21/05/2021 - The four-part show, based on Graham Norton’s debut novel of the same name and directed by Kathy Burke, is set to enter production this summer

l-r: Graham Norton, Kathy Burke and Conleth Hill

ITV Studios has announced the commissioning of a new four-part drama series, entitled Holding and based on Graham Norton’s “funny and tenderly perceptive debut novel” of the same name. Set in the insular fictional village of Duneen, West Cork, on the edge of Ireland, a place with its own climate and rhythms, the show will be directed by award winning English actress, helmer and producer Kathy Burke. Her most recent directorial effort was the 2018 comedy Oscar Wilde Season: Lady Windermere’s Fan.

Holding, penned by Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Karen Cogan, will see Olivier award winning actor Conleth Hill (the TV series Game of Thrones and Dublin Murders) in the leading role of local police officer Sergeant PJ Collins, a gentle mountain of a man, who hides from people and fills his days with comfort food and half-hearted police work. When the body of long-lost local legend Tommy Burke is discovered, PJ is called to solve a serious crime for the first time in his career. PJ finally has to connect with the village he has tried hard to avoid. A story of love, secrets and loss, Holding is described as “a darkly comic tale which shrewdly observes the lives of its characters, each with frailties, complexities and pasts they’d rather keep hidden” and “a murder mystery laced with dark comedy and centred around the minutiae of rural Irish life.”

Commenting on her new project, Burke explained: “2021 is my 40th year working in the industry and I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than directing Holding. It’s a beautiful piece of writing with a great story and fantastic, full bodied characters. All this with glorious West Cork as its setting proved irresistible.” Meanwhile, lead actor Conleth Hill added: “I’m looking forward to getting to work with Kathy, the cast and crew, Dominic and everyone at Happy Prince on bringing Graham’s brilliant characters and story to the screen.” Finally, ITV’s Head of Drama Polly Hill said: “Graham’s wonderful book has been brilliantly brought to life by Dom and Karen. Conleth Hill is the perfect PJ, in what is a funny and well observed look at life in a small rural Irish community. It’s testament to the strength of those scripts that Kathy Burke is directing and it will be exciting to see her bring this adaptation to screen.”

Holding is being produced by UK’s Happy Prince, part of ITV Studios, and Martina Niland for Ireland’s Port Pictures, in association with Screen Ireland. The series is set to enter production later this summer. It will be distributed internationally by ITV Studios.