A new Belfast-set drama has announced its exciting cast, which includes a star from Blue Lights. Close to Home will air on Channel 4, and is based on the award-winning novel of the same name by Michael Magee.
Described as “a striking tale of love, trauma and finding your place in the scarred city you call home”, the story is set in the wake of the Troubles, and focuses on Sean, who returns to Belfast from university and falls into his old habits, including “the mad all-nighters, the borrowed tenners and missing rent, the casual jobs that always fall through”.
He returns to live with “his brother, his ma and all the things they never talk about” and where “the promised prosperity of peacetime has yet to arrive and every street has a story to tell”.
“One night, Sean assaults a stranger at a party and everything is tipped into chaos,” the synopsis adds.
Among the cast announced are Blue Lights and House of Guinness’ Seamus O’Hara as Anthony, with fellow Guinness star Anthony Boyle set to take on the role of Sean. Also on board are A Woman of Substance’s Jessica Reynolds as Mairéad and Trespasses’ OisÃn Thompson as Ryan.
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Close to Home has been directed by Code of Silence’s Diarmuid Goggins and adapted by Magee himself, the latter saying: “Developing Close to Home for television has been an intensely fulfilling creative experience, a dream come true, really.”
Executive producer Michael Dawson praised Magee’s “compelling vision of Belfast life, brimming with anarchic energy, humanity and mischief”.
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“Diarmuid Goggins is the perfect filmmaker to bring this to the screen; his ability to fuse bold, kinetic visuals with a raw, grounded realism is exactly what this story demands,” he added.
“Together with the indomitable Anthony Boyle and our incredible partners at Channel 4, Fremantle, NI Screen, and Screen Ireland, we are set to deliver a piece of television that is as dynamic, loud, and uncompromising as the city itself.”
Close to Home will air on Channel 4.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Â Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.