IFTA Drama Awards: the likely lads and ladies

The IFTA Film and Drama Awards 2017 are on tonight in Dublin's Mansion House. Here's how John Byrne sees the various Drama nominations working out.

Back for another bash, this time in the Round Room of Dublin's Mansion House, the annual IFTA Film and Drama Awards will be hosted by award-winning Irish actress and comedian Deirdre O'Kane.

It promises to be a night of glamour, but behind the red carpet and beyond the gowns and gúnas, there's the serious business of honouring the best of Irish talent.

John Byrne takes a look at the Drama contenders:

Best Drama
The nominees:
An Klondike
The Fall
Game of Thrones
Smalltown
Striking Out
Vikings

There's no denying that the excitement surrounding Striking Out will almost certainly give it the edge here, but it is up against the televisual juggernaut that is Game of Thrones.

So who's going to win the main Drama award? It'd be great to see Kerry director Gerard Barrett add to his Rising Star IFTA with a Smalltown triumph for TV3, but it's impossible to see beyond RTÉ's visually alluring look at legal eagle life.

BTW: how did The Fall get nominated? That's the most remarkable achievement of its ropey third season.

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Actor in a Lead Role in Drama
The nominees:
Dara Devaney (An Klondike)
Cillian Murphy (Peaky Blinders)
James Nesbitt (The Secret)
Aidan Turner (Poldark)
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Trial of the Century)

There's no denying that Aidan Turner's finely-toned torso had social media in a tizzy for the second season a row, but the reality is that Poldark would put you to sleep quicker than a gallon of IV-administered Horlicks.

Much better is Peaky Blinders, the cracking BBC drama that started out like a Birmingham Boardwalk Empire, but has grown in stature. Just like its leading man, the incomparable Cillian Murphy, who should own this award in perpetuity.

Actress in a Lead Role in Drama
The nominees:
Caitriona Balfe (Outlander)
Elaine Cassidy (No Offence)
Anne Marie Duff (Murder: The Lost Weekend)
Amy Huberman (Striking Out)
Ruth Negga (Preacher)

An Emmy award has so far evaded Caitriona Balfe, as has an IFTA – so can it be third time lucky for her ongoing role in the daft US fantasy show Outlander?

Amy Huberman will probably win for Striking Out, but personally I'd plump for Elaine Cassidy, excellent as copper Dinah Kowalska in Channel 4 dramedy No Offence - although how it's considered a 'lead' role is beyond me.

Actor in a Supporting Role in Drama
The nominees:
Liam Cunningham (Game of Thrones)
Ned Dennehy (An Klondike)
Moe Dunford (Vikings)
Andrew Scott (The Hollow Crown)
Robert Sheehan (Fortitude)

Could this be fourth time lucky for Liam Cunningham? After losing out in each of the last three, he's got to be in with a great chance of picking up what would be his third IFTA win.

The Dubliner – one of only 247 men in the world who can actually carry a beard - has been nominated a further eight times, making this his eleventh appearance in total. Blimey, he's Mister IFTA.

Actress in a Supporting Role in Drama
The nominees:
Ruth Bradley (Humans)
Sinead Cusack (Call the Midwife)
Dominique McElligott (House of Cards)
Charlene McKenna (Ripper Street)
Charlie Murphy (Happy Valley)

This is probably the toughest call of all the Drama awards this year as any one of this deserving lot could be the winner, although I have my own favourites.

Charlie Murphy continues to shine in Happy Valley – no mean feat when Sarah Lancashire's remarkable in the lead role - but the always impressive Ruth Bradley was eerily convincing as sentient synth Karen Voss in sci-fi series Humans.

Costume Design
The nominees:
Joan Bergin (The Secret Scripture)
Consolata Boyle (Florence Foster Jenkins)
Triona Lillis (An Klondike)
Eimer Ní Mhaoldomhnaigh (Love & Friendship)

Mixing TV with film in this category might weigh things towards the latter given that they tend to have much greater budgets to play with, but that shouldn't be a consideration here.

Given that Consolata Boyle has already been nominated for an Oscar for her splendid work on Florence Foster Jenkins, it would be a surprise if she wasn't an IFTA winner for a fifth time.

Original Music
The nominees:
David Holmes (The Fall)
Steve Lynch (An Klondike)
Patrick Cassidy (Smalltown)
Brian Byrne (The Secret Scripture)

One of the very few redeeming factors in a red-carded third season of The Fall was the music, recorded by Belfast's own David Holmes, who has vast experience of getting this sort of thing right.

Holmes' previous work includes the soundtrack for Steven Soderbergh's Out of Sight, some of the music for Ocean's Eleven, and the score for the Steve McQueen-directed Hunger. He also won an IFTA for The Fall in 2014. One more for the road, eh?

IFTA Drama Awards: the likely lads and ladies

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