News

Exclusive: Australian actor Rick Donald (The Office) has boarded the third and final season of ITV and RTÉ’s The Dry.

Cameras have rolled on the concluding outing for the Dublin-set dramedy, which sees

BAFTA and IFTA nominee Róisín Gallagher reprise her role as recovering alcoholic Shiv Sheridan. Last seen holding the seams of her dysfunctional family together, and leaving her ex-boyfriend to board a plane to Melbourne by himself, Shiv now meets Daryl, a handsome and mysterious Australian stranger.

Unsurprisingly, Donald will play Daryl. He is an Australian acting vet who has appeared in the likes of Home and Away, Wentworth and the recent Office: Australia.

Series 3 of The Dry sees original cast return including IFTA nominee Siobhán Cullen as Caroline, Adam Richardson as Ant, Oscar nominee Ciarán Hinds as Tom, Pom Boyd as Bernie, Moe Dunford as Jack and Eoin Duffy as Rory.

Produced by Normal People maker Element Pictures, The Dry has over the past few years been a rare gem as an ITV comedy-drama running for multiple seasons, while it has also performed well for Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

The show is created by BAFTA-nominated playwright Nancy Harris (Dates) and directed by acclaimed filmmaker Paddy Breathnach. Harris said: “It has been a true joy to see audiences embrace the Sheridan family in all their dysfunctional glory and I am so grateful to have gotten to tell this story over three seasons. The third and final season aims to go deeper than ever before, really getting under the skin of Shiv and the family in a way that we hope is both surprising, funny and (painfully) honest.”

Element Pictures produces in association with Fís Eireann/Screen Ireland and ITV Studios. The show is executive produced by Emma Norton, Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe for Element alongside Harris and Breathnach. ITV Studios handles global distribution.

While there are a bunch of good Netflix shows coming in 2025, there were also a lot of good Netflix shows that were overlooked last year. We shared a list of the seven best Netflix shows you might have missed in 2024.

Overall, 2024 was a challenging year for new TV and film. Because Netflix and the other studios were unable to make a deal with the actors' and writers' unions, TV production was delayed for the majority of 2023. So, in 2024, there simply were fewer shows than fans were expecting. And yet, there were still several underrated series fans needed to watch. Well, now, it's time to get caught up before Netflix starts dropping even more big shows in 2025.

For some reason, Adeel Akhtar stars in three of the seven Netflix shows I picked. That was not intentional, but my guy is an incredible actor! Everything he's in is good!

Let's get the...

Joy Gharoro-Akpojotor’s Dreamers and Brian Durnin’s Spilt Milk are among the nine feature films and documentaries taking part in the fourth edition of the BFI London Film Festival works-in-progress showcase.

Dreamers is the directorial debut of Gharoro-Akpojoto, producer of Blue Story and Boxing Day and is in post-production. Ronkę Adékoluęjo stars in the love story set in a detention centre, produced by Emily Morgan’s Quiddity Films, with backing from BBC Film and the BFI. The Yellow Affair by Newen Connect represents sales.

Spilt Milk is Dublin filmmaker Brian Durnin’s first film. It follows an 11 year-old boy...

Bad Monkey is a crime drama and dark comedy series created by Bill Lawrence. Based on a 2013 novel of the same name by author Carl Hiaasen, the Apple TV+ series follows the story of Andrew Yancy, a former Miami Police Department turned restaurant inspector as he gets caught up in a strange crime involving a human arm and a group of eccentric characters. Bad Monkey stars Vince Vaughn in the lead roles with Natalie Martinez, Michelle Monaghan, Meredith Hagner, Charlotte Lawrence, Zach Braff, Rob Delaney, Ronald Peet, and John Ortiz starring in supporting roles. So, if you liked the eccentric characters, comedic crimes, and murder mysteries in Bad Monkey here are some similar shows you should check out next.

Death in Paradise Credit – BBC One

Death in Paradise is a British-French procedural crime comedy-drama series created by Robert Thorogood. The BBC One series follows a detective inspector from London as...

Netflix has debuted the trailer for the dark comedic thriller ‘Bodkin’.

