Stuart Carolan, the creative force behind the gritty smash hit Love/Hate, has returned to television with a brand-new RTÉ Sunday night drama titled Tall Tales and Murder. Speaking ahead of the series premiere, Carolan addressed recent remarks from Oscar-nominated filmmaker Jim Sheridan that Ireland’s national broadcaster needs to “get a bit dangerous” with its programming, shedding light on the harsh economic realities of getting original scripts green-lit in today’s risk-averse television landscape.
The Bottom Line
- The Project: Stuart Carolan’s Tall Tales and Murder is an RTÉ and BBC NI co-produced Sunday night drama mixing gangland crime with magical realism.
- The Industry Reality: Carolan argues that systemic risk aversion spans the broader entertainment industry rather than isolating RTÉ alone, noting that out of every ten scripts he writes, nine ultimately stall.
- The Future of Love/Hate: Despite fan demand, Carolan has ruled out bringing back his defining 2014 hit, citing personal exhaustion and the risk of outstaying its welcome.
Navigating the Risk-Averse Television Landscape
When veteran filmmaker Jim Sheridan recently challenged the national broadcaster to shake off convention and “get a bit dangerous”—pointing back to the raw, unfiltered success of Love/Hate which concluded its run in 2014—it struck a chord across the Irish cultural sector. Sheridan also voiced concerns that partnering with international entities like the BBC risks diluting the distinct voice of Irish programming.
Here is the kicker: Carolan believes the hurdle isn’t exclusive to RTÉ’s editorial board. Instead, it stems from a wider, systemic financial caution gripping the entire global media ecosystem. When financiers are asked to back a vision, commercial viability and audience connection dictate the terms. “You’re looking for somebody to put in money. They want to get ratings. They want to connect,” Carolan notes, adding that writers must often deploy unconventional concepts as a Trojan horse to smuggle bold ideas past studio gatekeepers.
That exact strategy shaped his latest venture. Developed over several months following a blind creative introduction arranged by British comedian and writer Chris Addison three years ago, Tall Tales and Murder originated from a book series by Caimh McDonnell. Alongside co-writer Toby Welch, the team crafted a genre-bending narrative that examines modern Irish realities through an absurd, comedic lens.
Inside Tall Tales and Murder
Dropping this weekend on Irish television screens, Tall Tales and Murder steers clear of heavy, worthy television tropes. The plot follows Paul, played by Casey Walsh, who has just finished a prison stint and resolves to stay on the straight and narrow. He lands a job at a nursing home alongside Bridget, portrayed by Ella Lily Hyland. Both characters grapple with addiction and financial desperation before seizing an unexpected window to break free.
They are joined on their chaotic odyssey by Aidan Gillen’s character, known simply as ‘Anonymous’. According to Carolan, the production team deliberately adopted a freewheeling attitude during development, adopting a mantra of what could be most fun. “We just said, fuck it, what could we do that would be fun?” Carolan explains, admitting he half-expected broadcasters to reject certain elements that ultimately sailed through approval without a single pushback.
| Project | Key Creators / Cast | Broadcasters / Partners | Core Premise |
|---|---|---|---|
| Love/Hate (2010–2014) | Stuart Carolan, various | RTÉ | Gritty Dublin gangland crime drama following organized crime syndicates. |
| Tall Tales and Murder (2026) | Stuart Carolan, Chris Addison, Toby Welch, Ella Lily Hyland, Aidan Gillen, Casey Walsh | RTÉ, BBC Northern Ireland | A genre-bending dark comedy mixing gangland crime and magical realism. |
Chris Addison, whose extensive comedy background includes starring in the critically acclaimed UK political satire The Thick of It, points out how drastically the television marketplace has shifted over the decade. Reflecting on the 2019 streaming gold rush—a period when digital platforms aggressively outbid one another to secure dominant subscriber bases—Addison notes that subsequent shocks changed the game completely. The combined impact of the COVID-19 pandemic alongside major writers’ and actors’ strikes brought the frantic race to a screeching halt.
Yet, despite an industry-wide slowdown resulting in fewer green-lights overall, Addison praises the collaborative spirit behind his current Irish venture. “God bless RTÉ and BBC Northern Ireland. They trusted us and they let us get on with it,” he observes.
The Heavy Toll of Cultural Impact
While Carolan’s resume spans high-profile international projects like The Alienist and writing credits on Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen, domestic audiences remain inextricably linked to his tenure on Love/Hate. But the creator refuses to let commercial praise cloud his judgment, invoking a sharp adage from his former Today FM colleague Eamon Dunphy: “The only thing worse than a bad review is a great review.”
Carolan points out that while waves of public adoration come and go, creative longevity requires emotional detachment from both adulation and criticism. Furthermore, the intense personal toll of steering a cultural phenomenon like Love/Hate for five intense seasons left him utterly exhausted by the time the series wrapped in 2014. Consequently, fans hoping for a resurrection should temper their expectations; Carolan has firmly resisted extending the franchise beyond its natural lifespan to avoid becoming one of those shows that outstays its welcome.
Even so, the gritty underbelly of Irish crime stories retains its magnetic pull on his imagination, leaving the door open for future explorations of the genre. With Tall Tales and Murder already securing an early green-light for a second season, Carolan has proven that taking calculated creative risks can still find a welcoming home on public service broadcasting.
How do you view the current state of television drama? Does modern television lean too heavily on safe, risk-averse formulas, or are collaborations between regional broadcasters like RTÉ and the BBC paving the way for a golden age of original storytelling? Jump into the comments below and let’s talk culture.
