Newly crowned BAFTA winners Nathan Toth and Julie Harkin take DQ inside their winning partnership as casting directors, backing new talent and why they are perfectly matched, with a focus on their recent BBC series Reunion and What It Feels Like For a Girl.
As The Dry bows out and following the launch of How to Get to Heaven from Belfast on Netflix, actor Roísín Gallagher reflects on leaving one beloved character behind, embracing another and navigating a year of creative extremes. With the debut of the third and final season of The Dry in Ireland last week, Roísín Gallagher is saying goodbye to Shiv Sheridan, the recovering alcoholic she has played in the ITV and RTÉ comedy since its debut in 2022. The story sees Shiv return home to Dublin from London as she attempts to stay sober after years of partying, only to find her family isn’t entirely supportive of her new state of mind. In season three, once again written by Nancy Harris and directed by Paddy Breathnach, the Sheridans face their biggest challenge yet as a huge secret knocks them all sideways. “Nancy always had three seasons in her head,” Gallagher tells DQ. “None of the cast or crew wanted to let it go, so there were a lot of jokes about [making] a Christmas special. But I think that was just a joke. It was great fun. I really enjoyed it. It’s a gorgeous way to say goodbye to the Sheridan family.” Before filming began in Dublin on the final episodes of The Dry, however, Gallagher spent time in Northern Ireland shooting the recently released Netflix series How to Get to Heaven from Belfast. Saying goodbye to one character and hello to another in the past 12 months, it’s … Continue reading Heaven sent: Roísín Gallagher on the final season of The Dry and starring in Netflix’s How to Get to Heaven from Belfast
FIRST LOOK: Josephine Park and Soheil Bavi tackle the fight against opioids in TV 2 Denmark’s new crime series Fristelsen (Side Effects), which is now filming ahead of its premiere in 2027.
Described as a fast-paced crime series, it seeks to combine high-intensity suspense, gripping character drama and a strong visual expression to tell a story centring on the growing social problem around the number of young people using synthetic drugs and opioids.
When a new type of deadly pills pours onto the Danish market, it leaves a long line of victims. Investigation leader Nora Søby (Park) from NSK (National Unit for Serious Crime) does everything she can to stop the pills before they spread further and take her own daughter, Alberte (Flora Ofelia), with her.
Together with her dedicated colleagues, Tarik (Bavi), Emma (Sara Fanta) and William (Emil Hyldeborg), Nora embarks on a thrilling investigation to unravel the masterminds’ organisation and stop the pills before they claim more innocent lives.
The supporting cast also includes Jakob Cedergren, Marco Ilsø, Clint Ruben, Iben Dorner, Petrine Agger and Peter Christoffersen.
The six-part series is produced by Miso Film and has just started filming in Copenhagen and the surrounding area. It is created by main writer Lasse Kyed Rasmussen and directed by Jonas Alexander Arnby.
The series has been pre-sold to TV 2 in Norway, TV4 in Sweden and YLE in Finland. Nordic distribution is handled by TV 2 Sales & Distribution, while the series is distributed internationally by Fremantle.
tagged in: Fremantle, Fristelsen, Josephine Park, Miso Film, Side Effects, Soheil Bavi
BAFTA-nominated editors Fiona Brands, Úna Ní Dhonghaíle and Simon Smith discuss their work on Slow Horses, Prisoner 951 and The Last of Us respectively, finding tension in dialogue and putting viewers at the heart of television drama.
Ahead of the BAFTA TV Craft Awards 2026, nominated writers Ailbhe Keogan and Will Smith speak to DQ about making Trespasses and Slow Horses respectively, adapting books for the screen and their contrasting approaches to following the shows they write through production.
FIRST LOOK: Nick Blood and Saffron Hocking star in police thriller Hit Point, which is set to debut this summer in the UK on U and U&Dave.
The channel’s first step into original scripted drama, Hit Point is described as an adrenaline-charged blend of high-stakes crime thriller and sizzling romantic drama. It follows 30-something detectives Leo (Blood) and Bella (Hocking) as their latest case pulls them into a dangerous West London underworld. On the hunt for answers, the lines between their personal and professional lives blur with every twist and betrayal.
The cast also includes William Abadie, Brendan Coyle, Peter Serafinowicz, Nadia Parkes, Moe Bar-El, Ossian Perret and Joshua Sher.
Hit Point is developed & produced by Urban Myth Films (Paris Has Fallen, The Lazarus Project) co-financed by CANAL+, with STUDIOCANAL (Families Like Ours, Playing Nice) handling worldwide sales & distribution. Hit Point will air on U and U&Dave this summer.
