Did anyone else watch Singlehanded [Archive] - Soap, Drama and Spoiler Forums

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alan45

17-08-2009, 13:35

I was just wondering how many of you watched the SUPERB drama Singlehanded which was on ITV for the last 3 Sunday evenings betweem 9pm and 11pm.

It is a police drama based in the West of Ireland starring Owen McDonnell as a Garda Sergeant Jack Driscoll. It was absolutely rivetting drama set agaisnt the beautiful desolate Connemara landscape.

Lets hope they make more episodes

Katy

17-08-2009, 17:42

I saw last nights and the middle episode, it was brilliant, my family live around that area, loved seeing crough patrick in the distance, the setting was amazing, thought the main guy who played the garda was brilliant.

parkerman

17-08-2009, 17:45

Yes, saw them all. Great drama. Wonderfully atmospheric. (Though I thought it was set in Galway...)

Let's hope there's another series some time.

alan45

17-08-2009, 19:24

Yes, saw them all. Great drama. Wonderfully atmospheric. (Though I thought it was set in Galway...)

Let's hope there's another series some time.

Connemara is in Galway and Croagh Patrick is in the neighbouring county of Mayo.

I was looking on the RTE website but could see no mention of a future series.

parkerman

17-08-2009, 19:38

Yes, saw them all. Great drama. Wonderfully atmospheric. (Though I thought it was set in Galway...)

Let's hope there's another series some time.

Connemara is in Galway
Thanks. That explains that then! :thumbsup:

Chloe O'brien

18-08-2009, 00:33

we haven't seen it yet up in Scotland they are showing us films on a sunday night instead. hopefully we will get to see it soon.

alan45

18-08-2009, 01:12

Chloe O'brien

19-08-2009, 22:06

just what i'm looking for someone to fill the void if they decided to axe 24.

Abigail

20-08-2009, 11:40

alan45

20-08-2009, 12:58

Here you go

http://www.rte.ie/tv/singlehanded/

There seems to be a problem with single handed although there does not seem to be a problem watching other programmes. I dont live in Ireland

alan45

20-08-2009, 13:51

we haven't seen it yet up in Scotland they are showing us films on a sunday night instead. hopefully we will get to see it soon.

You can get it on RTEs version of the iPlayer Kath. Well worth a couple of hours of your time. Besides who knows it may be a new Jack for you to fancy

Have you got a link to the RTE site? Can people from outside Ireland use it?

Here you go

http://www.rte.ie/tv/singlehanded/

There seems to be a problem with single handed although there does not seem to be a problem watching other programmes. I dont live in Ireland

Its also on the ITV Player

http://www.itv.com/ITVPlayer/Programmes/default.html?ViewType=1&Filter=2795

Abigail

20-08-2009, 18:50

Thanks Alan, I shall watch the first episode tonight.

alan45

20-08-2009, 19:52

Thanks Alan, I shall watch the first episode tonight.

Even if you dont like the storylines its worth watching for the scenery. However Im sure you will enjoy it all

Katy

20-08-2009, 22:16

Thanks Alan, I shall watch the first episode tonight.

Even if you dont like the storylines its worth watching for the scenery. However Im sure you will enjoy it all

It really is, but the storys were also good, had a few twists that i wasnt expecting, especially the second one

alan45

20-08-2009, 22:18

Chloe O'brien

06-09-2009, 01:28

It's getting shown in Scotland on Monday at 9pm.

Sparklet

11-10-2009, 00:18

It was a great series - I hope they make more.

Chloe O'brien

11-10-2009, 00:36

I'm still watching it. We are on the third storyline were the lad is found drowned and there is an undercover operation going on. Loving the stunning countryside reminds me of some of the wonderful scottish scenery. Hope they make another series.

Chloe O'brien

22-06-2010, 11:58

Good news STV are viewing the second series tonight at 9pm

Chloe O'brien

23-06-2010, 10:33

Remember what I said yesterday. Well ignore me I was telling fibs. I parked my butt on the sofa with a nice cup of Scottish blend tea ready to watch the new series and guess what? It was a flaming repeat :angry: They are just re-showing the six episodes they showed last year.

alan45

23-06-2010, 12:05

I did wonder because I went on to the STV site to watch it on the STV player but it wasnt there. Tried RTE and no luck there either. Still it was worth watching again anyway just for the beautiful Connemara Scenery. It would have been much better than the Soap formerly known as The Bill

alan45

07-11-2010, 21:02

As 'Single-Handed' returns to our screens (RTE ) for a six-part series, lead actor Owen McDonnell talks to Linda McGee about playing Garda Jack Driscoll, filming in Connemara and why he would make a "rubbish cop".

Owen McDonnell as Garda Jack Driscoll
Linda McGee: You're back for a six-episode run this year Owen, does that mean that we'll be getting to delve a bit deeper and see more of what makes Garda Jack tick?
Owen McDonnell: Yeah, I think so. For me it was a great luxury to have six episodes, to kind of have a through-line. I think you get more detail and probably more in depth than just seeing snippets, like we had in the past, having to tie everything up neatly after just two hours, so yeah Jack's own storyline is allowed to develop at a more interesting and natural pace... not a different woman every episode!

