Channel 4 is heading back to Ireland with brand-new drama ‘The Rachel Incident’, and it’s bringing a seriously strong cast along for the ride.
Filming has now begun in Ireland on the eight-part adaptation of Caroline O’Donoghue’s best-selling novel, produced by UCP and Element Pictures in association with PAGEBOY Productions. If you’re into messy friendships, doomed crushes, post-crash chaos and razor-sharp humour, this one is already shaping up to be essential viewing.
Leading the cast is Máiréad Tyers (Extraordinary, The Walsh Sisters) as Rachel, a university student working in a Cork bookshop in 2010. She stars opposite Ellis Howard (What It Feels Like for a Girl, Red Rose) as James, the effervescent and insistently heterosexual friend who sweeps into her life and becomes her roommate.
Also starring are Sarah Greene (Bad Sisters, Normal People) as Deenie and Daniel Ings (The Gentlemen, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms) as Dr. Fred Byrne, the married professor who becomes the object of Rachel’s ill-advised obsession.
Set against the backdrop of post-financial crash Ireland, the series follows Rachel and James as they attempt to build a bohemian life in Cork while reality keeps knocking at the door. When Rachel confesses her crush on Fred, James helps orchestrate a book launch at the store in the hope she might seduce him afterwards. Unfortunately, Fred has other ideas, and what follows is a web of secrets, compromises and emotional fallout that entangles Rachel, James, Fred and Fred’s wife Deenie in ways none of them could predict.
Joining the ensemble are Cúán Hosty-Blaney (Say Nothing, House of Guinness), Ciarán Dowd (Bad Sisters, Marriage), Helen Behan (Malpractice, The Virtues), Ardal O’Hanlon (Sherlock and Daughter, The Woman in the Wall), Jeanne Ní Áinle (Hidden Assets, North Sea Connection), Molly McFadden, and Maria Doyle Kennedy (KIN, Recipes For Love And Murder).
Caroline O’Donoghue said:
“Máiréad Tyers is a star and has always been my first choice to play Rachel. She and the phenomenally charming Ellis Howard create what feels like an instantly iconic double act, fizzing with all the love and panic that makes being in your early twenties both nightmarish and amazing. To have the brilliant Sarah Greene and Daniel Ings as Deenie and Fred is a dream, and I’m gushing with enthusiasm for the rest of the cast who make the world of THE RACHEL INCIDENT feel so alive and full of energy – including but not limited to Ardal O’Hanlon and Maria Doyle Kennedy, actors I grew up loving and still can’t believe are joining our team. Collaborating with Giulia Gandini and Megan K. Fox and our entire crew has already been such a joy and I am once again grateful to the teams at Channel 4, UCP, Element Pictures and PAGEBOY for their continued support in building this show, which I can’t wait to share with audiences.”
Máiréad Tyers added:
“I am so excited and grateful to be part of this project. I read the book when it first came out and fell in love with Caroline’s writing and this story – and with Channel 4, UCP, Element Pictures and PAGEBOY at the helm, Rachel and James’ story couldn’t be in safer hands.”
Rebecca Holdsworth, Commissioning Editor, Channel 4 Drama, said:
“Channel 4 are thrilled to be part of bringing The Rachel Incident to life alongside our partners at UCP, Element Pictures and PAGEBOY. Caroline’s scripts, just like her novel, are a joy; funny, sharp, and full of heart. We’ve found our perfect Rachel in the brilliant Máiréad Tyers, and can’t wait to see her form an iconic and irresistible duo with talented co-star Ellis Howard as he takes up the part of James.”
The series is written, created and executive produced by Caroline O’Donoghue, with Giulia Gandini and Megan K Fox directing. It is produced with support from Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland and will be distributed by NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution.
‘The Rachel Incident’ does not yet have a premiere date but will air on Channel 4 in the UK. If you want to keep track of this or any other shows, you can add them via our Never Miss system, and you’ll be notified when it gets a UK premiere date. Visit Never Miss: https://www.geektown.co.uk/nevermiss/
Login to Geektown