The acclaimed Irish soap Red Rock is set to make its debut in the UK on BBC later this month.
The police drama has been scheduled to air at 1.45pm on BBC One on Monday, July 11, in the slot usually occupied by Doctors, which is on a break until the autumn.
The 80 episodes of the first series, which launched on TV3 last year, have been merged into forty longer episodes for the BBC.
They will air each Monday for eight weeks, starting off on BBC One before moving to BBC Two during the Olympics in August.
Red Rock kicking off on the BBC on July 11
The series premiered on Irish screens at the start of 2015, after TV3 lost the rights to broadcast Coronation Street and Emmerdale following their departure to UTV Ireland. However, the high-risk gamble on a domestic soap has paid off for the station and Red Rock has gone on to receive widespread acclaim and numerous awards.
At the IFTA TV Awards in Dublin last October, Red Rock was honoured with Best Soap, Best Director (Lisa Mulcahy) and the People's Choice TV Show of the Year awards.
Streaming service Amazon Prime recently acquired Red Rock in a deal reported to be worth over €1m and which will see the series stream in the US for a number of years.
Speaking to RTÉ TEN, Red Rock's executive producer, Ed Guiney from Element Pictures, described the BBC deal as a "massive testament" to everyone who worked on the series.
"Coming on the back of the recent acquisition by Amazon it's a huge achievement for an Irish show," he said.
Series one has been condensed from 80 to 40 episodes
The BBC's Daytime Controller, Dan McGolpin, said its viewers are in for a treat when the Gardaí and the feuding Hennessy and Kiely families come to the BBC schedule.
"It's a compelling new police drama set in Ireland, it has plenty of twists and turns, and it's coming to the BBC this year," he added.
