Forgotten Irish drama series.

Realtai · 10-06-2021 1:34pm

Anyone remember "Making the Cut"?

It was a detective drama about an investigation into a drug gang, I think. It was filmed in Bray back in the 90s.
Sean McGinley and Andrea Irvine were in the starring roles as detectives, and Jim Norton played the police commissioner.

Hangdogroad · 10-06-2021 1:42pm

Realtai wrote: »

Anyone remember "Making the Cut"?

It was a detective drama about an investigation into a drug gang, I think. It was filmed in Bray back in the 90s.
Sean McGinley and Andrea Irvine were in the starring roles as detectives, and Jim Norton played the police commissioner.

Yes, though it was filmed in Waterford. Was supposed to be set there but there were local objections that a crime series set there would give the place a bad name so the setting was left deliberately vague.

The followup series DDU might have been filmed in Bray, I remember some locations in the series that looked like South County Dublin or Wicklow coastal area.

Realtai · 10-06-2021 2:30pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Yes, though it was filmed in Waterford. Was supposed to be set there but there were local objections that a crime series set there would give the place a bad name so the setting was left deliberately vague.

The followup series DDU might have been filmed in Bray, I remember some locations in the series that looked like South County Dublin or Wicklow coastal area.

It might have been the follow up series alright. I lived in Bray at the time, and remember that they filmed up in the Palermo area, and in the Boys school up there.

jmayo · 10-06-2021 3:33pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

Another RTE/Channel 4 co production was Summer Lightning, from 1985. Cant remember much about the storyline but it was set in an Anglo-Irish big house in the 19th Century. The main reason I remember it was myself and the brother were watching and there was an exchange of dialogue between a husband and wife that went. Wife, in an angry frustrated tone: "Fcuk me!". Husband: "I'm nearly 40". Wife again: "**** me!". I remember the two of us looking at each other dumb struck, and glad that our mother wasnt up or shed fecking murder us for watching something with dialogue like that.

The husband was having it off with a younger fancy woman and ignoring his wife which I think was what the whole scene was about.

Jaysus I think I remember that.
It was the son remembering back to when he was a young lad and in love with this young one living with her mother that was like renting a place from his father.

Turns out the father was getting paid by getting to shag the daughter if I remember right.
The reason it stands out as a major memory was there was some nudie scenes in it.
Hell growing up in two channel land anything on RTE with nudie scenes stands out like a joshua tree in the desert.
Was a huge fan of Cineclub on Mid week.

Just looking up screen grab about it on IMDb Donal McCann and the beardie lad from Bosco were in it.

Lurching · 10-06-2021 3:41pm

Along the lines of Pure Mule, I liked Raw - the one set in a Dublin restaurant.
With the selection available now across multiple platforms, I'm sure most people would laugh at it nowadays, but I thought it was good for it's time.

Hangdogroad · 10-06-2021 4:11pm

jmayo wrote: »

Jaysus I think I remember that.
It was the son remembering back to when he was a young lad and in love with this young one living with her mother that was like renting a place from his father.

Turns out the father was getting paid by getting to shag the daughter if I remember right.
The reason it stands out as a major memory was there was some nudie scenes in it.
Hell growing up in two channel land anything on RTE with nudie scenes stands out like a joshua tree in the desert.
Was a huge fan of Cineclub on Mid week.

Just looking up screen grab about it on IMDb Donal McCann and the beardie lad from Bosco were in it.

That's right. I cant remember the ins and outs of the storyline but there some sex scenes along with the swearing.

Another bit that sticks out in my mind was a party held in the big house where everyone got pissed. Jonathan Ryan (the guy from Bosco) had an arm wrestling match with a foppish lad who fainted from exertion. The maid was played by Maureen Toal, aka Teasy from Glenroe and she gets so drunk she has to get hauled away while singing A Nation Once Again.

odyssey06 · 10-06-2021 5:40pm

Amber, from 2014, a four part mini series about the disappearane of a school girl.
Starring Eva Birthistle and David Murray.

I never actually watched it, recorded it and based on feedback about the last episode, deleted it.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224645/

Zeek12 · 10-06-2021 7:17pm

odyssey06 wrote: »

Amber, from 2014, a four part mini series about the disappearane of a school girl.
Starring Eva Birthistle and David Murray.

I never actually watched it, recorded it and based on feedback about the last episode, deleted it.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224645/

Wise move.

It was awful!

Hangdogroad · 14-06-2021 8:06am

Father And Son. Mini series about a Manchester-Irish criminal from 2009.

