The Dry

I enjoyed this original and quirky Irish comedy penned by Nancy Harris. Roisin Gallagher is perfect as Shiv the recovering alcoholic who returns from London to the bosom of her Dublin family hoping for a fresh start and finding an initial mix of bewilderment and scepticism from family members all facing their own unique challenges. Ciaran Hinds is superb as Tom, the paternal head of the family as is Pom Boyd as Bernie. Janet Moran excels too as Shiv's force of nature sponsor Karen. The piece as a whole is at times hilarious and at others quite tender and it's non judgmental lightness of touch and tone feels refreshing.

Hilarious, sad, funny real. This drama/comedy about a recovering alcoholic from a dysfunctional, middle class , Dublin family, nearly passed me by.

Every episode is finely crafted.

Laugh out loud at times. Painfully cringy at others, but so worth a watch.

A lot of the characters are a bit over the top to highlight comic & dramatic value.

It's so well acted and scripted. Can't believe this flew under the radar. It's one of the best Irish programmes in years.

Really relatable in some circumstances and not in others, but brilliant.

This is so binge worthy. Give it at least 2 episodes and you will be hooked!

Has everything you want. Great acting, genuine laugh out loud moments and powerful messages. I think her sponsor steals the show but it has many memorable scenes. From the start in the airport where she tries to help a man drinking Guinness in the morning to the diatribe at the finale it was packed with superb writing. There was a lot in it - alcoholic, gay brother, cheating sister & father, cheating herself. In fact all the characters were carrying some weight on their shoulders but it was all tastefully and humorously dealt with.

Hope season 2 is in the pipeline as RTE could do with investing in this as opposed to some of the drivel they currently call light entertainment.

I saw The Guardian describe this as an "Irish Fleabag" which really piqued my interest. This might be controversial, but I enjoyed this way more than Fleabag! I'm sober, and so it felt really real to me- painful and gritty and incredibly true to life. Sorcha Richardson's soundtrack added a beautiful depth to the series as well. I hope there will be a series two.

... but the first thing I did was laugh.

I think to enjoy this series you have to have enjoyed Shameless. Some describe this family as clichéd but that falls short. Dysfunctional doesn't cover it either.

The main character returns home and to her completely over the top family members in an attempt to maintain her fragile, six-month sobriety. She couldn't have made a worse choice.

The eight-part series details everyone else's shortcomings as well as her own, making you want to reach for a drink yourself. But it is very well done, humorous, gritty and for someone who finds the theme close to the heart, very difficult to watch in parts.

It is the woman's sponsor who is the lone voice of sanity and some hard truths. The series is very well done, very well written and very well acted.

Some would like to see additional seasons but I think what had to be said and done was accomplished in these eight, half-hour episodes.