James R | On 08, Apr 2023

ITV has commissioned a second season of The Dry for ITVX.

Award-winning playwright and BAFTA-nominated screenwriter Nancy Harris (Dates) and acclaimed director Paddy Breathnach (Viva, Rosie) will return to helm the second season of the comedy-drama, which began as a BritBox original and was recently added as a free box set on ITV’s streaming platform. Season 2 will stream exclusively on ITVX next year.
 
Roisin Gallagher will return as recovering alcoholic Shiv Sheridan, alongside regular cast members from the first season. It will be produced by Element Pictures, in association with Fís Eireann/Screen Ireland and ITV Studios, in partnership with RTÉ.

The second season picks up seven months on from the events of the first, and we now meet the Sheridans in their new normal. To all outward appearances, it seems like the family is relatively content: Shiv’s been sober, celibate, and solvent for 6 months, Ant has hung onto his job at the estate agents and his relationship with Max, and Caroline’s making up for a lost time by shagging everyone she meets on Tinder.

So far, so normal… Or is it? After all, how normal is it for 3 grown adults to still be living at home with their parents? And are the Sheridans really happy with this new status quo, or have they just rearranged their dysfunction and found another groove of denial to fit into? 

Shiv is determined to get sobriety right this time, to cut the toxic influences out of her life for good. But what if the biggest threat to Shiv’s stability turns out to be closer to home? Giving up alcohol is one thing… but what about giving up your family?

Nana Hughes, Head of Scripted Comedy at ITV said: “We are thrilled to be collaborating once again with the extra talented and BAFTA nominated Nancy Harris, Element Pictures, Paddy and the team to return to the Sheridan household for the second season of The Dry, coming to ITVX in 2024.”

Executive Producer, Emma Norton at Element Pictures added: “We all fell in love with the Sheridan family in season one and it is such a treat to get to spend more time in their chaotic company. Nancy has a fantastic arc for this season and Paddy is returning, with our wonderful Irish cast and crew, to bring this next chapter to life.”

Screenwriter Nancy Harris said: “I’m so thrilled about this second season of The Dry and to be getting to bring more of the Sheridans back to the screen. It’s an absolute joy to be back working with this incredible ensemble cast, and director Paddy Breathnach and I’m excited about where the show is going to go this season. The characters are all deepening and developing and they all have challenges – it’s going to be quite the rollercoaster, and not just for those who are trying to stay sober…”

 

First look: Ciarán Hinds stars in BritBox’s The Dry

22nd February 2022

Ciarán Hinds is heading from Belfast to BritBox for new series The Dry.

The comedy-drama, produced by Element Pictures, features Roisin Gallagher (The Fall, Nowhere Special) as Shiv Sheridan who returns to Dublin after years of partying in London, sober and full of good intentions – but being back with her family makes staying on “the dry” much harder than she expected. As Shiv tries to navigate this new phase of her life, so must her family… and they all have issues they don’t want to face.
 
Playwright and screenwriter Nancy Harris (Our New Girl, Dates) and director Paddy Breathnach (Viva, Rosie) are the team behind The Dry. Harris has created and written the 8 30-minute scripts, with Breathnach directing all episodes in the Dublin-set series.

Harris says, ‘I came up with the idea for The Dry over a couple of years, as like a lot of people, addiction has touched my life in different ways. However, every time I’d ever seen addiction represented on screen, it had always been in the most extreme way, such as somebody in rehab. I was interested in exploring the ordinary reality of being sober. And of finding the humour in suddenly having to navigate the emotional minefields and absurdities of family life- all while trying not to drink.’

As well as recent Oscar nominee Hinds (Belfast, The Terror), The Dry stars Pom Boyd (Vanity Fair, Frank of Ireland), Siobhán Cullen (Origin, The Limehouse Golem), Moe Dunford (The Dig, Vikings) and newcomer Adam Richardson. Emma Norton and Michael Dawson are Exec Producing for Element alongside company founders Ed Guiney and Andrew Lowe and writer Nancy Harris.

The series debuts exclusively on BritBox UK in May.

 

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