LM: There's a new storyline with a mystery cousin that seems likely to unearth a few family secrets. What can you tell us about that?
OM: Yeah, well basically, it happens very early in the first episode when Jack is confronted with this guy from Manchester, who he bumped into at the side of the road. They had a break-down and he thought nothing of it and then the guy comes into the Garda station with his girlfriend and he says 'I think we might be related' and it turns out that he's there looking for his father. We know his father went to school near there and subsequently it turns out that Jack has an uncle and a cousin that he never knew he had. And considering he's just lost his father, and his father and himself didn't see eye to eye, the fact that there might be a comparative person of that generation in his life that he hasn't had access to is very exciting for him but this being 'Single-Handed' it doesn't necessarily work out as well as it could do.

LM: We've been told to expect a violent death, an arson attack and a mysterious car crash in the series. That's a lot of drama for Garda Jack. Will that be the case for most of the series?
OM: Yeah, the way it's structured is that each two hours deal with a major event, which is whatever drama Jack has to solve that particular time. But then there is a through-line running through all six. So yeah, while it's a very active place he's living in, I think people make allowances for that. It's not real-life in Connemara but anything that does happen can happen or could happen.

LM: Yeah, because quite a lot happens in what seems like a quiet rural setting. There's no shortage of action to keep him occupied...
OM: Yeah, it's not dissimilar to 'Midsomer' or Morse's Oxford or whatever. A day in the life of a rural Garda Sergeant probably would make an interesting hour-long documentary, but maybe not a six-part drama.

LM: I fear it's going to become one of those places that people avoid visiting if Garda Jack is around, you know like how you'd be getting worried if Jessica Fletcher checked into the same B&B as you...
OM: Yeah, yeah! Or Miss Marple or Garda Jack Driscoll... yeah, as I said, we do take allowances and take liberties in a way by saying all this stuff happened. But, you know, all the issues that we deal with - young offenders, crooked property developers, prostitution in a rural area - they all could happen. It's just that they all happen to Jack!

LM: For you as an actor, is he a great character to be able to revisit? There are exciting scripts, lots of great guest-stars and it seems like there's always lots to work with.
OM: Aw yeah, I know. It's a treat for me. You mentioned the rest of the cast - the quality of people that you have in it, you know from Stephen Rea to Conor Mullen and some of the newer people that people might not be as familiar with like Dermod Noyse. To work with them is just a real pleasure for me and I learn a lot from just being on camera with them and doing scenes with them. They've such a wealth of experience. And yeah, the scripts are great and it's in a fantastic location. There's nothing not to like about it, to be honest! I'm very, very lucky and I do realise that.

LM: You mentioned the gorgeous location there, is it a pleasant change to be able to film the outdoor scenes in such a great setting, as opposed to always being on constructed sets?
OM: Absolutely. It's part of the world that I knew. I grew up in Galway City so, you know, it was always just out the road. I've got to know it so well because often the most beautiful places are the most remote and out of the way, so you got to go to all these places, and because we were there filming for 12 weeks this time you got to feel like you were part of the community. People were very good to us and very accepting of us. So yeah, it was fantastic.

LM: What's interesting, and has been all along, is that you get to see a little bit more of Jack with every episode. As well as whatever mystery he is solving, there is a strong focus on developing him as a character. Did that always appeal to you?
OM: Yeah, I've always said that. I think one of the selling-points of the series is that, yes it's a police drama but it's a police drama centred around a person, who just happens to be a cop. You get an insight into his life and I think, and I hope, that people will be able to imagine it... because he's not a super-sleuth. He doesn't do everything brilliantly well. He doesn't do the Miss Marple and have everybody around in a room at the end and relay how he's amazingly solved the crime. He makes mistakes and, certainly in these episodes, he allows his personal feelings to colour his judgement, a lot! And I would hope that people are able to maybe put themselves in his situation and go 'How would I react in that situation?' or 'Would I make the same mistakes?' or 'Would I be able to see the wood for the trees?'. So yeah, I think maybe that's what is interesting and that's why people like it because it's not just a 'whodunnit'. You get an insight into a life and an insight into what it must be like working in a job like that, where you have all those pressures and you're part of a community, but not part of a community and all that.

LM: Having got that insight yourself, is it a job that you think you could have done in a different life?
OM: Eh no! It's too hard, I think. Me personally, I'd probably be a rubbish cop!

Watch 'Single-Handed' Sundays at 9.30pm on RTÉ One.

alan45

12-11-2010, 18:34

Well I have had the chance to watch the first episode of this new series and its just as good as the last. Jack has been promoted to Sergeant.

Even if yo are no lover of cop show this is worth watching just for the superb Connemara Scenery. Wonder if the program is sponsored by Bord Failte

It also stars Matthew McNulty of Lark Rise to Candleford

Chloe O'brien

15-11-2010, 11:21

Do you know when it's going to be shown on ITV.

alan45

15-11-2010, 11:40

Do you know when it's going to be shown on ITV.

