Death, tax credits and great lines underpin quietly stellar year for Irish TV drama

“As far back as I can remember my life has been steeped in death,” announces Elvira (Siobhán Cullen) in RTÉ's dark comedy Obituary, one of a quartet of scripted Irish television series that gave me life in 2023.

Obituary was a macabre miracle of tone. True, a certain suspension of disbelief was required to accept the premise of a freelance journalist driven by the “desperation” of her per-obit pay to embark on an earnings-enhancing serial-killing spree. In real life, Elvira’s €200 rate would be the local news industry equivalent of a lottery win.

But after decades of watching earnest, deadline-free screen journalists devoting themselves to cracking cold cases, it felt gloriously refreshing to see a sociopathic one bumping people off instead. Sure, there might have been some mystery-solving going on, too — nothing’s perfect.

That was the home, too, for The Dry, and though the ‘dry’ of the title was alcohol-related, Nancy Harris’s comedy-drama also contained some of the driest lines of dialogue ever heard on Irish television

Obituary, written by Ray Lawlor, was a highlight not just of the Irish television year, but the television year full stop. Naturally, RTÉ failed to give it a prime Sunday slot, sticking it on RTÉ One at 10.15pm on a Tuesday instead.

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Midweek was the home, too, for The Dry, and though the “dry” of the title was alcohol-related, Nancy Harris’s comedy-drama also contained some of the driest lines of dialogue ever heard on Irish television.

I immediately rewound one just to hear it again. Shiv (Roisin Gallagher) wails about her parents’ separation, only for AA sponsor Karen (Janet Moran) to console her thus: “I know, love. It’s disappointing for everyone when an open relationship doesn’t work out.”

Northern Lights was an even rarer phenomenon: an Irish-produced drama installed in TG4′s Tuesday night English-language drama slot. Adapted from his play by Stephen Jones, its lead actor, this was a slow burn of a series with sparks flying in multiple directions.

Talky scenes between strangers Lloyd (Jones) and Áine (Elva Trill) might have made it feel like a Dublin version of Before Sunrise at first, but the grief theme soon reminded me of Facebook Watch’s compelling Sorry for Your Loss. Flashback-laden, Northern Lights could seem like it was going around in circles — just as a grieving brain does — but they were increasingly involving ones. To see some of the most painful subjects imaginable awarded time and space in an Irish drama like this felt special.

Spoiler alert: not everyone makes it to the end of this Belfast-set cop show alive

Also playing out on Tuesdays in recent weeks was tense PSNI drama Blue Lights, an RTÉ acquisition from the BBC, which had broadcast it on BBC One earlier this year.

Spoiler alert: not everyone makes it to the end of this Belfast-set cop show alive. The series, written by former journalists Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, played the Cracker card of killing off the absolute last person you want to see die, while also excelling in its nuanced portrayal of Jen (Hannah McClean), a character both comically and grimly useless at her job.

Between these four shows — allowing for the fact that one was a BBC commission — I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a critical mass of writing, acting and directing quality in Irish-led television productions in a single year before. Did I even mention that Ciarán Hinds is in The Dry? Or that the locations in Obituary (Ballyshannon and Bundoran in Donegal) and Northern Lights (a beautiful, non-flashy Dublin) were used to wonderful advantage?

And yet this all happened so, so quietly.

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Granted, the BBC described Blue Lights as a “breakout hit” and swiftly commissioned a second series from Two Cities Television. It could run for years, BBC content cutbacks depending. Obituary, The Dry and Northern Lights, however, all had the bang of shows that would have attracted many more viewers here had they been on the 2013 schedules, not the 2023 ones. This is an inevitable consequence of the television market becoming as fragmented and crowded as it has, but it’s still a shame.

Each of these three shows, though they have Irish creative talent at their heart, are international co-productions.

Obituary was made for RTÉ by Magamedia and Paris-headquartered APC Studios and was added to the Disney-controlled Hulu platform in the US last month. The Dry, made by Element Pictures, originally premiered on the ITV-owned Britbox in mid-2022 and ITV has recommissioned it, this time for streaming service ITVX, “in partnership with” RTÉ. Northern Lights was produced by Deadpan Pictures for TG4 and German broadcaster ZDFneo with the aid of Irish and Belgian funding incentives and with global giant Lionsgate on board.

All three availed of the section 481 film and television tax credit and were backed by State development agency Screen Ireland, with Obituary also supported by the Western Region Audiovisual Producers fund and both it and The Dry receiving licence fee funding through the Sound & Vision scheme. Yes, that licence fee. The one lots of people stopped paying in 2023.

Making drama is like doing business with Kin’s rival Batuk family: expensive and fraught. Overseas finance is necessary

Vulnerability in the finance chain can occur anywhere. The summer bankruptcy of Bron Studios, the Canadian outfit that bankrolled another Irish drama I enjoyed this year, gangster-fest Kin, has left RTÉ scrambling to find backers for a third season. Given the Peter McKenna drama had the distinction of raking in viewers to RTÉ during its first two seasons and also claimed an eye-catching Saturday night slot on BBC One, it would be a pity if the end came too soon.

Making drama is like doing business with Kin’s rival Batuk family: expensive and fraught. Overseas finance is necessary. That doesn’t mean Irish funding and Irish commissioning decisions aren’t also vital to getting these shows made.

Government Ministers will hail the success stories, even the ones that were funded despite its level of support for the industry, not because of it. But when it comes to the value and joy of seeing Ireland represented on screen, maintaining a diverse breadth of productions beats having the occasional breakout. Protecting the fragile ecosystem is important. As Elvira says: “These things don’t write themselves.”

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