THE DRY: FIRST LOOK AT NEW BRITBOX COMEDY DRAMA

BritBox UK released two images from original comedy-drama series The Dry, produced by Element Pictures, in association with Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland and ITV Studios, in partnership with RTÉ.

The image 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.

Award-winning playwright and screenwriter Nancy Harris (Our New Girl, Dates) and acclaimed director Paddy Breathnach (Viva, Rosie) are the team behind The Dry. Harris has created and written the 8 x 30 min scripts, with Breathnach directing all episodes in the Dublin set series, which debuts exclusively on BritBox UK in May.

On the origins of the series, writer Nancy 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.’

The Dry also stars recent Oscar nominee Ciarán Hinds (Belfast, The Terror), 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. Element Pictures has offices in Dublin, London, and Belfast. The company recently brought the record-breaking adaptation of Sally Rooney’s Normal People to the screen, and was behind Lenny Abrahamson’s internationally acclaimed films Room and The Little Stranger; as well as all of Yorgos Lanthimos’ English language films, The Favourite, The Lobster and The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, and upcoming production Poor Things.