The show follows a motley crew of podcasters who set out to investigate the mysterious disappearance of three strangers in a quaint, coastal Irish town. But once they start pulling at threads, they discover a story much bigger and weirder than they could have ever imagined. As our heroes try to discern fact from fiction — about the case, about their colleagues, and, most painfully, themselves — the series challenges our perception of truth and exposes the stories we tell ourselves to justify our beliefs or validate our fears.

Created by Jez Scharf, the show stars Sobhán Cullen (Dove), Robyn Cara (Emmy), Chris Walley (Sean O’Shea), David Wilmot (Seamus), and Will Forte (Gilbert).

Guest stars include Pom Boyd (Mrs. O’Shea), Fionnula Flanagan (Mother Bernadette), Áine Ní Mhuirí (Sister McDonagh), Charlie Kemp (Damien), Pat Shortt (Darragh), Ger Kelly (Teddy), Denis Conway (Sergeant...

A podcaster, his assistant, and a journalist travel to Ireland to investigate a cold case in Netflix’s Bodkin. Described as a dark comedic thriller, the trailer reveals that the Irish townsfolk aren’t thrilled about being invaded by a podcast team and definitely aren’t ready to disclose all their secrets to strangers who are determined to dredge up unwelcome memories.

Will Forte stars as Gilbert Power, the podcaster; Robyn Cara plays Gilbert’s assistant, Emmy Sizerghy; and Siobhán Cullen stars as Dove, the investigative journalist who reluctantly joins forces with Gilbert. The cast also includes Chris Walley as Sean O’Shea and David Wilmot as Seamus. Pom Boyd, Fionnula Flanagan, Áine Ní Mhuirí, Charlie Kemp, Pat Shortt, Ger Kelly, Denis Conway, and John Olohan guest star.

Bodkin follows “a motley crew of podcasters who set out to investigate the mysterious disappearance of three strangers in a quaint, coastal Irish town.

Distribution

BFI Distribution has acquired from A24 2022 Cannes title “God’s Creatures,” starring Emily Watson, Paul Mescal and Aisling Franciosi, for U.K. theatrical release, and is partnering with independent Irish distributor Volta Pictures, who have acquired the film for Ireland. Volta will release the film in Ireland on March 24 and and BFI Distribution in the U.K. on March 31.

Directed by Saela Davis and Anna Rose Holmer, the film is set in a windswept fishing village on the coast of Ireland, where a mother is torn between protecting her beloved son and her own sense of right and wrong. A lie she tells for him rips apart their family and close-knit community. Shane Crowley wrote the screenplay based on a story he co-wrote with Cronin O’Reilly.

The Nine Daughters production by Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly was developed with the support of Screen Ireland, BBC Film and A24. It was co-financed by A24, BBC Film,...

Production

Shooting kicked off in Dublin on Monday for ITV and BBC streamer BritBox’s latest commission, a new dramedy series titled “The Dry” to be produced by Element Pictures in association with Screen Ireland and ITV Studios. Irish broadcaster RTÉ is also partnering on production.

Roisin Gallagher (“The Fall”) Ciarán Hinds (“Game Of Thrones”), Pom Boyd (“Vanity Fair”), Siobhán Cullen (“Origin”) and Moe Dunford (“Vikings”) headline the series cast, joined by newcomer Adam Richardson. In the show, Shiv Sheridan (Gallagher) returns to Dublin after living abroad in London, sober and well intentioned for the first time in years. Being back home, however, proves to make staying on the wagon more difficult than she expects.

Paddy Breathnach (“I Went Down”) directs the series, penned by writer Nancy Harris. Harris is also on the executive producer team with Emma Norton, Michael Dawson, Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe. ITV Studios will distribute international,...

BritBox UK has commissioned comedy-drama series The Dry, produced by Normal People and The Favourite outfit Element Pictures in association with Screen Ireland and ITV Studios, and in partnership with RTÉ.

Playwright and screenwriter Nancy Harris (The Good Karma Hospital) and director Paddy Breathnach (Viva) are behind the eight-part series set in Dublin, which began shooting on Monday, and will debuts exclusively on BritBox UK in 2022.

