New season of the BBC’s hilarious Irish show gets first look

EXCLUSIVE: You can watch a new clip of Steve Coogan in the series, which we'd describe as a mix of Father Ted and Hardy Bucks.

Returning this month, the show follows the "soft-bellied boys of Ballymacnoose", a fictional Northern Irish rural village, as they "flounder their way into adulthood".

The official plot synopsis for S2 of the sitcom states: "After last year, tackling the weight of grief, suppository drugs and being a bastard, the gang have come out the other side all grown up.

"Callum (co-creator Ryan Dylan) is trying out a lovely perm, Gemma (Ele McKenzie) and Lorcan (Lee R James) are smooching seven times a day, and it's been four months since Jordan (co-creator Rian Lennon) got in a full-throated screaming strop with his Daddies. Things are bright in Ballymacnoose.

"But dark clouds loom! The gang belatedly get involved in Irish history, and it's all downhill from there.

"Bigotry, balding and competitive robot combat, if they aren’t careful, the funboys are about to become the doneboys."

Funboys Season 2 Clip

If we had to compare Funboys to the sitcoms that came before, we'd say it's almost a mix of the small-town antics of Hardy Bucks (indeed, Owen Colgan stars in both) and the surreality of Father Ted.

Yet, Dylan and Lennon's show is truly its own unique beast. The setting is very cosy. The soundtrack and the acting are very sincere. Yet, just when you're lulled into a false sense of security, Funboys unleashes unexpected, strange, and often ribald humour upon its viewers.

Joining the cast for the show's second season is Bafta-winner and Oscar-nominee Steve Coogan.

JOE caught up with creators and stars Rian Lennon and Ryan Dylan ahead of Funboys S2.

Speaking about the first episode of the season featuring Coogan, Lennon explains: "Writing that episode, we went to the actual Ulster Folk Museum and walked around.

"They have these staff members who are role-playing as 19th-century Irish townspeople.

"They take it really seriously. They're very enthusiastic about their job. There's a doctor there who will be able to rattle off a list of ailments that you have.

"I think Steve Coogan's character, Philip, is informed by that. He's sort of an am-dram actor who has high ambitions. He's got this job at the folk museum, but he's treating it like it's an HBO period drama.

"We just find that mix of entry-level acting job, versus how seriously you take it - Daniel Day-Lewis style method acting - quite funny.

"And then [Dylan's character] Callum obviously gets wrapped up in it as well, and falls into this method acting. But yeah, [Coogan's] character's a psychopath," Lennon adds, laughing.

Coogan is full of praise for the funboys, stating in a press release: “I loved working with them. They are an original voice in comedy, and they have bright futures ahead of them. Properly funny fellas.

"Rian’s direction was clear and confident, always on the money. Sorry, this reads like a reference. The point is they know what they’re doing.”

Ryan Dylan, meanwhile, told JOE that he and Lennon entered Funboys S2 "more confident".

"We got a taste of [making a show] in series one. Series one was obviously very, very nerve-wracking, and we had the jitters," he explains.

"It was a very anxious thing that we were doing, coming from being on YouTube and doing sketches. So there was a lot of anxiety around series one.

"This time around... we were just like: 'Let's just do it, and let's try and have as much fun as we can because you never know if you're going to get to do something like this again, so just go balls to the walls and see what happens.'"

Lennon adds: "We're very happy with how it's panned out."

The BBC seems happy too. To accompany the second series, the broadcaster has announced a brand-new Funboys spin-off titled: Fair Game: A video game review show presented by Funboys.

Set to premiere on the BBC iPlayer and YouTube, the synopsis for the spin-off states: "The show is hosted by three of the biggest, coolest gamers in Ballymacnoose, and Gemma.

"Sponsored by Jordan's daddies, who bought him the microphones, Jordan and Callum host with our lovely permanent on-site guest, Lorcan and resident Gamer Girl Gemma...

"Expect heated debates, thoughtful insights and expert opinions on things like: ‘Is it healthy for people to play life simulators, especially men in their late 20’s who haven’t fully matured in adult life?’ and 'Does Herdy Gerdy have better storytelling than the Last of Us Part 2?”

Funboys season two airs on BBC Northern Ireland and iPlayer on June 15, BBC Three on June 19 and BBC One on June 20.