Written by Howard Overman (Misfits, The War of The Worlds) and directed by David Caffrey (The Gentlemen, Peaky Blinders), Hit Point is developed and produced by Urban Myth Films. The executive producers are Johnny Capps, Julian Murphy and Howard Overman for Urban Myth Films and Helen Perry for UKTV.
The series is co-financed by Canal+ in France, with StudioCanal handling worldwide distribution. Canal+ has pre-bought the series for its global footprint in more than 50 countries including France and across Europe, Africa and Asia.
Read more about making Hit Point here.
tagged in: Canal+, Hit Point, StudioCanal, U, U&Dave, UKTV, Urban Myth Films
TRAILER: Keeley Hawes stars as a devoted nun, and Paapa Essiedu is a Catholic priest in Falling, a new six-part drama from Jack Thorne coming soon to Channel 4. Watch the trailer now.
Thorne’s first ever love story, it introduces Anna (Hawes) and David (Essiedu), who are deeply committed to their work in the church and in their community. Neither expected to fall in love. But when they do, both are forced to wrestle with what it means for them, their vows and their relationship with God.
Additional cast members include Jason Watkins as Peter, Niamh Cusack as Francesca, Rakie Ayola as Muriel, David Dawson as Phil and Adrian Scarborough as Francis.
Produced by The Forge Entertainment, filming took place in Bristol and Wales. It is executive produced by George Ormond, George Faber, Jack Thorne and Peter Hoar. Joe Donaldson produces. Peter Hoar was the director for block one and Sasha Ransome for block two. Falling will be distributed internationally by Banijay Rights.
tagged in: Banijay Rights, Channel 4, Falling, Jack Thorne, Keeley Hawes, Paapa Essiedu, The Forge Entertainment
Lost Boys & Fairies star Fra Fee opens up about his latest role in Netflix drama Unchosen, in which he plays an escaped prisoner who finds sanctuary within the closed confines of a cloistered Christian sect. But is he a saviour, or will his arrival spell the undoing of the devout community?
Laura Fraser and Lindsay Duncan speak to DQ about playing the matriarchs of a male-driven crime family in BBC drama Mint, the unique imagination of filmmaker Charlotte Regan and why it’s unlike any series on television.
TRAILER: David Tennant, Alex Hassell, Aidan Turner, Nafessa Williams and Bella Maclean return for the second season of Rivals, which debuts on Hulu and Disney+ with a three-episode premiere on May 15, 2026. Watch the trailer now.
The new footage spotlights the vengeful return of Lord Tony Baddingham (Tennant) who is on a mission to destroy Rupert Campbell-Black (Hassell) and Declan O’Hara (Turner)’s rival television company Venturer.
The trailer also shows the residents of Rutshire’s favourite international sport, polo, introducing fan-favourite characters from Dame Jilly Cooper’s beloved Rutshire Chronicles, Sebbie and Dommie Carlisle. Romance between couples Rupert and Taggie, Freddie and Lizzie, Declan and Maud, Charles and Gerald, and Sarah and Paul are also teased.
In the second season, the battle for the Central South West television franchise reaches fever pitch as the war between Corinium and Venturer enters a dangerous new phase. More ruthless than ever, Tony Baddingham is determined to dismantle his rivals piece-by-piece, weaponising scandal and manipulating those closest to him to maintain his grip on power.
Amidst the hedonistic glamour of 80s excess, the personal lives of our Rutshire heroes spiral into chaos. Marriages fracture under the weight of ambition, illicit affairs threaten to shatter families, and long-buried secrets ignite with explosive consequences. As rivalries push everyone to the brink, loyalties are tested and hearts are broken in the pursuit of victory. But what is the true cost of war?
Williams plays Cameron Cook and Maclean is Taggie O’Hara, with Katherine Parkinson as Lizzie Vereker, Danny Dyer as Freddie Jones, Victoria Smurfit as Maud O’Hara, Claire Rushbrook as Lady Monica Baddingham, Oliver Chris as James Vereker, Lisa McGrillis as Valerie Jones, Emily Atack as Sarah Stratton, Rufus Jones as Paul Stratton, Luca Pasqualino as Basil ‘Bas’ Baddingham, Catriona Chandler as Caitlin O’Hara, Annabel Scholey as Beattie Johnson, Gary Lamont as Charles Fairburn, Hubert Burton as Gerald Middleton, Gabriel Tierney as Patrick O’Hara, Lara Peake as Daysee Butler and Bryony Hannah as Dierdre Kilpatrick.
New guest stars include Hayley Atwell as Helen Gordon, Rupert Campbell-Black’s ex-wife and mother of his two children, and Rupert Everett as her husband Malise Gordon, Campbell Black’s former show-jumping coach and mentor. They are also joined by Maxim Ays as Sebbie Carlisle and Bobby Lockwood as Dommie Carlisle.
