Allan Cubitt’s new three-part period drama ‘Death and Nightingales’ sees the writer/director reunite with Irish actor Jamie Dornan after working together on the critically acclaimed Irish drama series ‘The Fall’.
Based on the 1992 novel of the same name by Irish author Eugene McCabe, ‘Death and Nightingales’ follows the story of one young woman’s struggle to control her own destiny in Northern Ireland in the 1880s. She decides on her 25th birthday to escape her limited life and difficult relationship with her landowner stepfather, with the aid of a charming new-comer.
Irish actress Ann Skelly (‘Red Rock’, ‘Kissing Candice’) also stars as the central character Beth Winters, whilst Matthew Rhys, Martin McCann, Charlene McKenna and Valene Kane complete a strong and predominantly Irish cast.
Speaking with the BBC about reuniting with Cubitt, Dornan said:
“With Allan, I didn’t really have to think about working with him again. If he wants me to do anything for the rest of my career then I will do it because in many ways he gave me my career. He cast me in The Fall and he had to very much fight for it. When Allan came knocking for Death and Nightingales and I knew quite far in advance he was writing it with me in mind and I felt very lucky. I just love him and we have a shorthand and understanding of each other on how we both like to approach the work. It’s invaluable when you work with someone you’ve worked with for six years and it makes things a lot easier on set when he doesn’t have to say much to know what he wants from me.”
The series is produced by Irish production company Soho Moon Pictures and London based Imaginarium Productions. The series is supported by Northern Ireland Screen and was filmed in Northern Ireland in summer 2018. Jonathan Cavendish produced the project for Imaginarium and Soho’s James Mitchell has executive produced. Steve Singleton is the editor on the series, with Stephen Murphy as DoP and Gillian Deveney on production design.
‘Death and Nightingales’ debuts on RTÉ One at 9:35pm - Monday, November 28th.