The new six-part series is based on Marian Keyes’ novels and airs tonight on BBC One
The Walsh Sisters airs on BBC One and iPlayer(Image: BBC/Cuba Pictures and Metropolitan Films/Enda Bowe)
BBC’s latest drama The Walsh Sisters airs for the first time tonight Here’s everything you need to know about the series. Set in Dublin, The Walsh Sisters is based on five of the novels from award-winning author Marian Keyes. The 62-year-old author is best known for her fiction books, including Rachel’s Holiday (1997), Watermelon (1995) and Again, Rachel (2022).
Since her first novel was published in 1995, more than 39 million copies of Keyes’ books have been sold around the world, translated into 36 languages. The Walsh sisters is inspired by five of Keyes’ novels, including Watermelon, Rachel’s Holiday, Angels, Anybody Out There?, and The Mystery of Mercy Close, as the series intertwines the characters into one storyline.
The BBC series features “the chaotic, dysfunctional but deeply loveable Walsh family of five sisters, a devout mother and a bemused father”.
Marian Keyes found the process quite emotional as she saw her characters come to life on-screen(Image: Pablo Cuadra/Getty Images)
Marian Keyes, who also serves as an executive producer on the series, shared she found the merging of some of her most well-known characters quite a challenge. Creator Stefanie Preissner, who plays Maggie, adapted five books into one singular entity for the series.
Marian said: “Reading Stefanie’s scripts was initially a bit of a challenge for me, because I’m used to thinking of the books as five separate entities. I am so in awe of what she’s done in that she has deconstructed the five books, and has incorporated the various timelines, and brought them into one complete individual narrative.
“I loved the way she took each sister and their story and managed to have all five of them running simultaneously. It was incredible. She’s an absolute genius.”
What is The Walsh Sisters about?
Set in their Dublin hometown, the drama follows Anna (Louisa Harland), Rachel (Caroline Menton), Maggie (Stefanie Preissner), Claire (Danille Galligan) and Helen (Máiréad Tyers) as they navigate the peaks and troughs of their 20s and 30s.
The BBC said: “This is a sisterhood full of in-jokes, hand-me-down resentments and more than a few old wounds. But their DNA, history and shared love of power ballads keep the Walsh sisters together in the face of heartbreak, grief, addiction and parenthood.”
Marian has since opened up on the filming process, as she said she found it quite emotional to see her characters brought to life. She told the BBC: “I cannot put words on it. It’s so weird to think that these people that came from my head are now embodied by actual humans.
“Seeing the filming, I felt so emotional, and so has my husband, because the actors that are playing the sisters are so fully realised.
“Everything from their accents to the clothes they wear to their body language is unique. It’s a strange and overwhelmingly wonderful feeling. It’s just lovely. It is like magic. The words were in my head, and now they are actual people. It’s mad and gorgeous.”
The Walsh Sisters castAnna (Louisa Harland)Rachel (Caroline Menton)Maggie (Stefanie Preissner)Claire (Danille Galligan)Helen (Máiréad Tyers )How to watch The Walsh Sisters
The first of six episodes airs tonight (Saturday, February 21st) on BBC One and iPlayer. It’s titled “We’re All Grand” and is set to air from 9.15pm until 10.05pm.
The description for tonight’s episode said: “Five sisters navigate addiction, grief, motherhood, relationships, and the chaos of a family that can’t live with – or without – each other.
“A wild night out causes tensions to rise, and one of the sisters makes a life-changing decision. Drama based on Marian Keyes’ novels, starring Louisa Harland, Caroline Menton, Danielle Galligan, Máiréad Tyers, and Stefanie Preissner.”
The Walsh Sisters airs tonight on BBC One and iPlayer
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