Young Offenders set sights on Cork — again
Writer/director Peter Foott and his team have plans to follow up the six-part series debuting on RTÉ this Thursday if it proves a hit with viewers.
“We’re talking about it,” said actor Hilary Rose, who plays feisty mum Mairead in the show, which like the film was shot on location in Cork. “We’d absolutely love it. We’d be shocked if we didn’t get it. We want to go back and do more of what we did, 100%.”
“I’m not booking gigs this year. My hope is that it’s going to happen,”said comedian PJ Gallagher, who plays a new character, the local school principal and father of two teenage girls who Conor and Jock take a shine to, on the show.
Indications so far are positive. The first episode aired on BBC Three last week and by the weekend, it was the third most popular programme on the platform, behind two episodes of soap Eastenders.
The series’ cast, including actors Chris Walley and Alex Murphy, unveiled the first two episodes of the show at a premiere in Dublin’s docklands last night. London-based Walley was celebrating his recent casting in Martin McDonagh’s The Lieutenant of Inishmore, which bows on the West End this summer, while Alex was joined by his classmates at acting school The Lir, where he’s currently studying.
They were joined by Kilbrittain teenager Jennifer Barry and Demi Isaac Oviawe, from Mallow, Co Cork, who Gallagher, who plays their strict dad, is tipping to be breakout stars from the series.
“They’re really brilliant. They had one of the toughest jobs, playing against the two lads. They really raised their game, they did it no problem. They’re pretty much central characters through the whole thing,” he said.
Viewers of the show in the UK have already likened it to Derry Girls. Gallagher feels the show’s success could be good for Irish comedy. “I think if people watch one Irish show and really like it they’ll probably watch another.
I think it’s actually better for us to be honest. There seems to be a whole new wave of Irish comedy.”
Since the original film was launched on Netflix, it has won a fanbase around the world. Producers from Spain and India have been in contact with the film’s writer/director, Peter Foot, with the intention of doing versions of the comedy for their own countries.
Rose’s favourite story is that of a Japanese superfan who was so enamoured with the film that they travelled to Cork to recreate shots of locations that feature in it.
“He was a fan of the film. He decided to travel to Cork. He’d taken photos of the stills of the film, printed them out, and he went to all the locations where the film had been shot. He lined it up then took another photo, compiled a report and put it online. I don’t know how he found that shop in Knocknaheeny, but he found it.”
