Irish actor Peter McDonald is among the stars of This Town, the new series from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight, which begins on BBC One this weekend.
The BBC says This Town is about "a world of family ties, teenage kicks, and the exhilarating music of a generation".
The Birmingham and Coventry-set series tells the story of "a band's formation against a backdrop of violence, capturing how creative genius can emerge from a time of madness".
"Both a high-octane thriller and a family saga, This Town opens in 1981 at a moment of huge social tensions and unrest," the BBC synopsis continues.
"Against this backdrop, it tells the story of a group of young people fighting to choose their own paths in life, and each in need of the second chance that music offers."
In This Town, McDonald plays Eamonn Quinn, the father of one of the band - and a member of the IRA.
The Dubliner, whose lengthy CV includes The Batman, Dublin Murders, Moone Boy, The Stag, Spin the Bottle, and Paths to Freedom, is part of a cast that includes Levi Brown (Loss and Return), Jordan Bolger (The Book of Boba Fett), Ben Rose (Line of Duty), and Eve Austin (You) as the four young leads.
McDonald's fellow Irish actors Séainín Brennan (The Fall) and Brendan Gibson (Peaky Blinders) are also part of the This Town ensemble alongside Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey), Nicholas Pinnock (Life), David Dawson (The Last Kingdom), and Geraldine James (Back to Life).
"I think the series is about identity, particularly how the young characters at the centre try to forge their identity through artistic expression, music, and poetry," McDonald told the BBC. "And how that offers them a life with freedom, joy, and all the good things about finding yourself."
"It's also about resisting the narratives that have been placed on top of you by the people above, or by people older than you, the people who are perhaps in control of your life up until that point. To me, it's a real celebration of the music and culture of that time.
"This Town is very much about people who are disaffected. It was a time of 'no blacks, no dogs, no Irish' and the communities this series looks at, and Steven writes about so well, are the people who are both on the edges of society but are also who society mainly consists of. It's about how young people in this world, with not many advantages, find artistic sustenance."
Of "taking on the character of Eamonn", McDonald said: "I grew up through the Troubles, I'm from Dublin. You never take that on lightly; there is a lot of pain, hurt, and traumatisation over the years.
"It's a very difficult situation and the solutions were never going to be easy and still aren't fully resolved so you do feel apprehensive before you take on something that deals with that subject.
"I'm playing one character who is involved in that. He's not representative of the whole struggle or the whole political dynamic, but he is one character who was involved in it. I take it on in that spirit.
"What I saw was a man who is actually, strangely very vulnerable, but I don't want to in any way offer a sympathetic portrayal of any character I play. I just find out what the truth is with the other creatives on the show.
"I'm really telling a story about a father and a husband who has been through the mill of the Troubles and now the way he treats and how he loves those close to him is distorted and misrepresented from where it would be perhaps coming from in other circumstances."
When asked if he learned "anything new about the music of the era" from starring in This Town, McDonald replied: "I did a bit, but I had to stay away from that side of it.
"My only disappointment in this show, because I play a bit of guitar, is that I was not involved in any of that. I would have loved to have been in the band.
"I kept suggesting that Eamonn might turn up with a bodhrán or something, but he doesn't take an interest in that side of Bardon's life. My research and what I was focused on was the conflict that Eamonn is engaged in."
This Town begins on Easter Sunday, 31 March, on BBC One at 9:00pm and continues on Monday 1 April at the same time.
