Drama and Comedy

In 2022 RTÉ continued its strategy to increase our development slate in drama and scripted comedy, in order to bring more series to television, but also importantly to RTÉ Player where scripted series dominate viewing.

2022 saw the return of Smother for series 2 as well as the launch of North Sea Connection and the return of Storyland, this time on RTÉ 2, co-funded by Screen Ireland. In addition, work commenced on a final series of Smother, series 2 of KIN, comedy Sisters and New Zealand-based drama, The Gone.

Partnerships both in Ireland and internationally continued to allow these series to be made, as drama projects witnessed further inflation, due to the general economic situation, but also the intense competition for crews from the international streamers.

Screen Ireland once again helped finance all RTÉ's key projects, and the Western Region Audio-Visual Producers fund has contributed to those shot in the West. International partners included AMC, Sundance, Acorn, ITV Studios, Bron, A&E and Viaplay.

These partners have helped bring these series to international audiences, with Smother now available in 160 territories and Hidden Assets sold to key broadcasters like the BBC, France TV and SBS Australia.

Drama on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player

2022 was a busy year for original Irish drama on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player as we transmitted Smother, North Sea Connection, and Conversations with Friends, as well as going into production on series 2 of the hugely popular KIN and preparing for Hidden Assets series 2, both being ready for audiences in 2023.

Series 2 of Smother, the six-part thriller set in Co. Clare and produced by Treasure Entertainment in partnership with the BBC, aired at 9.30pm on Sundays on RTÉ One for six weeks from 9 January. Directed by Dathaí Keane and written by Kate O’Riordan, Ursula Rani Sarma, Tom Farrelly and Sonya Kelly, it centred around Ahern family matriarch, Val Ahern and her three daughters as they try to unravel the mystery of the sudden arrival of a brother they never knew they had. It stars Dervla Kirwan, Gemma-Leah Devereux, Niamh Walsh, Seána Kerslake, Dean Fagan and Conor Mullen. Smother has already been sold to Peacock in the US and to Alibi in the UK. Series 3 has been shot and delivered and is due to air in Q1 2023. Series 2 of Smother averaged 381,000 viewers and a 30.1% share and had over 543,000 streams on RTÉ Player between 9 January and 21 February.

North Sea Connection, produced by Tristan Orpen-Lynch for Subotica and Willim Diskay from Mopar Media, with investment from Mopar, Viaplay, RTÉ and A+E International was launched in September. The six-part series centred around the Kennys, a fishing family on the west coast of Ireland who are dragged into the international drug trade. It stars Sinéad Cusack, Kerr Logan, Lynn Rafferty, Lydia McGuinness and Stuart Graham as well as Swedish stars Alida Morberg and Claes Ljungmark. North Sea Connection was directed by Paul Murphy and Hannah Quinn and averaged 293,000 viewers and a 27.2% share across the series.

In May and June, the Element Pictures Production of Conversations with Friends was broadcast on RTÉ One. Once again, the key partners were the BBC and Hulu in the US, who contributed the bulk of the funding. Based on Sally Rooney’s first book, the series ran over twelve half-hour episodes. Like Element’s previous adaptation of Normal People, Conversations with Friends was lead directed by Lenny Abrahamson. Whereas it never recached the heady heights of its predecessor, the series was particularly liked by younger audiences and performed very well on RTÉ Player with 840,000 streams.

In July and August, RTÉ One broadcast Harry Wild, an eight-part soft-crime series for Acorn in association with Dynamic and RTÉ, starring Jane Seymour and set in Dublin. It was written by Irish writer Jo Spain and Scot David Logan. The series has been a significant international success and a second and third season are being shot in Dublin in 2023.

After the incredible success of series 1, the second series of Peter McKenna’s Kin was shot in Ireland and Spain across the summer and into the autumn of 2022. These episodes are currently in post-production. Returning stars Clare Dunne, Charlie Cox, Emmett J. Scanlan, Aidan Gillen, Mary Doyle Kennedy and Sam Keeley will be confronted by compelling new antagonists, from within the characters’ own family and community and from abroad. Directors new to Kin include Felix Thompson, Kate Dolan, Christine Molloy and Joe Lawlor.

After the success of the first series, the international crime thriller Hidden Assets was developed and entered preparation for series 2. Shot on location in Limerick and Antwerp Hidden Assets is produced by Siobhan Bourke and Kathryn Lennon from Saffron Moon with investment partners from Acorn, Screen Ireland, Screen Flanders, Streamz and Mediafonds in Belgium and Facet 4 in Canada with DCD Rights as the international distribution partner. Series 2 is written by Peter McKenna, Sinead Collopy, Susan Connolly, Marty Fox and Mary Thornton and the series is being directed once again by Thaddeus O Sullivan. The Hidden Assets cast brought together exemplary Irish talent in a complex psychological thriller written by Peter McKenna and Morna Regan. Angeline Ball, Simone Kirby, Peter Coonan, Aaron Monaghan and Cathy Belton starred along with Belgian actors Wouter Hendrickx and Gilles De Schryver and the international names of Charlie Carrick and Michael Ironside. Hidden Assets was sold to the BBC and to SBS, the Australian public broadcaster. Much of the scripting is being done or overseen by Mary Fox and Marty Thornton, who came through the Storyland series in 2017.

