Normal People producers to adapt Cork author Caroline O'Donoghue's novel for Channel 4
Caroline O'Donoghue: "Like most authors, I’ve always dreamed of having my work adapted for the screen, but never could have imagined a situation as dreamy as this."
Cork author, podcaster and screenwriter Caroline O’Donoghue is set to have her book The Rachel Incident adapted for an eight-part series.
Commissioned by Channel 4, the series will be produced by the award-winning Element Pictures - producers of Normal People, Poor Things - and UCP, a division of Universal Studio Group and Pageboy.
O’Donoghue has collaborated with Jen Statsky, co-creator of the hit series Hacks, to bring her characters to life on screen.
Taking to her Instagram story on Wednesday, O'Donoghue shared a clip from Hacks alongside the words, ‘This, but Cork’.
The Rachel Incident charts the coming-of-age story of Rachel Murray, who finishes college and begins adulthood in the shadow of the 2008 financial crash and subsequent recession.
She meets her best friend, James Devlin, and they become entangled in the lives of Rachel’s University College Cork professor, Dr Frederick Byrnes, and his wife Deenie - all while Rachel struggles to navigate romance and friendship and to find her career path.
Speaking about Channel 4’s commission of the adaption of her book, O'Donoghue said: “Like most authors, I’ve always dreamed of having my work adapted for the screen, but never could have imagined a situation as dreamy as this.
“Channel 4 and Element have, between them, created some of the best relationship dramas on TV and I know they’ll do the same for Rachel.
“NBCUniversal have been stalwart collaborators since long before the book was even published, and I’m so grateful to them for setting me up with Jen Statsky who has been an incredible mentor to me as I embark on my first show. I’m incredibly lucky.”
Director of Film4 and Channel 4 Drama, Ollie Madden, said: “Caroline’s adaptation of her brilliant novel, and her vision for a returning series, was that rare thing – undeniably funny, razor-sharp in its honesty and observation, but bursting with heart and genuine emotion.
“We’re also huge fans of Hacks, so to have Jen Statsky working side-by-side with Caroline is the icing on the cake. Together with our friends at Element, UCP and PageBoy, we know this team is going to make something extraordinary.”
Element Pictures said they have been long fans of O’Donoghue’s work and that they are thrilled to be working with her and Statsky alongside their partners at Pageboy, NBCUniversal and Channel 4 to bring O’Donoghue’s characters off the page and onto our screens.
Casting for the new series will be announced in due course.
