set in the fictional town of Port Devine on the Northern Ireland coast, is back for series four and the police department is moving to new headquarters. Derry Girls star Tara Lynne O’Neill is among the new names joining the cast this series alongside Marcus Onilude (Ted Lasso).
The fourth series, made by Long Story TV, has been commissioned as part of the partnership between the BBC and Northern Ireland Screen with Abacus Media Rights handling international sales for the series.
Crá is a six-part drama series by Fíbín Media and Zoogon for BBC Gaeilge, co-commissioned with TG4 with funding and support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund (ILBF), Screen Ireland, Coimisiún na Meán, Gréasán na Meán Skillnet and distributors About Premium Content (APC).
The series stars Dónall Ó Héalai (Monster, Foscadh), Alex Murphy (The Young Offenders) and newcomer Hannah Brady and was filmed on location in Donegal.
In an isolated village in the northwest of Ireland, with its own laws and codes of conduct, a murder investigation begins when Garda Conall Ó Súilleabháin’s (Dónall Ó Héalai) missing mother Sabine is discovered buried in the bog, having been missing for 15 years. Conall is forbidden from working the case but that’s not going to stop him. Meanwhile, a young journalist, Ciara-Kate (Hannah Brady) decides to produce a podcast about the case. If Conall wants justice for his mother, he has no choice but to join forces with this citizen journalist.
Documentary
The Catfish Killer, produced by DoubleBand Films, is a new co-commission for BBC Three and BBC Northern Ireland that tells the story of how a young man from a rural town in Northern Ireland became one of the world’s most prolific online predators. Told from multiple perspectives, the series includes exclusive access to the international investigating teams, led by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, along with revealing interviews with some of those who were exploited and abused by Alexander McCartney, and whose brave actions brought about his dramatic downfall.
In On Drugs, made by Blair Black Films, journalist Rory Carson takes a raw and unflinching look at the hidden world of drugs in Northern Ireland – meeting dealers, addicts and those trying to tackle the problems day in, day out.
We Built a Zoo (Image: BBC NI)
In We Built A Zoo by Waddell Media, 19 year old TikTok star Kyle Thomas sets out to build a safe home for his array of animals in Northern Ireland. Having faced criticism for posting his pets online and keeping exotics at home, he teams up with a small wildlife-park owner to build a zoo. Having already gained a huge social media following by sharing his life online, he started to post about his daily life with his animals, and soon amassed 35 million followers. In this film, Kyle decides to build his own sanctuary alongside a local builder and small wildlife-park owner, who reaches out and offers to help. He also visits a meercat expert in South Africa to learn how best to accommodate his own meercats in their new home.
The Brighton Bomb (w/t), a new documentary from the makers of Once Upon A Time In Northern Ireland, tells the story of one of the IRA’s most significant attacks on mainland Britain. It will feature compelling testimony from people whose lives were deeply affected by the events, many of whom have never spoken publicly before as well as a revealing in-depth interview with former IRA bomber Patrick Magee.
Magee planted the bomb three weeks before the Conservative Party Conference, and it lay set to explode, hidden behind a bathtub in the Grand Hotel in Brighton before killing five people and injuring over 30, in October 1984. The film looks at the politics of this period, the devastation of the night itself, the subsequent search for Magee and his arrest, and how the Brighton bombing continues to have present-day effects, including for its many victims.
Iarsmaí (Remnants) explores decolonisation through the issue of stolen skulls in Trinity College Dublin, and the ongoing presence of colonial artefacts in museums in Belfast, Dublin and Oxford. Museums and institutions in Ireland and abroad are actively decolonising their collections and practices - partly because of Rhodes Must Fall and Black Lives Matter campaigns, and the emergence of a new approach to dealing with problematic histories.
The feature documentary is produced by Dearcán Media and Tua Films for BBC Gaeilge and TG4 with support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Irish Language Broadcast Fund (ILBF) and Coimisiún na Meán.
Comedy
(Image: Jolane Schaffner)
Funboys, announced at the BBC Comedy Festival in Glasgow, BBC Comedy and BBC Northern Ireland have co-commissioned a 4 x 30 series of following its successful launch as a comedy short film in 2023.
Made by Mayhay Studios with support from Northern Ireland Screen, Funboys is a comedy series about three emotionally-unassembled young men in small-town Northern Ireland looking for love, playing video games and navigating through the hardships of life.
Chancers is set to debut on BBC Northern Ireland and BBC iPlayer as part of BBC Northern Ireland’s commitment to develop and showcase emerging comedy talent and writing. It sees comedy pals Shane Todd and Ciarán Bartlett reunite and is made by Fat Panda Media.
The B Team is a fast-paced contemporary comedy one-off set in the loving, chaotic, warm and neurotic world of a tight-knit Belfast family, the Buchanans. Mum and Dad, Brenda and Paddy love each other deeply but constantly tread on each other’s toes, as they plan the First Holy Communion for their youngest daughter, Aileen. Teenage drama kicks off when their son, Connor, makes a rookie mistake, inviting a new girlfriend to the Communion.
Meanwhile his older sister, Clare, and her catty BFF Marty, attempt to upstage everyone, with outrageous outfits and caustic asides. The B Team is written by Ciaran Bartlett and stars Jo Donnelly (Brenda), Gerard McCabe (Paddy), Eimear Bailie (Clare) Shane Convery (Marty), Libby McBride (Aileen) and Oisin O’Colemain (Conor).
BBC Northern Ireland has commissioned five new comedy shorts from Nice One Productions to develop and nurture new comedy acting, writing and production talent.
The Frick, about a ‘friendship ick’ is written by Claire Rafferty and Michael Elliott, with performances from Claire Rafferty, Niamh McGrady and Tracey Lynch.
The Spar, written by and starring Tommy McCarthy and Tyrone McKenna follows the antics of two boxers in need of some quick cash.
In How's She Cuttin'? written by and starring Claire Corrigan, a single woman is in need of a date in rural Northern Ireland.
Country Rogues, sees cousins Caoimhe and Dara make up a mismatched country music band. Written by Eoin Cleland and PJ Hart, the short features performances from Eimear Bailie, Chris Patrick Simpson, and Belfast’s very own Oscar-recipient James Martin. And superstition and a compulsive order collide with a mother and daughter in Lightbulb Moment, written by and starring Bronagh Diamond.
Lifestyle
Lawrence Llewelyn Bowen, Jane Larmour, James Fairley, and Patricia McGinnis (Image: BBC NI)
House Of The Year is coming to BBC Northern Ireland and in this new series, no space or budget is too big, or too small.
From cosy cottages to ambitious new builds and terrific terraces, and featuring living spaces transformed into dream homes. The series starts on BBC NI later this year and will be presented by design expert and television personality Laurence Llewelyn Bowen.
Paula McIntyre’s Hamely Kitchen USA returns for a six-part series, where Paula will travel to the United States to look at the influence of the Scots-Irish on American cuisine. The series is made for BBC Northern Ireland by Clean Slate Television with support from Northern Ireland Screen’s Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund.
If These Walls Could Talk is a celebration of the diversity and changing nature of our social lives and communities through the ages, as told through some of Northern Ireland’s best loved local buildings.
If These Walls Could Talk is an Afro-Mic production for BBC NI.