Rivals is made by Happy Prince and executive produced by Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Alexander Lamb, playwright Laura Wade, Felicity Blunt, Elliot Hegarty, Rivals author Dame Jilly Cooper and Jonny Richards. Eliza Mellor returns as series producer.
It is written by Dominic Treadwell-Collins, Laura Wade, Sophie Goodhart, Sam Hoare, Mimi Hare, Clare Naylor, Sorcha Kurien-Walsh and Dare Aiyegbayo, and directed by Elliot Hegarty, Jamie J Johnson and Dee Koppang O’Leary.
Rivals is based on the novel of the same name, part of Cooper’s Rutshire Chronicles.
tagged in: Disney, Happy Prince, Hulu, Rivals
FIRST LOOK: Oliver Savell takes on the titular role in The Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾, a new BBC adaptation of Sue Townsend’s novel now in production around Hartlepool and Sunderland.
Bafta-nominated Savell (Changing Ends) plays Adrian in a nine-part series that opens on New Year’s Day 1981, when Adrian starts his uniquely funny diary about family life and being a teenager before the advent of mobile phones and social media. With only a multi-coloured ballpoint pen as his guide, Adrian worries about his spots, his parents’ divorce, the torment of first love and the fact he’s never seen a female nipple.
Lisa McGrillis (Rivals) plays Adrian’s mother Pauline and Colin Hoult (After Life) plays his father George. Pam Ferris (Matilda) is Grandma, Galaxie Clear (Secret Service) is Pandora and Alun Armstrong (Breeders) is Bert.
Other cast include Jude Forsey as Nigel, Rory Keenan as Mr Lucas, David Wilmot as Mr Scruton and Karl Collins as Mr Cherry.
The series is being adapted for the screen by David Nicholls (One Day, Us), with Caitlin Moran and Caroline Moran (Raised By Wolves), Dillon Mapletoft and Oliver Taylor (Everyone Else Burns) and Jack Rooke (Big Boys).
It is a Big Talk Studios production. The director is Alex Winckler (Somewhere Boy, Mary and George) and the producer is Charlotte Robinson (A Thousand Blows).
The executive producers are Kenton Allen and Luke Alkin for Big Talk Studios, and David Nicholls and Alex Winckler. The series will air on BBC iPlayer and BBC One.
The production is supported by the North East Production Fund delivered on behalf of the North East Screen Industries Partnership (NESIP) by North East Screen.
tagged in: BBC iPlayer, BBC One, David Nicholls, Oliver Savell, The Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾
As the show returns for its second run, Bergerac star Damien Molony tells DQ about taking the lead in this reimagining of the classic detective series, why this season is more hopeful than the first and the perks of filming on location in Jersey.
FIRST LOOK: David Mitchell and Anna Maxwell Martin will be joined by Mark Bonnar and Sian Clifford when puzzling crime comedy-drama Ludwig returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer for its second season later this year.
Picking up from the end of season one, John (Mitchell) is now a crime scene consultant, working alongside DCI Russell Carter (Dipo Ola) on ‘impossible’ crimes for the Cambridge Police Authority. No longer having to masquerade as his brother, he’s openly more ‘Ludwig’ than ever – brilliant at solving puzzles but hopeless at everything else.
But John’s identical twin brother, James, is still missing, and now that he’s an official employee of the station, John is forbidden from using any police resources to look for his brother or uncover exactly what he was investigating.
Of course, John won’t stop and neither will Lucy (Maxwell Martin), John’s sister-in-law and wife of his missing brother James – a puzzle needs solving and a husband and father needs bringing home. One masquerade may have ended, but a new one has just begun.
Also returning for season two are Dylan Hughes as Henry Betts-Taylor, Dorothy Atkinson as DCS Carol Shaw, Ralph Ineson as Chief Constable Ziegler and Karl Pilkington as DI Matt Neville.
Joining the cast as series regulars are Bonnar as newspaper editor Gareth Fisher, Clifford as local MP Joanne Kemper, Ben Ashenden as DC Ethan Cole and Rumi Sutton as DC Caitlin Sullivan.
Ludwig is created and written by Mark Brotherhood and produced by Big Talk Studios, in association with That Mitchell and Webb Company, in coproduction with BritBox and Germany’s ZDF. ITV Studios handles international distribution.
