RTÉ has announced its new season of programming, which includes over 30 hours of brand-new Irish drama, returning favourites such as Hidden Assets, The Dry and Dancing with the Stars, as well as a range of content examining the Climate Crisis.
This autumn, RTÉ will be bringing over 30 hours of brand-new Irish drama to Irish audiences alongside a wide range of documentaries on issues that matter and impactful real-life stories. There are also a number of new homegrown entertainment and comedy shows, as well as 126 hours of Irish children's content.
Favourites such as Ireland's Fittest Family, Dancing with the Stars and The Tommy Tiernan Show are all set to return. The Late Late Show is also back, with new host Patrick Kietly ready to mark a new chapter in the longest-running live chat show's story.
RTÉ will also deliver its widest range of free-to-air sports including the upcoming Rugby World Cup, UEFA Nations League and AIB All-Ireland Club Championships. The Allianz National League will return in the New Year ahead of another Championship season.
Speaking about the new season, Niamh O'Connor, Deputy Director of Content, said: "RTÉ is firmly focused on our core purpose of delivering a broad range of unique Irish content that serves the Irish public.
"Working with Irish creative talent both in the Irish independent production sector and our in-house production teams, we want to give the public the very best content that they deserve from their national public service broadcaster."
Here are some of the highlights:
Drama
The Gone, starring Grey's Anatomy's Richard Flood, sees a young Irish couple go missing with a potential Irish crime family involved in their disappearance, leading to a joint New Zealand and Irish crime investigation.
Hidden Assets season two is set between Limerick and Antwerp. Claire (Nora-Jane Noone) is new to the fold as lead Detective Sergeant in charge at the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau. The cast also includes Simone Kirby and Cathy Belton.
Obituary, a dark comedy starring Siobhán Cullen as Elvira Clancy, is about a bored obituary writer who takes matters into her own hands. Filmed in Donegal, the six-part series also stars Michael Smiley and Danielle Galligan.
Blackshore follows DI Fia Lucey (Lisa Dwan), a laser-focused, ambitious detective who is haunted by her tragic past. It also stars Rory Keenan, Stanley Townsend, Andrew Bennett and Amy De Bhrún.
The Dry season two, written by BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Nancy Harris, will see the return of Roisin Gallagher as recovering alcoholic Shiv Sheridan, accompanied by an exciting array of new cast arrivals including Sam Keeley (Kin) and Michael McElhatton (Game of Thrones).
The Boy That Never Was is based on The Sunday Times bestselling debut novel by Karen Perry and adapted by Jo Spain.
Plus a season of explosive drama awaits in Fair City’s Carrigstown this autumn, where a kidnapping goes horribly wrong.
Entertainment
The Late Late Show returns on 15 September for a brand-new chapter with host Patrick Kielty, who promises to bring his own inimitable style to Friday nights, alongside a new look and redesigned set.
The Tommy Tiernan Show returns with 16 new shows in January. Dancing with the Stars is also back in the New Year with Jennifer Zamparelli, Doireann Garrihy and 11 new hopefuls, and Baz Ashmawy presents The Money List, a brand-new quiz show.
The Full Irish Hidden Camera Show with 2FM Breakfast crew Doireann, Carl and Donncha sees pranks played on the unsuspecting public.
Ireland's Fittest Family gains two new recruits with Sonia O’Sullivan joining the coaching line-up and Laura Fox as host.
Love in the Country host Anna Geary will be on hand to help Irish farmers find the love of their life, while First Dates returns to warm our hearts and serve a slice of modern Irish life in a restaurant full of new hopefuls.
Foclóir Brille sees stand-up comedian Bláithín de Burca take viewers on a jubilant journey deep into the past, present, and future of the Irish language.
The Young Offenders, Jock and Conor, also return for a brand-new series.
Factual
112 Days – Man Vs Ocean is an emotional and reflective adventure documentary that follows Damian Browne and Fergus Farrell's voyage traversing the Atlantic Ocean in a two-person rowboat.
