Shooting started in Co Kildare this week on a major new drama series for RTE. On Home Ground is set in and around a GAA club in a fictional Irish town called Kildoran. It will begin in November on Sunday nights but Little Bird Films insists it is not a replacement for Glenroe, which ended last week.
"On Home Ground is a different format to Glenroe," said Ms Maggie Pope, who devised the series and is its associate producer. Episodes run "for an hour rather than half an hour. It will be shot primarily on location rather than in the studio. And the directors have a background in film."
The series will centre on a GAA club which has not won the county championship since 1962, she said, and it is set over one season. She declined to reveal if the team will win. RTE "didn't want something about detectives, doctors or priests".
The series idea originated with Mr James Mitchell, its executive producer, and the chief executive of Little Bird.
He went to Croke Park for the first time last year, to "a very exciting semi-final game between Kerry and Armagh", a true cliffhanger "that ended in a dead heat. The extraordinary feeling of community among the supporters really struck me. There was such passion in the stadium, but none of the drunken, violent undertones of hostility of an English soccer game."
The series will be shot in Lucan, Co Dublin, and in Co Kildare. The producer is Martha O'Neill and two episodes each will be directed by Kevin Liddy, Ciaran Donnelly, Declan Recks and Charlie McCarthy. Six writers have worked on the first series: Antoine O Fatharta, Hugh Costello, Stephen Burke, Tony Philpott, Christian O'Reilly and Jennifer O'Hara.
The leading roles include the team coach played by Sean McGinley, the club chairman by Darragh O'Malley and the captain by Gary Lydon. The large cast also includes Pat Laffan, Stella McCusker, Bridget Duffy and Orla Charlton.
1. Little Bird has produced TV series including The Irish RM and its feature films include Into the West, December Bride and Ordinary Decent Criminal.