Will Love/Hate Return? Creator Stuart Carolan has considered it

'I'm slightly obsessed with the gangland-type drama. I'm still interested...,' the writer told the press recently.

The writer's latest show, the very fun crime comedy Tall Tales & Murder, is now streaming in its entirety on the RTÈ Player. It's also airing on Sunday nights on RTÈ One.

Made with director Chris Addison (The Thick of It, Veep), the story follows two young staff members in a nursing home (played by Casey Walsh and Ella Lily Hyland). The pair get pulled into a dangerous treasure hunt by an infamous gangster (Aidan Gillen) left in their care.

JOE took part in a press roundtable with Addison and Carolan ahead of the show's release. You can read a lot of that conversation in this previous article.

Will Love/Hate Return?

During the discussion, Carolan talked about changes and difficulties in the TV industry. Following this, the writer was asked if there was ever a point in the last 10 years in which he had considered bringing Love/Hate back, given its huge success.

Taking a few seconds to respond, he answered: "Kind of yes and no is the truth. Initially no, because I was so tired. I was just shattered, and also it was over. It was done.

"You see those shows that have outstayed their welcome…," at which point Addison joked: "The news."

Carolan continued: "I thought we had an ending and that was it, so it wasn't like that."

However, he then added: "But for sure, I'm slightly obsessed with the gangland-type drama. I'm still interested and want to do it, you know? So I go back there."

Also, during the roundtable, Carolan was asked if it annoyed him that people often compare his other work to Love/Hate.

To this, he replied: "No, not at all… No, it's fantastic. I'm very proud of it, delighted."

In a follow-up question, he was quizzed if, after the massive success of Love/Hate, he felt an extra pressure to live up to audience expectations.

Laughing, he replied: "And I can only disappoint them," before adding: "No, I don't think like that. I used to work with Eamon Dunphy years ago, the great Eamon, and he had a great line.

"He said: 'There's only one thing worse than a bad review. A great review.'

"What that means is that you believe it. Good reviews, bad reviews, are all part of the deal. Some people like it, some people don't like it. But you don't believe it. You shouldn't take it too seriously.

"The worst thing is if you believe the hype and you go: 'Oh, that's great. I'm fantastic now,' because you'll never do the good work.

"It's always about what you're doing next, really. For me... it's at home working on a computer, so that's the exciting bit, and then it's great to see when it comes out, and you see all this collective effort with the director and actors. It's amazing.

"So by the time it's being shot, by the time it's coming out, you're already in someplace else in your head, you know?"

All six episodes of Tall Tales & Murder can be streamed on the RTÈ Player now. The show is also airing weekly on RTÈ One on Sundays at 9.30pm.