Stardust is a major three-part documentary series that will provide a 360-degree perspective on the Stardust tragedy.
Patrick: A Young Traveller Lost shines a light on the urgent and sensitive issue of suicide rates among the Irish Traveller Community through the harrowing story of 12-year-old Patrick McDonagh.
Dr Cassidy's Casebook - The Femicide Cases sees former State Pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy explore the issue of femicide in Ireland through the lens of some of the cases she investigated during her career.
Richie Sadlier - Let’s Talk About Sex explores Ireland’s sex education history through the eyes and ears of transition year students.
Climate Live 2050, from the makers of Election '18, is an ambitious special that imagines how the news might be in the year 2050 with presenters Mark Little and Carla O'Brien guiding viewers through a seismic night as the climate pushes the planet to a moment of crisis.
Heated is a six-part series that takes a factual look at the implications of climate change for individuals, families, communities and industry in Ireland.
A Climate of Change sees Philip Boucher-Hayes examine the effect of climate change across continents and assess the implications it will have in Ireland.
What's Next? is a series for 10-12-year-olds that looks at innovation and challenges within the environmental sector.
Face Down is a documentary sprung from RTÉ’s hugely successful radio series RTÉ Documentary on One. It focuses on the 1973 kidnapping by the IRA of the German businessman Thomas Niedermayer.
Culture Arts and Music
An Old Song Re-Sung will be broadcast in October to mark the 100th anniversary of Ireland’s accession to the League of Nations.
Culture Night will be celebrated in Donegal on Friday 22 September from a lakeside setting in the shadow of Mount Errigal where the RTÉ Concert Orchestra will be joined by a host of guest performers.
Aistear an Amhráin examines the meaning behind Ireland's most popular songs and features Damien Dempsey, John Sheahan and The Saw Doctors, and in Seisiún, presenter Muireann Nic Amhlaoibh visits celebrated music venues.
Dolores@70 honours much-loved singer Dolores Keane as she turns 70, while Cloch Le Carn includes programmes on Sean Keane and The Chieftains.
Songlines follows Thomas McCarthy as he meets an eclectic collection of Traveller singers throughout Ireland.
The Meaning of Life with Joe Duffy features interviews with Johnny Logan, Adi Roche, Tony Holohan and a 100th-episode special with former Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin.
Real Irish Lives
Fools for Love follows journalist Aoife Grace Moore as she investigates the dark side of dating apps.
Sun, Sea, and Scalpels follows some of the thousands of Irish people opting to travel abroad for cosmetic surgery, and in Keith’s Teeth: A Dental Odyssey, Keith Duffy examines the nation’s changing relationship with our smiles.
Inside Penneys journeys into the fast-moving headquarters of one of Ireland's best-known retailers.
A Ring and A Prayer examines couples from diverse cultures and faith traditions who get married.
Secret Life of Your Body, a new medical series fronted by Kathryn Thomas, follows patients through surgeries and recoveries from heart bypasses to an ACL operation. There are more transformative series in the shape of Big Life Fix, Raised by the Village and Operation Transformation.
Marty's Big Picture Show sees Marty Morrissey and historian Liz Gillis attempt to track down faces captured in the lenses of some of Ireland’s best-known photographers.
Dermot Bannon's Super Spaces is a two-part series looking at unusual spaces where people live.
Young Peoples
Storybud is back for a brand-new series, with episodes performed by Jason Byrne, Panti Bliss and Dustin.
Ladybird and Bee mixes charming storytelling with the universe of narrative potential that is the Natural World, and Tír na nÓg is a wonderland of adventure, used by parents, grandparents and schools to immerse their preschoolers in Gaeilge.
Will Sliney’s Storytellers 2 is part drawing show, part animated adventure, teaching budding young artists to use the most powerful weapon in the world – a pencil. The series features WWE Superstar Becky Lynch, actor Aisling Bea and broadcaster Dermot Whelan.
Ray of Sunshine follows seven-year-old Ray who lives in the Sunshine Apartments smack dab in the middle of the city of Dublin.
