Now showing in over 20 countries, and the winner of a BAFTA award, the RT╔/BBC co-production Custer's Last Stand-Up is a children's comedy drama series that has surpassed the expectations of crew, cast and production team alike. Set in Bray, Co Wicklow, the show, aimed at the six to 15-year-old market, is about a young Irish comedian, Jamie Custer, who dreams of making it big - very big.
In tandem with his friend and manager, Dallas O'Rourke, the two tyros zig and zag their way through both adolescence and the fringes of showbusiness, remaining convinced all the while that the world will one day surrender to their charms and talent.
Even as a co-production, it's further evidence that RT╔ has turned a corner of sorts in tying down and capitalising on local talent. Snappily written, well acted and glossily produced, the show is holding up in the ratings in both Britain and Ireland, and with news that Australia is the latest country to buy it in, it's shaping up to be something of an international hit in the child-drama stakes.
Shot in Ardmore and on location in Bray, Co Wicklow and Kilmacud, Co Dublin, the show is carried by the not inconsiderable twin talents of George McMahon (17) who plays Jamie and Ciaran Nolan (16) as Dallas, with the 14-year-old Brian Roche from Co Clare due to make a impact in the second series, which begins on January 1st. As the three of them sit in the RT╔ canteen schlurping fizzy drinks and chucking handfuls of a popcorn and crisps into their mouths, they're in animated form.
George, from Ardelough, Co Kildare, beat off 1,000 other hopefuls to win the leading role. "It's great doing it," he says. "I like playing the character of someone who wants to make it really big - Jamie has such raw ambition. What I like best though is the fact that it is an Irish programme that isn't full of 'scumbags, fiddles and leprechauns'. It just happens to be set in Ireland, but the story of a young kid with these mad ambitions could be set anywhere."
Still at school, George's only complaint is that he never gets any time off from his studies to film the programme. "They do it all in the summertime so I miss nothing," he says.
The main humour in the show comes from Jamie's interaction with his grasping, self-appointed and hugely over-ambitious manager, played by Ciaran Nolan.
Although from Belfast, Nolan perfects a Dublin accent for his role, but he is not taken for a Dubliner when he's at home. "You'd be walking around Belfast and people who have seen the show would come over to you and say 'how long are you in Belfast for?'. Once they hear me speak, they know I'm from Belfast."
Both actors had worked previously in various plays and small TV roles, and they're still getting used to the fact that fan mail is arriving for them from all the countries the programme is shown in. "Like George says, it's just great to be working on an Irish show that's not full of drugs or joy-riders. It's a fairly universal theme," says Nolan.
Young Brian Roche, who had only one line in the first series, is set to make a splash in this new series as his character develops substantially. "I play a 10-year-old, even though I'm 14. I'm Dallas's cousin and in a way I'm a wannabe Dallas as he tries to teach me all the secrets of the trade." A marvellous actor; watch out for his Elvis Presley cameo in the new series.
Although ostensibly about a young man's overriding ambition, Custer's Last Stand-Up, while staying true to its watching age-group, also gently explores many aspects of modern Irish life. Families, relationships and school-days are all covered and the show also looks at the contemporary idea of "instant celebrity", in particular the media's role in colluding with the celebration of celebrity.
Unlike most children's dramas, the parent figures are fully sketched out and play a pivotal part in the action - particularly Jamie's music-obsessed father who, last we heard, had just replaced his Beatles fixation with an Abba obsession.
The show, which is produced by Mickey McGowan and directed by Graham Harper, originated in the BBC's Children's Drama department. "It was two years ago exactly," says Ferdia MacAnna, who came on board as an RT╔ producer and script consultant, "and the show is based on a news story about a young boy winning a comedy talent contest. Obviously we're used to doing co-productions with BBC Northern Ireland, not the bigger BBC, but it just made sense for everyone involved to film the show in Ireland and use an Irish cast and crew. Apart from being cheaper to do, there's a rich vein of comedy talent here.
"I think all concerned were determined that there wouldn't be an 'ah, jaysus' aspect to the show, in that it wouldn't be fluffy Ireland but real modern Ireland - we didn't want priests parading the street waving crosses at people. But it's not really an Irish thing, it's a teenage thing and it speaks to teenagers directly about their experiences.
"It's a really long shoot for the actors, something like 61 days for a series, and they all worked brilliantly well together and everybody was happy with the results. I think it reflects a sense of how the country has changed and how teenagers within the country are changing also.
"And contrary to what we thought, it's not just picking up a six to 15-year-old viewing group, we're also getting a family audience. And the fact that it's now going to Australia is great."
Thrilled with their BAFTA award, the three young actors say it's a showbiz life for them.
"We're all still at school," says George, "but we all definitely want to carry on acting. This has been a great start for us all."
The second series of Custer's Last Stand-Up begins on RT╔ on January 1st