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LAST UPDATE | 3 Apr
IT’S A GREY afternoon in June, high up in Hollyhill on Cork’s northside.
Inside the school hall at Terence MacSwiney Community College, a small group of people are rehearsing for a wedding ceremony.
In the courtyard out front, a group of lads in suits are running through a scene. Cables, cameras, crew and cast are scattered throughout the school, which for the day has been renamed St Finan’s National School.
Welcome to a day on set with The Young Offenders, which is back on our screens this weekend.
The Journal was invited last summer to watch the filming of one of the episodes of the show.
First thing we learn? Filming for TV means a lot – a LOT – of repetition.
We watch as the characters Mairéad MacSweeney (Hilary Rose) and Sergeant Healy (Dominic MacHale) film a short scene outside.
They’re resplendent in wedding clothes – Mairéad’s outfit is bright orange – because the day is dedicated to filming the wedding between the characters Linda and Gavin.
Over and over again the pair repeat the same lines, making little tweaks according to the director’s feedback.
Surrounding them are a large group of crew members. Us journalists linger in the background, trying not to make a sound or get caught on camera in the large windows behind Rose and MacHale.
But the mood is jovial rather than weary, because this is a gang of people who have worked together for years. After a movie and four TV seasons, the gang is back together in more ways than one.
For starters, the original cast is returning for season 5: Chris Walley as Jock O’Keeffe, Alex Murphy as Conor MacSweeney, Hilary Rose as Mairéad MacSweeney, Shane Casey as Billy Murphy, Demi Isaac-Oviawe as Linda Walsh, Dominic MacHale as Sergeant Healy, Jennifer Barry as Siobhán Walsh, Danny Power as Gavin Madigan, PJ Gallagher as Principal Barry Walsh and Orla Fitzgerald as Orla Walsh.
But unlike last time around, Jock and Conor, the titular young offenders, are back in the same country after spending last season separated by an ocean and the Colombian justice system. Alex was in Cork, with Jock imprisoned in the South American country. Now they’re on home ground, together.
Murphy and Walley first played the roles of Jock and Conor in The Young Offenders film, directed by Peter Foott, which came out in 2016. The lovable rogues transitioned to the small screen with the sitcom in 2018.
“We were so young when we started,” says Alex Murphy (27), when we catch up in between takes. (Like Walley, in real life his Cork accent is far more muted than his character’s.)
“It’s weird to say I’ve almost grown up on the show. I’m the age Sergeant Healy [the boys' nemesis] was in the film now, which is crazy.”
During the fourth season, real-life work commitments necessitated the characters being separated, as both Murphy and Walley’s careers have been blooming. Now, they’re back together.
But there is one element of change. Series creator Peter Foott is no longer directing (though he is still working behind the scenes). Taking over from him are a duo named Rosco 5, aka Gideon Beresford and Behnam Taheri, who also directed the BBC series Juice.
All involved say the pair have tapped right into the fun and heart of the series. Also newly on board is Ross O’Carroll-Kelly creator Paul Howard, who wrote the wedding episode. If you’re looking for a witty writer, you can’t do better than him.
He’s on set with the gang today too, and even claims he’s sad he’s not from Cork. The city does have that effect on visitors.
“Season 5 brings Conor and Jock back together, with a stronger bond than they’ve ever had, and we’re really excited to share these chaotic and heart-warming stories with audiences,” says Foott.
Despite the years, both Walley and Murphy don’t look that much older than when the series began. They put it down to the close-shaven haircuts they both sport in character.
“It takes a lot of years off,” says 30-year-old Walley. The role is “the gift that keeps on giving”, says Murphy. “You realise how nice the job is when you go off and do other things that are also great [but] lack whatever magic this has.”
Walley agrees. “It’s brilliant to be back with everyone again… it’s just like stepping back into family.”
“It’s almost like getting back into an old pair of slippers,” says Hilary Rose, who plays Mairéad.
“I’ve seen these two little guys grow up and become scamps,” says Dominic MacHale (Sergeant Healy).
So how have Jock and Conor changed over the years?
“We started off at 17 being idiots,” says Murphy. “But it’s not much fun to watch people mature a whole lot. So now we’re older eejits.”
“I think there’s growth in them, in accepting who they are,” says Shane Casey, aka Billy.
Cork has really embraced the series. This season they filmed one scene on Oliver Plunkett St in the city centre, which Walley calls a “pretty iconic moment”.
“It did definitely feel special,” he says. “It was like a two and a half minute scene, but it was all one take. So it did feel a small bit like, ‘better get this right’.”
