RT KICKS OFF UPCOMING SEASON BRIMMING WITH DRAMA, ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORT

New talent & brand-new shows promise the very best in entertainment

Over 40 hours of gripping new Irish drama

Most free-to-air sport available to audiences in Ireland

RT today launched its new season of programming. With exciting new formats, the new season promises up-and-coming stars in the making, hours of unmissable homegrown drama, and the return of firm favourites to our screens. From sport to new entertainment formats, drama to young people's programming RT is the place for entertainment and escapism this new season.

In new drama, Kin starring Clare Dunne, Aidan Gillen & Ciar n Hinds, while Hidden Assets features Angeline Ball, Simone Kirby and Peter Coonan. Following its international success, Smother is back for a second series with its formidable Ahern family, starring Dervla Kirwan, Gemma Leah-Devereux and Se na Kerslake. Other new dramas include Harry Wild, starring Jane Seymour, comedy-drama series The Dry, and Conversations with Friends based on the book by Sally Rooney (author of Normal People).

In entertainment, Last Singer Standing is a brand-new talent series fronted by Nicky Byrne. The Late Late Show will be heading towards celebrating 60 years on air in 2022, while Angela Scanlon debuts her brand-new entertainment show Angela Scanlon's Ask Me Anything on Saturday nights. And a new season of The Tommy Tiernan Show returns with a Christmas special.

With a focus on championing new Irish talent, the upcoming season will showcase new and alternative voices across entertainment, drama and sport. And this season, RT will continue to focus on telling Ireland's stories, tackling the issues that matter with a broad slate of factual and current affairs content.

Drama

RT is the home of quality Irish drama. Almost 40 hours of brand-new drama will be delivered to audiences between September 2021 and Summer 2022. A highlight is the new Irish crime drama Kin, which follows the lives of a fictional Dublin family embroiled in a gangland war. Filmed in Dublin, it features a stellar cast of Irish actors including Clare Dunne, Aidan Gillen, Ciar n Hinds, Sam Keeley, Emmett Scanlan, Maria Doyle Kennedy, and newcomer Yasmin Seky. The eight-part series has already been acquired by a number of international outlets.

Following its enormous success earlier this year, Smother is back for a second series. Written by Kate O'Riordan and filmed in County Clare, it continues the gripping tale of the Ahern family, featuring Dervla Kirwan as family matriarch Val, with Gemma-Leah Devereux, Niamh Walsh, and Se na Kerslake.

Angeline Ball features along with Peter Coonan in the crime drama Hidden Assets, filmed in Limerick. It follows the link between a wealthy Irish family, a stash of rough diamonds, and a series of deadly bombings in Belgium.

Filmed in Dublin earlier this year, Harry Wild is a drama mystery series about a recently retired English professor who takes an active interest in the criminal cases assigned to her police detective son. It stars Jane Seymour, who also executively produced the eight-episode series.

This year we can also look forward to a series of quality RT co-productions, including comedy-drama series The Dry written by Nancy Harris and Conversations with Friends based on the book by Sally Rooney (author of Normal People). A powerful drama series Three Families tells the compelling stories of real lives impacted by Northern Ireland's formerly restrictive abortion laws.

Viewers can also look forward to plenty more action from Ireland's favourite drama Fair City, with the residents of Carrigstown continuing to share their lives with us every Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday evenings

RT Radio 1 continues to support the development of new writing talent through Drama on One and aims to give a voice to those from diverse communities living in Ireland to tell their own stories. A renewed focus on radio drama this year will also support new talent with opportunities for rising stars to showcase their work.

With a new drama every week, Drama on One this year includes a Maeve Binchy Season, featuring a series of five of Maeve's plays written specifically for radio, and with some of Ireland's best-known acting talent taking part. The season will be complemented with a digital hub on RT Player devoted to Maeve's radio drama, with commentaries and features, including Maeve's memorable public interview with Myles Dungan at the National Concert Hall.

Also featured is Wrong Number by Lucille Fletcher. Tony-award winning director and Artistic Director of Druid Theatre Company, Garry Hynes, directs the 1943 radio play that became a film noir thriller.

RT Player will feature plenty of fresh box sets of top drama titles including Irish drama Dublin Murders, the chilling Dublin-based psychological thriller following the investigation of a child's murder. Viewers can enjoy a range of Irish drama such as, Smother, Love/Hate, The South Westerlies, Pure Mule, Striking Out and Acceptable Risk.

Entertainment

Saturday night highlights will include Last Singer Standing hosted by Nicky Byrne, a new format karaoke-inspired game show where singers from around Ireland compete to win a 25,000 prize. Pop superstars Nadine Coyle, Joey Fatone and Samantha Mumba will be joining the show as panelists, offering their expert opinions and advice throughout the series. Also new for Saturday nights is Angela Scanlon's Ask Me Anything, which promises plenty of surprises and revelations when Angela chats with guests who have agreed to be asked about absolutely anything!

Glow Up Ireland sees Maura Higgins challenge Ireland's best amateur make-up artists to compete against each other, and the two judges putting the contestants through their paces are industry professionals Cathyanne Mac Allister and Emma O' Byrne, wh

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