Hope Street (TV series)

Hope Street
File:Hope Street (TV series).jpg
Genre	Crime serial drama
Created by	Paul Marquess Susanne Farrell
Starring	Amara Karan Stephen Hagan Ciarán McMenamin Kerri Quinn Niall Wright Brid Brennan Des McAleer Aaron McCusker Niamh McGrady
Music by	Justine Barker Anthony Eve
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	20
Production
Executive producers	Paul Marquess Donna Wiffen
Production locations	Donaghadee, Northern Ireland
Cinematography	Nick Manley
Editor	Peter Williams
Running time	43-56 Minutes
Production company	Long Story TV
Original release
Network	BBC One Northern Ireland BBC One Britbox
Release	24 November 2021 (2021-11-24) – present

Hope Street is a Northern Irish crime serial drama filmed in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland. Starring an ensemble cast almost entirely collected from the local area, including Amara Karan, Ciarán McMenamin, Kerri Quinn, Niall Wright, Des McAleer, Brid Brennan, Aaron McCusker and Niamh McGrady, the series premiered on BBC One Northern Ireland in November 2021, with later broadcast in the wider United Kingdom and North America in January 2022, on BBC One and Britbox, respectively.

In April 2022, the show was renewed for a second series, which premiered in November 2022, with Stephen Hagan taking on the role of new lead character, DC Al Quinn.

Premise

The first series sees the sudden arrival of DC Leila Hussain (Amara Karan) in the fictional Northern Irish town of Port Devine. The local residents question the reason behind her arrival; only Inspector Finn O'Hare knows why Leila has been transferred, but is keeping it to himself.

On Leila's arrival to the town, Karan hinted: "The secret, the reason why she's been brought to Northern Ireland, is actually a matter of life-and-death". Each episode follows a self-contained crime story following the investigation of the local police department, as well as the exploits of the town's local residents.

In the second series, a former colleague of Finn's, DC Al Quinn, is sent to town as part of an undercover operation. Following the operation's conclusion, Al stays in town to fill the void left following Leila's departure. When his daughter is caught up in the theft of an ATM, Al crosses the line to protect the one he loves most, putting his career on the line in the process.

Cast

• Amara Karan as DC Leila Hussain (Series 1)
• Stephen Hagan as DC Al Quinn (Series 2—)
• Ciarán McMenamin as Inspector Finn O'Hare
• Kerri Quinn as Sergeant Marlene Pettigrew
• Niall Wright as PC Callum McCarthy
• Brid Brennan as Concepta O'Hare
• Des McAleer as Barry Pettigrew
• Aaron McCusker as Clint Dunwoody-Devine
• Niamh McGrady as Nicole Dunwoody-Devine
• Rachel Tucker as Siobhan O'Hare
• Ellie Lavery as Niamh O'Hare
• Louis McCartney as Shay O'Hare

Development

Series co-creator and co-executive producer Paul Marquess stated that his aim whilst creating the series was to make a long-running, local drama. Due to being born in Belfast, he wanted to avoid the stereotypes that come with Northern Irish media portrayals, instead focusing on the "humour and warmth" of the area. Marquess and colleague Susan Farrell decided that the series should not focus on serial killers or the Troubles, but instead on the resilience of the community in Northern Ireland. Another of Marquess' aims was to increase the amount of television productions in Northern Ireland, specifically since he had moved from the country to pursue a career in production in his youth. He and Farrell created a cast and crew almost entirely formed of local talent from in and around Donaghadee, where the series is filmed. The 10-episode first series was funded by Northern Ireland Screen and it was confirmed that it would premiere on BBC One Northern Ireland in November 2021, as well as having a January 2022 broadcast on BBC One in the wider United Kingdom and Britbox in Northern America.

Cast member McMenamin was helped with his research about the police by two schoolfriends who are part of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). After reading the scripts for the series, he was excited to be part of Hope Street due to its modern-day portrayal of his community. He said that his experiences on set are the happiest moments of his professional life, due to the locations they film on and the cast and crew. McMenamin explained: "The craic is a different level. When you live away, to come home and be surrounded by people just as sarcastic as you, makes getting out of bed in the morning a joy". Quinn opined that it is refreshing for Hope Street not to mention the Troubles and appreciated that the scripts place a focal point on relationships and the small community of Port Devine. Wright echoed her comments, feeling that the serial drama is "a completely different take" to other dramas on television at the time of transmission. He added that the series would have plenty of twists and cliffhangers and hoped that the series would be renewed for several further series. English cast member Karan said that whilst filming for the series, the locals of Donaghadee were very proud of their town, but "went out of their way to make [her] feel welcome". She added that she loved playing Leila even though she "sticks out in her new environment like a sore thumb".