There was another RTE co production from the late 90s that had some young tearaway who might have been Scouse or Manc running away to Ireland and riding horses in the Curragh, cant think of the name of it.

RandomViewer · 15-06-2021 6:56pm

odyssey06 wrote: »

Amber, from 2014, a four part mini series about the disappearane of a school girl.
Starring Eva Birthistle and David Murray.

I never actually watched it, recorded it and based on feedback about the last episode, deleted it.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2224645/

Ends up very badly

odyssey06 · 15-06-2021 7:02pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

There was another RTE co production from the late 90s that had some young tearaway who might have been Scouse or Manc running away to Ireland and riding horses in the Curragh, cant think of the name of it.

Rough Diamond maybe... though that's from 2006
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837017/

Hangdogroad · 15-06-2021 7:11pm

odyssey06 wrote: »

Rough Diamond maybe... though that's from 2006
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0837017/

Yeah thats it, its more recent than I thought.

Del.Monte · 15-06-2021 9:29pm

"Rough Diamond" (2006) Drama. BBC/RTÉ Co-production. Six part mini-series.

Conor Mullen, Stanley Townsend, Lorraine Pilkington, Eamon Morrissey, Ben Davies.

Directors: Simon Massey, Dermot Boyd. Co-Producer: World Productions.

Shot entirely in Ireland.

The story revolves around the rivalry between a struggling, near bankrupt young trainer, Aidan Doherty, (Conor Mullen), and his millionaire neighbour, Charlie Carrick (Stanley Townsend), who - together with his wife Yolanda (Lorraine Pilkington) - owns the successful 'Firebrand' yard, up the road.

When the series opens, Aidan is set to sell his stables and start over on the other side of the world in Australia. Just as he is about to sign his late father's stables over to Charlie Carrick, a young stranger turns up with news that rocks Aidan's world.... Available on DVD.

Hangdogroad · 16-06-2021 10:18am

Showbands (2005). Most Irish based TV dramas have a token English character or two presumably to sell it to UK networks but for this they cast Kerry Katona as the lead in a series about 60s Irish showbands.

Hangdogroad · 20-06-2021 11:02am

The Truth About Sara (1990). About a woman going to England for an abortion. Shot in the style of a mock documentary, Pauline McGlynn was in it though not as the main character. I remember some controversy about it at the time.

NewbridgeIR · 20-06-2021 1:26pm

Anyone remember 1981's Scarf Jack?
Not Irish - it was produced by ITV franchise Southern TV - but focuses on the 1798 rebellion.

A lot of dead bodies for a 4.45pm transmission. As it's a UK production, it's readily available on DVD.

EFGKz-6XUAAH7fA?format=jpg&name=large

Hangdogroad · 20-06-2021 2:38pm

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Anyone remember 1981's Scarf Jack?
Not Irish - it was produced by ITV franchise Southern TV - but focuses on the 1798 rebellion.

A lot of dead bodies for a 4.45pm transmission. As it's a UK production, it's readily available on DVD.

It definitely rings a bell, was it shown on RTE? We didn't have the UK channels.

There's another Irish set historical drama that I'm trying to identify, saw it circa 82-83. Was either set in Famine times or in the years following. Can just remember one scene. A horse and cart transporting something (maybe grain) is ambushed by three or four armed fellas who have bags with eye holes cut out covering their heads. They take control of the cart and drive it off with two or three of them in the back. An officious looking bowler hat wearing guy on horseback who had been escorting the cart berates the gang as the cart trundles off shouting after them they won't get away with this sort of thing . One of the fellas shouts "shoot him, shoot him" and they do just that shooting him off the horse with a blunderbluss type gun.

It definitely wasn't the Year Of The French or the Hanging Gale.

NewbridgeIR · 20-06-2021 5:49pm

Hangdogroad wrote: »

It definitely rings a bell, was it shown on RTE? We didn't have the UK channels.

There's another Irish set historical drama that I'm trying to identify, saw it circa 82-83. Was either set in Famine times or in the years following. Can just remember one scene. A horse and cart transporting something (maybe grain) is ambushed by three or four armed fellas who have bags with eye holes cut out covering their heads. They take control of the cart and drive it off with two or three of them in the back. An officious looking bowler hat wearing guy on horseback who had been escorting the cart berates the gang as the cart trundles off shouting after them they won't get away with this sort of thing . One of the fellas shouts "shoot him, shoot him" and they do just that shooting him off the horse with a blunderbluss type gun.

