5 days ago
Aidan Gillen and Ella Lily Hyland to star new crime drama Tall Tales & Murder
Tall Tales & Murder, a new darkly comedic crime drama from the writer of Love/Hate, has gone into production in Dublin.
The drama, which stars
Ella Lily Hyland
and
Aidan Gille
n, has been commissioned for two series by
RTÉ
and BBC Northern Ireland in association with Screen Ireland, with the first six-part run due to premiere in 2026.
Tall Tales & Murder has been co-created by Stuart Carolan, the writer and creator of RTÉ's hit gangster series, and Chris Addison, who starred in political satire The Thick of It and has directed episodes of Veep and his Sky comedy Breeders.
The series, which is based on the eight-book Dublin Trilogy series by Caimh McDonnell, will be made for RTÉ and BBC by British production company Avalon in association with Ireland's Metropolitan Pictures.
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The one-hour episodes will be directed by Addison and Irish director Neasa Hardiman, with Avalon distributing the show internationally.
Alongside Hyland – the fast-rising star of Netflix's Black Doves – and Gillen, who previously worked with Carolan on Love/Hate, the cast includes Philippa Dunne and Packy Lee.
'I've been a fan of the brilliant Chris Addison since The Thick of It – it's been incredible fun working with him to bring this insane story to life,' said Carolan, the writer and one of the executive producers of Tall Tales & Murder.
Addison, who will executive produce as well as direct, said he was 'frankly giddy with delight to get to team up with the twisted and highly original mind' of Carolan to create the show.
'We've taken Caimh's wonderful novel as a jumping off point and ended up with what I like to think of as a dark and delicious screwball drama.'
David Crean, who was confirmed as RTÉ head of drama this week after previously serving in the role on an interim basis, said the series had gone into production after 'a great development process' with Carolan and Addison.
'The scripts are fantastic, as is the cast. RTÉ is excited to be collaborating with such brilliant broadcast partners to bring this great series to audiences on a national and international stage.'
Eddie Doyle, head of content commissioning for BBC Northern Ireland, described the series as storytelling 'at its darkest, funniest and most surreal', while Rob Aslett, executive producer for Avalon, said the scripts 'created a wildly original crime drama that shines a light on a modern Ireland'.
McDonnell, who was born in Limerick and raised in Dublin, is a former stand-up comedian and television writer who published his first novel in the Dublin Trilogy detective series in 2016.