Episodes

Series 1 (2021–2022)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Episode 1"	Sean Glynn	Susanne Farrell	24 November 2021 (2021-11-24)
2	2	"Episode 2"	Sean Glynn	Jessica Lea	1 December 2021 (2021-12-01)
3	3	"Episode 3"	Dez McCarthy	Christine Murphy	8 December 2021 (2021-12-08)
4	4	"Episode 4"	Sean Glynn	Stuart Drennan	15 December 2021 (2021-12-15)
5	5	"Episode 5"	Dez McCarthy	Jessica Lea	22 December 2021 (2021-12-22)
6	6	"Episode 6"	Dez McCarthy	Susanne Farrell	5 January 2022 (2022-01-05)
7	7	"Episode 7"	Bruce Webb	Paul Marquess	12 January 2022 (2022-01-12)
8	8	"Episode 8"	Dez McCarthy	Christine Murphy	19 January 2022 (2022-01-19)
9	9	"Episode 9"	Bruce Webb	Stuart Drennan	26 January 2022 (2022-01-26)
10	10	"Episode 10"	Dez McCarthy	Jessica Lea	2 February 2022 (2022-02-02)

Series 2 (2022–2023)

No. overall	No. in series	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original air date
1	1	"Episode 1"	Dez McCarthy	Jessica Lea	7 November 2022 (2022-11-07)
An old friend of Finn's, DC Alastair Quinn, arrives in town undercover, hoping to finally nail suspected drug kingpin Ronan Kelly and his wife, Chanel. Al has been undercover for more than a year, but just as he looks to secure his man, interference from acting inspector Pettigrew and her team threatens to blow the operation. Meanwhile, Finn looks set to return to work after six months on sick leave, and Concepta questions whether her son is ready for the task.
2	2	"Episode 2"	Dez McCarthy	Tess McGowan	14 November 2022 (2022-11-14)
A shooting at the home of Finn's old headteacher sees Al take the lead on his first case. A long standing feud with a neighbour seems the likely motive, until a mysterious stranger from Australia throws an unexpected curveball. As Marlene offers Nicole a lifeline in the hope of having a child of her own, she finds herself at the mercy of Barry's wrath.
3	3	"Episode 3"	Sean Glynn	Christine Murphy	21 November 2022 (2022-11-21)
The theft of a local ATM machine leads Al into an unexpected reunion with his estranged daughter. As he realises her involvement in the theft could lead to serious prison time, he makes the difficult decision to break his own moral code. Finn is forced to confront Siobhan and admit he sees no way back for their marriage.
4	4	"Episode 4"	Sean Glynn	Hamish Wright & Stuart Drennan	28 November 2022 (2022-11-28)
The disappearance of a local taxi driver sees Concepta and Barry lead a public search in the hope for answers. Now under the thumb, Al is forced to try and gather £10,000 in the hope it will be enough for Jake not to report his misconduct. As tension begins to grow, Al finds unexpected comfort in the arms of Siobhan.
5	5	"Episode 5"	Unknown	Stuart Drennan	5 December 2022 (2022-12-05)
A young woman suspects her elderly mother, who was suffering from dementia, may have be coerced into marriage by a con man. As the team uncover evidence suggests she may not have been the first victim, Al finds himself caught up in the centre of the investigation when loanshark Philip McKay is used as bait to catch the suspect.
6	6	"Episode 6"	Unknown	Unknown	12 December 2022 (2022-12-12)
7	7	"Episode 7"	Unknown	Unknown	19 December 2022 (2022-12-19)
8	8	"Episode 8"	TBD	TBD	2023 (2023)
9	9	"Episode 9"	TBD	Stuart Drennan & Paul Marquess	2023 (2023)
10	10	"Episode 10"	TBD	Stuart Drennan	2023 (2023)

Reception

On the Northern Irish BBC iPlayer, Hope Street received 1.6 million streams on the first five episodes of series one. Stephen Patterson, writing for the Metro, gave the series four stars out of a possible five. He wrote that within minutes of the first episode, the community-driven aspect is established "incredibly well". Patterson noted that the core cast are talented, praising McGrady specifically for "stealing every scene she's in". He also praised the standalone stories in each episode, feeling that they raise important issues in ways that he did not expect from the series. He opined that Marquess had succeeded in his aims for the series to accurately portray Northern Ireland. He added that despite serial dramas such as Red Rock, The Bill and Holby City losing popularity, Hope Street "suggests that there is still something of an appetite for this kind of programming", also hoping for more series of the programme.

External links

• Hope Street at IMDb