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New NI drama series 'My Mother And Other Strangers' to air on BBC One
2016-11-03 16:56 : Laura Brennan
Rose Coyne (Hattie Morahan)
The WW2 drama filmed in NI begins, Sunday 13th November, BBC One, 9pm.
The new five-part BBC drama series written by Barry Devlin is set in Northern Ireland during World War Two. 'My Mother And Other Strangers', is the first drama commission to be announced since the publication of the BBC and Northern Ireland Screen Partnership Agreement in March 2015.
Writer Barry Devlin whose other credits include 'Ballykissangel', 'A Man Of No Importance' and 'Darling Buds of May' said, "I wanted to write a series that had an exotic love story at its heart but that was set in a place I recognise. So I'm delighted that the BBC has commissioned the series. It's really great to be part of a story about Northern Ireland that is entirely originated and filmed here."
My Mother And Other Strangers follows the fortunes of a rural family, the Coynes, and their neighbours in the village of Moybeg on the shores of Lough Neagh in County Tyrone, as they struggle to maintain a normal life after a huge USAAF airfield lands in the middle of their rural parish in 1943.
Richard Williams, Chief Executive of Northern Ireland Screen, says "A Second World War love story set in Northern Ireland with 4,000 American service men and women as the backdrop. It is the perfect, historically based premise to produce strong drama set here, but for international audiences as well as UK and Irish audiences. It is therefore perfect for our internationally focused partnership agreement with the BBC."
Writer Barry Devlin, might be a familiar face to Irish music fans as he is a well known member of Irish rockers Horslips. Appearing on the Anto Savage Show on Today FM earlier this year to discuss his many projects across screen writing and music, he described the 'My Mother And Other Strangers' series as "Emmerdale Farm meets Henry Gibson."
The new drama stars Hattie Morahan, from the 'The Outcast' and ''Beauty and the Beas't' as Rose Coyne. At the heart of the series is an ongoing love story that enfolds Rose and her husband Michael Coyne in a dangerous love triangle with a handsome and charming USAAF liaison officer, Captain Dreyfuss. Owen McDonnell ('Single-Handed') plays Michael and Aaron Staton ('Mad Men') plays Captain Dreyfuss. Meanwhile, the Coyne's children, sixteen year old Emma (Eileen O'Higgins, 'Brooklyn'), Francis, ten, and Kate, seven, have no idea of the strains under which their parents' marriage creaks.
Also joining the cast are Des McAleer ('Hunger'), Seamus O'Hara ('6 Degrees') and Ryan McParland ('The Survivalist') as the neighbouring Hanlon family, whose frustration at being displaced from their family home by the airfield is well vented. Kerr Logan ('Game of Thrones') plays Failey, local fisherman and boyfriend to Sally Quinn (Fiona O'Shaugnessy, 'Utopia') who along with her brother Barney (Gavin Drea, 'What Richard Did') works on the Coyne's farm. Charles Lawson ('Coronation Street') plays the Parish doctor, Dr Black.
The new drama is a part of the BBC and Northern Ireland Screen Partnership Agreement, this joint agreement sees the BBC and Northern Ireland Screen work together to invest financially and creatively in developing an internationally competitive screen industry in Northern Ireland. 'My Mother And Other Strangers' also received funding from the Northern Ireland Screen Fund supported by Invest NI.
The executive producer is Stephen Wright, Head of Drama for BBC Northern Ireland and the producer is Grainne Marmion ('Doctor Foster'). With Adrian Shergold ('Mad Dogs', 'Persuasion') directing.
The five-part, sixty minute series was commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller, BBC One and Ben Stephenson, former Controller of BBC Drama Commissioning.
'My Mother and Other Strangers' will begin on BBC One, 9pm, Sunday 13th November.
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