- Film And TV
- 02 Mar 20
News that the Gleeson brothers were writing a comedy-series together was released last year and now we finally have a name for the project: ‘Frank of Ireland’. The series is a co-production between Channel 4 and Amazon and a collaboration alongside Michael Maloney. Filming just began in Belfast and Dublin.
The brothers Gleeson are co-writing and executive producing the show with Michael Moloney, with the half-hour series getting a six-episode order. Brian will star as Frank Marron, who is described as a 32-year-old catastrophe. He is a misanthropic, narcissistic, fantasist in arrested development who thinks the world owes him something. But, nonetheless, he’s the show’s hero.
Frank lives in Dublin with his mother, played by Pom Boyd. He is single and his pocket money hasn’t increased in a decade or more. Frank is a musician but hasn’t written a song or played a gig in seven years and five months. His ex-girlfriend Aine (Sarah Greene) has a new boyfriend, Peter-Brian (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) for the first time since they split, and Frank may be finding that a tad difficult.
Frank’s wingman Doofus (Domhnall Gleeson), thinks they are best friends and it’s his job to blow smoke up, facilitate and attempt to fix the relentless debris in Frank’s wake.
From an immensely talented family, Domhnall and Brian are the sons of acclaimed Irish actor Brendan Gleeson. This will be their third major project together, having previously co-stared alongside their father in a 2015 production of Edna Walsh's The Walworth Farce and appearing in their father's directorial debut short film 'Psychic'. Their brother Rory wrote the short film and released his debut novel Rockadoon Shore in 2017.
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'Frank of Ireland' has been commissioned for Channel 4 by head of Comedy Fiona McDermott and Commissioning Editor Jack Bayles. It is produced by Merman, the production company set up by Catastrophe co-creator and star Sharon Horgan and Clelia Mountford. The series is produced by Rory Gilmartin and directed by MJ Delaney for Merman.
“We’re so excited to work with MJ, Sharon, and Clelia on this, our first and (we’ve been told) last television series,” the Gleesons and Moloney said.