Smother

The Stranger actress Dervla Kirwan has landed the lead role in Smother, the noir thriller produced by BBC Studios for Irish broadcaster RTÉ.

Kirwan, who features as the recurring character Corrine Price in Netflix’s The Stranger, will play family matriarch Val Ahern in Smother, which is penned by The Spanish Princess and Mr Selfridge writer Kate O’Riordan.

Ahern’s partner is found dead at the foot of a cliff the morning after a family party and as she unravels the circumstances that led to his demise, she discovers how his controlling, manipulative behavior impacted his children and siblings.

Other cast includes Niamh Walsh (Good Omens), Seána Kerslake (Can’t Cope, Won’t Cope) and Gemma-Leah Devereux (Judy), who play Ahern’s daughters Jenny, Grace and Anna.

Stuart Graham (The Cure), Thomas Levin (Borgen), Hilary Rose (The Young Offenders) and Justine Mitchell (Cheat) also feature in the six-part series, which is co-produced by Irish producer Treasure Entertainment.

Kirwan said: “It’s been a long time since anything this well written about an Irish family has come my way. In Smother Kate O’Riordan has created a riveting thriller that will wake the world up to contemporary Ireland.”

O’Riordan serves as the lead writer and executive producer, with supporting writers including Tom Farrelly, Daniel Cullen and Ursula Rani Sarma. Tom Sherry and Michael Parke are also executive producing for BBC Studios. Treasure’s Rob Walpole and Rebecca O’Flanagan are the producers.

Screen Ireland and the Western Region Audio-Visual Producers Fund are providing finance for Smother, which will be shot entirely in the west of Ireland. BBC Studios is distributing the series internationally.