Fans gathered to watch. “We’re in the middle of the scene, and people are shouting out ‘alright Jock and Conor!’,” says Walley.
It’s a big thing for Cork to feature on TV, especially its northside.
“I’d love if there was another television show being made in Cork or in Munster at the moment,” says Casey.
“With the stuff that’s happening with the film Christy [Brendan Canty's feature film, set in Knocknaheeny], it’s a real exciting time for Cork at the moment. So fingers crossed that continues.”
What are the keys to The Young Offenders’ success?
“It’s rooted in real emotions, relationships between the characters. But we don’t try and hide from the fact it’s a sitcom,” says Murphy.
You now know these characters, so what situations can you put them in? And you’re guaranteed to just enjoy it and watch the panic.
Adds Casey: “Once we have heart, we get away with things, I think.”
Rose’s character Mairéad has gone from trying to keep the teenagers alive to being a new parent in season five. “So it’s like she’s starting all over again,” she says.
It’s a personal journey that will get “a lot bigger” in this season. MacHale’s character Healy has gone from being like the Terminator, “obsessed” with ‘getting’ Jock and Conor, to falling in love with Mairéad.
“It’s fun to get to portray a more rounded character, not just somebody who’s obsessed with one element,” he says.
Also on set are PJ Gallagher (Principal Barry Walsh), Demi Isaac-Oviawe (Linda Walsh) and Jennifer Barry (Siobhán Walsh).
“It’s a big episode – there’s lots of drama going on. In Young Offenders style, it’s one piece of chaos after another,” says the ebullient Gallagher of the wedding episode.
He’s been on board since the film, and says with a laugh: “I’ve now come to this school for more years in a row than I actually went to my own school.”
The series is very much about coming of age, on screen and in real life. Says Isaac-Oviawe: “Myself and Jennifer copped that last season, we were the same age as Chris in season one, which is mad. It’s like a full circle, almost.”
It was a “dream job” for Paul Howard to write the wedding episode of the show.
“I found the voices came surprisingly easy. I think they were in my head. I’ve seen every episode at least twice over the years,” he says.
“There’s something about the Cork accent. It’s so musical,” he adds. In recent years he’s also written for Sharon Horgan’s Apple TV+ show Bad Sisters and the Irish-Canadian co-production Sisters.
He’s also working on a series with executive producer of The Young Offenders, Cormac Fox, based on Howard’s own childhood. One thing he has learned about writing for The Young Offenders is that throwing the f-word or ‘boy’ into the script is “a complete waste of time, because they’re going to say it anyway”.
“People love the show, and they love those characters,” he says. That can mean a bit of pressure. “Your biggest job is: don’t mess this up. And don’t ruin people’s expectations of what it’s going to be.”
Creator Peter Foott wrote the script outlines, and there were four writers on board.
“Some of the scripts, if you told me it was written by Peter, I’d think it was. They’re so close,” says co-producer Brian Deane.
In season five, Fox says they “really wanted to get back to the identity of Cork”. That meant “using real locations, getting out in the streets”. Some of the crew who hadn’t shot in Cork before were “terrified” that the scene on Oliver Plunkett St wasn’t going to work, says Deane.
“[They thought] we wouldn’t be able to handle the crowds, and it was just gonna be chaos. I kept telling them: it’ll be fine, it’ll be fine. Because I’m from Cork, and I understand the connection between the show and Cork. And of course, it went off seamlessly.
Cork people own The Young Offenders. They have ownership over the show, so they’re not gonna mess it up.
The show has a massive fanbase abroad. “There’s a big Chinese base. We don’t know how they’re watching it, but they’re big fans,” says Deane with a laugh.
While it might be more cost-effective to shoot the show in Dublin (especially as many crew have to travel to Cork), Fox says it would be “completely wrong to ever do that” for The Young Offenders.
They’re also careful to generally not cast people to ‘do’ Cork accents either. This is a Cork show through and through.
So before we let them get back to work, there’s time to ask: who’d be the ideal guest star? There’s only one answer, given they’ve already had Roy Keane on.
“We’d love to have Cillian [Murphy],” says Deane. “He’s a fan of the show. We just haven’t had anything that’s fitted his schedule or a character that fits in our script.”
Time for Paul Howard to come to the rescue. “Do you want me to go write one now?” he says with a grin. “You’ve got 20 minutes!” laughs Deane.
We await the results with bated breath.
The new season of The Young Offenders comes to the RTÉ Player and iPlayer today. The show, produced by Vico Films for the BBC in association with RTÉ, will also be broadcast weekly on RTÉ One TV starting on Saturday and on BBC One TV from tonight.
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