Starring are Roisin Gallagher (The Fall), Ciarán Hinds (Game Of Thrones), Pom Boyd (Vanity Fair), Siobhán Cullen (Origin), Moe Dunford (Vikings) and newcomer Adam Richardson.

In the series, when Shiv Sheridan (Gallagher) returns to Dublin after years of partying in London, she is sober and full of good intentions – but being back with her family makes staying on ‘the dry’ much harder than she expected. As Shiv tries to navigate this new phase of her life, so must her family and they all have...

Stop me when you’ve heard this one before: a hapless adult man living with his mother refuses to grow up or change, but don’t worry. His arrested development might be endlessly annoying, but that’s basically the point — and when push comes to shove, everyone surrounding him finds him too charming to resist, anyway.

Therein lies the premise of “Frank of Ireland,” an uninspired take on one of the oldest stories in the book from Michael Moloney and brothers Brian and Domhnall Gleeson. Co-produced by Amazon and Channel 4, the six-episode series follows aimless layabout Frank (Brian Gleeson) and his servile best friend Doofus (Domhnall Gleeson) as they bumble around their small town, causing grief and havoc everywhere they go. While Doofus occasionally shows some signs of a conscience to make up for his lack of spine, Frank seems to lack a moral compass entirely, instead twisting every...

In today’s TV news roundup, Amazon Prime Video released the premiere date and trailer for “Frank of Ireland,” and TV One released a clip from the upcoming season of “Unsung.”

Casting

HBO Max has announced the cast for the upcoming comedy pilot “The Gordita Chronicles” from Sony Pictures Television. The family comedy is about a willful, 12-year-old Dominican girl Cucu (Olivia Goncalves) who struggles to fit into hedonistic 1980s Miami as her family pursues the American dream. The cast will also include: Diana Maria Riva as as “Adela,” Cucu’s mom; Juan Javier Cardenas as “Victor Castelli,” Cucu’s dad; Savannah Nicole Ruiz as “Emilia,” Cucu’s older sister; Noah Rico (“High School Musical: The Musical”) as “Yosmel ‘Yoshy’ Hernandez,” a Cuban refugee and Cucu’s first friend in Miami.

Dates

Amazon released the premiere date and trailer for the upcoming comedy series “Frank of Ireland,” which will begin...

Amazon Studios and UK network Channel 4 are reuniting on a new comedy from Sharon Horgan’s Merman. The U.S. streamer and the British public service broadcaster have ordered Frank of Ireland, a comedy series starring and written by brothers Brian and Domhnall Gleeson.

The six-part series centers on Frank Marron, played by Brian Gleeson, is a 32-year-old misanthropic musician who lives in Dublin with his mother, played by Pom Boyd (Rosie). Domhnall Gleeson plays Frank’s wingman. The Dublin Murders stars Sarah Greene and Tom Vaughan-Lawlor also feature.

It is written by Brian and Domhnall Gleeson and Michael Moloney (Your Bad Self) and produced by Merman, the production company set up by Catastrophe co-creator and star Horgan and Clelia Mountford. Merman is the producer of series including Hulu and Channel 4 comedy This Way Up and BBC Two comedy Motherland.

Brian Gleeson stars as Jimmy McCavern in BBC period...

Brothers Brian and Domhnall Gleeson are teaming for a comedy series titled “Frank of Ireland,” a co-production between Channel 4 and Amazon.

The brothers Gleeson are co-writing and executive producing the show with Michael Moloney, with the half-hour series getting a six-episode order. Brian will star as Frank Marron, who is described as a 32-year-old catastrophe. He is further described as a misanthropic, narcissistic, fantasist in arrested development who thinks the world owes him something. But, nonetheless, he’s the show’s hero.

Frank lives in Dublin with his mother Mary (Pom Boyd). He is single and his pocket money hasn’t increased in a decade or more. Frank is a musician but hasn’t written a song or played a gig in seven years and five months. His ex-girlfriend Aine (Sarah Greene) has a new boyfriend, Peter-Brian (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) for the first time since they split, and Frank may...