The Dry star Siobhán Cullen has told RTÉ Entertainment that fans of the comedy-drama will see a surprising side to her character, the acerbic Caroline, in the third and final season on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player.
At the close of season two of the Nancy Harris-penned series, doctor Caroline appeared to have reunited with her ex, Rory (Eoin Duffy), having told him she was pregnant with another man's child.
As season three begins on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player on Thursday night, 23 April, the story of the Sheridan family - Caroline, her mother Bernie (Pom Boyd), dad Tom (Ciarán Hinds), sister Shiv (Róisín Gallagher), and brother Ant (Adam John Richardson) - picks up nine months later.
"We get to see Caroline as a mum, which is really surprising, I think, in how she deals with that," Cullen explained to RTÉ Entertainment.
"What I think is really satisfying, what I think Nancy has done a really good job of, is we spent two seasons setting up what Caroline's goals are, how she sees her life panning out - and in season three, it's all the wheels have fallen off! It's falling apart at the seams! And actually, at times, it may or may not be a bad thing!
"Her priorities shift and change and what she thought was once really important may not be as important as she once thought. So, that's really interesting to play this season."
"She becomes a different type of mum than certainly I would have expected, the Caroline that I knew, which I think often happens as well," Cullen continued.
"I've seen it with people; you often paint a picture of what type of parent someone might be and you can never guess (tell). And that's, I think, true of Caroline.
"At the end of the day, she just wants to be a mum and be left at it - and we have a lot of interfering factors that are obstacles for the season! That's been really exciting."
Cullen said it is "starting to sink in" that she is saying goodbye to a character that she has loved bringing to life across three seasons.
"My favourite part about playing her, I think, is that role that she has within the family," she said.
"I think with all of us, we're at our purest form of the character when we are all in our five [on screen], when we are as a family unit.
"So, my favourite part of playing Caroline is when it is amongst the chaos of the Sheridans, when we have those family scenes, the family meeting scenes.
"The few times in the seasons when we get together, they're the scenes I look for on the schedule, they're the scenes I think we all most look forward to. Not only because we all are mad about each other and have such a laugh, but because as an actor playing these parts [it's great].
"I think it's true in life as well: when you go back to your family home, you kind of revert back to your teenage form, or you slot so easily back into the role that you play within your group of siblings, or how you are as a daughter/son. I think that's true of the Sheridans as well.
"Like, Caroline is at her most uptight, her most particular, precise, and cutting when she is in that group of five!"
Your spot on the Sheridans' couch awaits...
Episode one of the third and final series of The Dry airs on RTÉ One on Thursday, 23 April at 10:15pm. All eight episodes will drop on RTÉ Player on the same night. Catch up on series one and two on RTÉ Player.