It definitely wasn't the Year Of The French or the Hanging Gale.

Pretty sure Scarf Jack wasn't shown on RTE. When it was broadcast on ITV during June & July 1981, the hunger strikers were still dying in the Maze.

There was a one-off RTE drama called Famine that was made in 1973 - could you have seen a repeat of that? Was black & white IIRC. There was also an excellent episode of Robert Kee's: Ireland A Television History that focused on the period.

tipptom · 20-06-2021 5:56pm

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

RTE did plenty one-off dramas in the 1970s & early 1980s.

The Greening Of America was written by Eoghan Harris. US satire with blackface, 1976

Any mention of Sinn Fein in it?

Hangdogroad · 20-06-2021 6:21pm

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Pretty sure Scarf Jack wasn't shown on RTE. When it was broadcast on ITV during June & July 1981, the hunger strikers were still dying in the Maze.

There was a one-off RTE drama called Famine that was made in 1973 - could you have seen a repeat of that? Was black & white IIRC. There was also an excellent episode of Robert Kee's: Ireland A Television History that focused on the period.

It could have been a repeat of Famine, there's not much to go on online apart from some stills in the RTE online archives

Del.Monte · 20-06-2021 9:26pm

NewbridgeIR wrote: »

Anyone remember 1981's Scarf Jack?
Not Irish - it was produced by ITV franchise Southern TV - but focuses on the 1798 rebellion.

A lot of dead bodies for a 4.45pm transmission. As it's a UK production, it's readily available on DVD.

Based on the book of the same name by P J Kavanagh and is interesting as the chief baddie was based on a real life 1798 loyalist from Gorey. I read the book recently and I'm going to pick up a copy of the DVD shortly.

Sgt Hartman · 21-06-2021 7:48am

The Irish RM, although it's probably more of a comedy than a drama series. It had Alan Stanford (George from Glenroe) and also starred Bryan Murray as a character called Flurry.

YFlyer · 21-06-2021 8:40am

Was there a drama pre Reardons. Called Bracken, I think?

Peregrinus · 21-06-2021 8:53am

YFlyer wrote: »

Was there a drama pre Reardons. Called Bracken, I think?

Post-Reardons. It ran in the early 80s, and features Gabriel Byrne playing a character he had first played in the final season of the Reardons. Bracken in turn gave rise to Glenroe, featuring Joe Lynch and Mick Lally playing characters that they first played in Bracken.

odyssey06 · 21-06-2021 10:27am

Sgt Hartman wrote: »

The Irish RM, although it's probably more of a comedy than a drama series. It had Alan Stanford (George from Glenroe) and also starred Bryan Murray as a character called Flurry.

That is one of the few that still gets repeated, not sure if that's cos the rights were less messy or the presence of someone with a UK profile (Peter Bowles).

Bowles and Bryan Murray did a series soon after, Perfect Scoundrels, the first episode was set in Ireland, including some footage of old Dublin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgiBK7fRoQs

Hangdogroad · 21-06-2021 11:00am

odyssey06 wrote: »

That is one of the few that still gets repeated, not sure if that's cos the rights were less messy or the presence of someone with a UK profile (Peter Bowles).

Bowles and Bryan Murray did a series soon after, Perfect Scoundrels, the first episode was set in Ireland, including some footage of old Dublin:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgiBK7fRoQs

TG4 repeat it every now and then, they also showed Bracken maybe ten, fifteen years ago.

padd b1975 · 21-06-2021 11:25am

Roses from Dublin.

I think it was a joint venture with French TV.

Hangdogroad · 21-06-2021 12:17pm

A Mother's Loves A Blessing. One off tv play by Pat McCabe shown on RTE in 1994. I think it might have part of a series of one off dramas but that's the only one I remember watching. Would love to see it again, very much in the vein of the Butcher Boy.

RandomViewer · 21-06-2021 1:37pm

There's something on a riverboat on the Shannon with the guy from Paths to Freedom, watched about 20 minutes of it a few years ago, poor from memory

YFlyer · 21-06-2021 5:40pm

Peregrinus wrote: »

Post-Reardons. It ran in the early 80s, and features Gabriel Byrne playing a character he had first played in the final season of the Reardons. Bracken in turn gave rise to Glenroe, featuring Joe Lynch and Mick Lally playing characters that they first played in Bracken.

Thanks. Vaguely remember watching some program about them.

Forgotten Irish drama series.

Comments