Storyland on RTÉ2 Original Irish drama was back on RTÉ2 with a new series of Storyland, moving to RTÉ television for the first time, with three unique, original and exciting single dramas. In collaboration with Screen Ireland, RTÉ's Storyland commissions new scripts and brings them to your television screens, specifically to pave the way for tomorrow’s writers, directors and producers. Marty Fox and Mary Thornton, currently writing three episodes of Hidden Assets series 2, wrote a Storyland drama in 2017. Storyland has always been a talent development space. The variety of stories this year puts a spotlight on tremendous new Irish talent in directing and writing, with three dramas that have different styles and tones, each showcasing new voices and visions to Irish audiences. These diverse and authentic voices demonstrate the craft and originality that will sustain Ireland's rapidly growing television drama sector. Mustard, a highly original story about self-harm, was written by Eva O’Connor, directed by Hildegard Ryan and produced by Jason Forde for Four Quadrant Films. Balor Hall, an entertaining whodunnit, was written and directed by Rioghnach Ni Ghrioghair and produced by Deirdre Levins for Fantastic Films. Every Five Miles, a harrowing tale of human trafficking, was written by Sinead Collopy, directed by Vincent Lambe and produced by Colmán Mac Cionnaith for Vico Films. In partnership with Screen Ireland, RTÉ continues to discover, foster and invest in diverse new talent and fresh thinking via Storyland, to propel careers and boost the entire industry. This year's dramas are a wonderful testament to that investment.

Comedy

RTÉ Comedy’s remit is to develop and produce a diverse range of comedy content across multiple RTÉ platforms. In addition to established comedy talent such as Tommy Tiernan, RTÉ Comedy continues to support and develop emerging comedy writing and performing talent.

Sometimes challenging but always engaging, comedy’s key properties consistently deliver high audience numbers (Mrs Brown’s Boys, Tommy Tiernan Show). But our engagement with younger audiences who tend to consume media away from traditional RTÉ channels, and supporting new comedy talent, remains a key priority for RTÉ Comedy. In 2022, after a consultation with the independent sector, we commissioned No Worries If Not. Specifically structured to harness emerging comedy talent from the worlds of TikTok and Instagram, this six-part sketch series aired in autumn 2022 and was very successful in attracting significant engagement from 15–24-year-olds on RTÉ’s social platforms and on RTÉ Player. The core cast included emerging talent such as Michael Fry and Justine Stafford, who brought their large following to RTÉ2 and RTÉ’s social media channels.

New scripted comedy on the RTÉ Player continues to land well with audiences, and in 2022 we commissioned a second series of Free Gaff. Staring new talent Darren Conway and Joe McGucken, Free Gaff was one of the most streamed RTÉ Player Originals and was also broadcast as a mini-series on RTÉ2. Also on RTÉ2, we recommissioned a second series of Clear History. Presented by Kevin McGahern, Joanne McNally and Jason Byrne this was a formatted panel series where guests could pitch to erase embarrassing events from their past. It also provided an outlet for new writing and a platform for new comedy talent as guests.

RTÉ One saw the return of RTÉ Comedy’s award-winning Tommy Tiernan Show. In 2022 the series continued to feature guests from a diverse range of backgrounds and revealing conversations with both famous faces and ordinary people with extraordinary stories, Tommy being unaware of who he will be facing. This unique show had its strongest season in 2022 with guests including Joanne McNally, Steve Coogan, Gabriel Byrne and Roger Daltrey. Following the continued popularity of Callan’s Kick’s on Fridays on RTÉ Radio 1, Oliver Callan returned as 2022 drew to a close to bring us his satirical review of the year in Callan Kicks the Year 2022, with his most popular characters from the worlds of politics, entertainment and public life. Two episodes of Mrs Brown’s Boys at Christmas proved particularly popular, with the New Year’s Eve episode attracting a 40% share. This much-loved show will continue in 2023, with an extended run.

Scripted Comedy is a pillar of RTÉ Comedy and is the largest reward for talent we develop. In addition to being a response to the ever-increasing challenges from SVODs, our comedy strategy around scripted comedy crucially allows us to leverage our investment and expose Irish talent to an international audience and marketplace. A key example of this is Sisters. After a period of development driven by RTÉ Comedy, we commissioned this six-part comedy drama directed by Emmy Award-nominee Declan Lowney and starring Susan Stanley and Emmy nominee Sarah Goldberg. It will air in 2023 on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player and on AMC in the US, with worldwide sales expected.

While RTÉ continues to support and develop Irish comedy in both scripted and non-scripted content, 2022 saw continued scripted development of a number of comedy series, many of them in partnership with Screen Ireland. The development process across new scripted series will continue in 2023.