Time to get excited…
The six part TV comedy series of The Young Offenders began filming in Cork on Tuesday morning.
The series, commissioned by the BBC in association with RTÉ is written, directed and executive produced by the creator of the original movie, Peter Foott.
They will be filming in various locations around Cork for the next eight weeks and will result in in six, 30-minute episodes which look set to be aired early next year.
The TV series will follow a similar vein to the movie, with Conor and Jock (Alex Murphy and Chris Walley, reprising their roles from the feature film) once again the stars as they get into all sorts of trouble during their awkward teenage years.
There will also be a return of Conor’s long suffering mother Mairead MacSweeney played by Hilary Rose, Dominic McHale as exasperated Garda Sergeant Healy; Shane Casey as local fun loving thug Billy Murphy; and PJ Gallagher featuring in a new role, Principal Walsh.
There’s also room for two newcomers Jennifer Barry and Demi Issac Oviawe.
Director Peter Foott said: “After spending many months writing the scripts and getting the whole team together to rehearse over the last few weeks, it’s a real thrill to start filming today with these fantastic actors and crew. We’ll be bringing new adventures and stories for the well-known characters, and some new ones, to life in the TV show.
“The reaction to the scripts has been really positive, and we want to live up to the original spirit of the film. I think we have all the right elements, so we’re all excited to get out there and start filming today on this new phase of The Young Offenders journey. We’ve picked some fantastic locations in Cork, so we’re looking forward to knuckling down and working hard on filming, which I’m sure will be great fun too!”
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