Cast and creator to return

The BBC has commissioned a six-part comedy series based on hit Irish film The Young Offenders.

Last year’s movie followed  two Cork inner-city teenagers, Conor and Jock, as they embarked on a 100-mile road trip on stolen bikes in the hopes of finding an unrecovered bale of cocaine

Alex Murphy and Chris Walley will reprise their loveable-rogue roles for the TV version, which follows their continuing misadventures.

Both were nominated Irish Film and Television Academy awards for their roles in the film, as did Hilary Rose for playing Conor’s long-suffering mother Mairead MacSweeney. Writer and director Peter Foott won best screenplay at the same ceremony.

The Young Offenders has been commissioned for BBC Three by channel controller Damian Kavanagh, BBC comedy chief Shane Allen and commissioning editor Alex Moody.

Allen said: ‘Peter has created a very sure-footed and wholly original world that combines a winning blend of hilarity, charm and emotional impactful moments. It will stand nicely alongside BBC Three stablemates Fleabag, Uncle, This Country and People Just Do Nothing as a sharp and naturalistic portrait of endearing characters with a unique comic voice.’

The series is being shot in Cork this summer and will also be broadcast by Ireland’s RTE.

Its head of comedy, Eddie Doyle, added: ‘Peter Foott has created something really special with The Young Offenders, and we're absolutely delighted to be supporting the TV version. It is fantastic to see young, home-grown Irish talent, take the next step to international TV success.’

Peter Foott said: ‘The public response to the film, and specifically the characters themselves, was just so overwhelming that we really felt there were a lot more stories to tell, so we're very excited to be doing this as a six-part television series. It's a real honour to have a chance to take these characters on their new adventures.’

The original movie was based on true story of Ireland's biggest cocaine seizure in 2007 and has a 100 per cent approval on reviews aggregate site Rotten Tomatoes.

Writing in The Times, critic Kate Muir said of the film: ‘This exuberantly daft teenage comedy has some similarities to The Inbetweeners but with a kinder, gentler wit.’ Time Out called it a ‘lovely lo-fi charmer; and the Financial Times said it played ‘like a gene-splicing experiment involving Bill Forsyth and Ken Loach’.

Published: 8 May 2017