No. But you can watch it here http://www.rte.ie/player/#

alan45

30-06-2011, 11:42

Single Handed
Episode: 1 of 6
Thursday, 14 July 2011, 9:00PM - 10:00PM

The Lost Boys (Part one):

The second series of SINGLE-HANDED sees police sergeant Jack Driscoll facing new challenges as he continues the lonely role of policing his rural terrain in the West of Ireland.

Owen McDonnell reprises his role as police sergeant Jack Driscoll in the critically acclaimed drama SINGLE-HANDED.

And Simone Lahbib (Wire in the Blood, Monarch of the Glen), Matthew McNulty (Five Days, Lark Rise to Candleford) and Sean McGinley (Lewis, Republic of Doyle) join the cast for six new episodes filmed entirely on location in the wilds of Connemara.

The second series will see Jack Driscoll (McDonnell – Mount Pleasant) facing new challenges as he continues the lonely role of policing his rural terrain in the West of Ireland. Jack lives above the Garda station now. His deputy, Finbarr Colvin (David Herlihy) is opportunistic and venal which often leaves Jack working single-handed with back-up a very long way away.

There are many occasions when there is no time for the due legal process; natural justice is what Jack has to impose. And that is when he is morally tested. The community is watching him…and judging him.

This series of SINGLE-HANDED promises yet more muscular, emotionally complex stories. While Jack continues to delve into the secret life – and past – of his Connemara community in order to solve crimes he also has cause to look into his own family secrets. Matthew McNulty joins the cast as Brian, a cousin Jack never knew existed. Brought up in England, Brian arrives in Ireland to discover the truth about his family. Simone Lahbib is Brian's girlfriend Gemma who joins him on his voyage of discovery and finds herself drawn to staying in Connemara for her own reasons.

Sean McGinley is Costello, a retired Guard who has taken over Mallon's bar but has more sinister ambitions and readily exploits former police colleagues in a bid to undermine Jack. And award-winning actor Stephen Rea (Father & Son, The Shadow Line) guest stars in the first two-parter.

In the first episode a dark family secret and the murder of an elderly recluse force sergeant Jack Driscoll (Owen McDonnell) to confront a brutal past while grappling with the accused, troubled delinquent Ruairi (Diarmuid Noyes).

Jack is moving into the living quarters above the Garda Station when he’s called out by holiday makers whose reclusive neighbour, Seamus Devlin has been attacked and killed.

Jack calls his deputy, Finbarr (David Herlihy), who is on paternity leave, following the birth of twins, to secure the scene of crime, whilst he apprehends the young suspect and brings him down the mountain to question him in the presence of local Adventure Centre Warden, Pat McGlinchey (Barry Barnes). Ruairi denies killing the old man but then Jack discovers a broken walking stick near the scene of crime, and the victim's home ransacked…

The new owner of Mallons, Dennis Costello (Sean McGinley) offers to help Finbarr out of his financial predicament and gives him his first ‘taxi’ fare when he gets a call from a distressed couple staying with him. Jack runs across the couple from the UK, Brian Doyle (Matthew McNulty) and Gemma Burge (Simone Lahbib, who’ve broken down by the roadside, as Finbarr comes to their rescue.

At the Adventure Centre when Jack asks Ruairi to empty his rucksack, he finds the head of a cane, broken off, clearly taken from the scene of crime and highly incriminating. Jack is morally obliged to wait until the morning when a probation officer will arrive before taking a statement.

Brian and Gemma come to the station seeking Jack's help; Brian's surname is Doyle and he is looking for his father, who he knows went to school in the area. He wonders whether he and Jack are related – via Jack’s mother, Eithne (Ruth McCabe).

Although sceptical, Jack takes them to see his mother and it comes as a total shock to discover that Eithne did indeed have an older brother Sean, who was sent away to school when she was very young. This is the first Jack has ever heard of an Uncle Sean. And the fact that Sean was sent to a local Industrial School is even more disturbing. Why was he erased from the family history books?

In an apparent bid to prevent family matters from being spread around the community by Costello, Eithne invites her nephew and his girlfriend to stay with her. And Jack promises he’ll do what he can to find out more about Brian’s father.

Back at the Garda Station, looking through old Crime Registers, Jack finds an entry detailing his uncle’s arrest and six year incarceration at the age of 10. For the crime of stealing a bar of chocolate.

The next morning when Jack discovers Costello has kept runaway Ruairi imprisoned in his cellar overnight, having caught him trying to break in, Jack has no choice but to take the boy into custody himself until his probation officer arrives.

But when Jack and his deputy find suspicious marks on young Ruairi's back during an altercation, Finbarr insists Jack gets rid of the boy before they're falsely accused themselves.

Jack learns that following his release from the Industrial School, Sean stayed in the area but Jack’s father, Gerry, scared him off; persistently cautioned and persecuted him over a period of years when he was the sergeant in the area.

On the trail of his uncle Jack visits a hostel where he finds a decrepit figure sitting in a spartan room. Jack tries to reassure the man, who is clearly afraid of the Gardai, that he’s not here to arrest him. He is in fact his nephew, and he’s here because Sean (Stephen Rea) is family…

Chloe O'brien

30-06-2011, 12:12

Looking forward to seeing Single-Handed. The trailers look good.