Season two is again written by Brotherhood, and the directors are George Kane (episodes 1,2 & 3) and Stella Corradi (episodes 4, 5 & 6). The executive producers are Kenton Allen and Toby Welch for Big Talk Studios, Brotherhood, Mitchell, Kathryn O’Connor, Chris Sussman; Robert Schildhouse and Stephen Nye for BritBox; and Frank Seyberth and Claus Wunn for ZDF. The producer is Georgie Fallon, with Anya Wilson as coproducer.
tagged in: Anna Maxwell-Martin, BBC iPlayer, BBC One, Big Talk Studios, Britbox, David Mitchell, ITV Studios, Ludwig, Mark Brotherhood, That Mitchell and Webb Company, ZDF
As Ethernel launches in Belgium, DQ speaks to the creative team behind this fantasy thriller about a police officer grieving his wife in a world where the living can communicate with the dead.
FIRST LOOK: Taskmaster and Last One Laughing star Sam Campbell takes the lead in comedy series Make That Movie, which comes to Channel 4 in the UK this May.
Following the world premiere of The Legend of Kitchen Soldier, Studio N CEO Mikyung (Michelle) Kwon speaks to DQ about making the Korean series, its origins as a webcomic and how this source of IP is fuelling a wave of new projects.
TRAILER: Emma Laird and Ben Coyle-Larner head the cast of romance-filled crime drama Mint, the first TV series from filmmaker Charlotte Regan, which arrives on BBC One and BBC iPlayer on Monday, April 20, 2026. Watch the trailer now.
Laird plays Shannon, the daughter of her area’s dominant crime family, who is desperately searching for romance in the shadow of her father, Dylan.
When Shannon falls hard for Arran (Coyle-Larner), a member of a rival crime family who has newly arrived in town, their love story changes both of their lives for good, but not everyone in their lives sees it the same way.
While Shannon and Arran are navigating their forbidden romance, elsewhere things are imploding for Shannon’s family – her parents, Dylan and Cat, her older brother Luke and her indomitable grandma Ollie. When Dylan decides to step down as the head of the family for mysterious reasons. Sam, Dylan’s second in command, steps up to take over, though his diverging tactics start to raise alarm.
Filmed in and around Glasgow last year, Mint also stars Sam Riley, Laura Fraser, Lewis Gribben, Connor Newall and Lindsay Duncan.
The eight-part series is created, written, directed and executive produced by Regan (Scrapper). It is made for BBC iPlayer and BBC One by House Productions and Fearless Minds. It is produced by Angus Lamont and executive produced by Tessa Ross, Juliette Howell and Theo Barrowclough for House Productions, Jolyon Symonds for Fearless Minds and Rebecca Ferguson for the BBC. Mint was supported by Screen Scotland.
BBC Studios is handling global sales.
All episodes of Mint are on BBC iPlayer from 6am on Monday, April 20, with the series airing on BBC One from 9pm that night.
tagged in: BBC iPlayer, BBC One, BBC Studios, Charlotte Regan, Fearless Minds, House Productions, Mint
As Channel 4 comedy Big Mood returns for a second season, stars Nicola Coughlan and Lydia West discuss continuing this story of female friendship and mental health, stepping up as executive producers and the need for their characters to have an “honest conversation.”
Ahead of the launch of Norwegian medical drama LIS (Still Breathing), DQ speaks to producer Ivar Køhn about making a show that blends fictional drama with real-world issues, building a hospital and why it is set to fill a hole in TV schedules.
FIRST LOOK: Tom Burke and Steve Coogan star in Legends, a series from the creator of The Gold and Guilt coming to Netflix on May 7, 2026.
Inspired by one of the most remarkable criminal investigations ever conducted, the six-episode series follows a group of ordinary Customs employees sent undercover to infiltrate some of the country’s most dangerous criminal networks, and stop the heroin crisis threatening Britain in the early 1990s.
Their ‘legends’ were brand new identities, created by the amateur operatives to protect themselves and their families at home, as they entered into a new world of unimaginable risks, and unprecedented adventure.
Burke plays Guy and Coogan is Don, with Hayley Squires as Kate, Tom Hughes as Carter, Aml Ameen as Bailey, Jasmine Blackborrow as Erin, Douglas Hodge as Blake and Johnny Harris as Eddie.
The cast also includes Gerald Kyd, Numan Acar, Charlotte Ritchie, Joshua Samuels, Kem Hassan and Thomas Coombes.
Produced by Tannadice Pictures, Legends is created and written by Neil Forsyth. The directors are Brady Hood and Julian Holmes.
The executive producers are Ben Farrell & Neil Forsyth for Tannadice, and Richard Bradley for Lion Television. The series producer is Charlie Leech.
tagged in: Legends, Neil Forsyth, Netflix, Steve Coogan, Tannadice Pictures, Tom Burke
