RTÉ announce episode one start date for drama shot in Donegal

A new six-part series called Obituary which was shot predominantly in Ballyshannon and Bundoran is set to air on RTÉ.

Episode one will be screened this Tuesday, September 26, at 10:15pm. Obituary will be available to download on the RTÉ player from September 27.

The series is set around a small-town fictional newspaper, which was shot between Market Street, Lawne Park and St Anne’s Cemetery in Ballyshannon, Rougey, and Bundoran’s West End earlier this year.

When speaking about why Donegal was chosen for filming Galway-based producer Paddy Hayes said: "We scouted up and down the West coast of Ireland looking for a suitable location and we settled on the Bundoran/Ballyshannon region. We needed a seaside vibe, but also a place that was big enough for a serial killing obituarist to hide - so the combination of the two towns really worked for us."

Obituary is categorised as a dark comedy crime drama. The programme details an obituary writer in a fictional small town by the name of KIlraven with a population of approximately 5,000. The lead role of 24-year-old Elvira is played by Irish actress Siobhán Cullen.

When Elvira is informed by the editor, that she can no longer be kept on the payroll and that she will be paid per obituary she begins to go to extremes in order to not go broke. As her work started to dry up, she devised a plan to murder those that she disliked in her town and cover it up making it look like an accident to make her commission. As a result, she discovered she had an ‘untapped bloodlust’.

Everything is seemingly going well for Elvira until the company hires a new crime correspondent and Elvira begins to develop feelings which hinders her new plans.

Obituary features a well-known Irish cast, Siobhán Cullen plays the protagonist, Elvira Clancy, Michael Smiley stars as Elvira’s troubled father and Emerson Stafford plays the role of the new crime correspondent. The series is directed by John Hayes, an IFTA-nominated director who is based in Dublin. He previously produced “Bancroft” and “Dublin Murders”.

The short series is produced by a Galway-based company Magamedia alongside RTÉ and will be available to view on RTÉ additionally it will be streamed by Hulu in the US. "I am really proud to be showcasing this corner of Donegal on RTE1, but also screening it worldwide on platforms such as Hulu in the USA." Mr Hayes said.