Screen Ireland-supported TV series Holding to premiere on Virgin Media One this September
Posted: 31st August 2022
Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland is delighted to welcome Virgin Media Television’s brand new Autumn schedule, where world-class Irish drama takes centre stage in its line-up, including the highly anticipated launch of Screen Ireland-supported drama Holding. The series, based on Graham Norton’s bestselling novel, will be broadcast on Monday, 12th September on Virgin Media One.
Filmed in West Cork with a stellar Irish cast, the co-production between Virgin Media Television and ITV, in association with Screen Ireland, stars Oscar-winner Brenda Fricker and Conleth Hill.
Holding follows local police officer Sergeant PJ Collins, a gentle man who hides from people and fills his days with comfort food and half-hearted police work. He is one of life’s outsiders, lovable, but lonely and a bit rubbish at his job. When the body of long-lost local legend Tommy Burke is discovered, PJ is called to solve a serious crime for the first time in his career. Unearthing long buried secrets, PJ finally connects with the village he has tried so hard to avoid.
Holding is written by Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Karen Cogan for Dominic’s ITV Studios label, Happy Prince, and adapted from Graham Norton’s debut novel of the same title. The drama is produced by Martina Niland (Once, Sing Street) for Port Pictures in association with Screen Ireland with co-production partners Virgin Media Television. Holding is in association with, and distributed internationally by, ITV Studios.
Virgin Media’s new season also showcases new and emerging talent with the Screen Ireland-supported Virgin Media Discovers Short Film Competition. Three of the final short films selected will premiere on the broadcaster: Good Chips, which takes the audience back to Dublin in 1989, as a family of Vietnamese immigrants struggle to keep their takeaway business afloat; Unhinged, which follows a self-deprecating millennial who discovers the love of her life and colleague on Tinder and must find the confidence to swipe right before his leaving party, all while navigating a fatphobic workplace; and Calf, which tells the tale of a near fatal farm accident which leaves teenager Cáit with a terrible decision to make in order to do what she must to protect her family.