In the small Irish village of Duneen, everyone knows everyone’s business, and everyone plays their role: the gossip, the attentive bartender, the woman who seeks solace in sex with inappropriate partners, the not-so-secretly alcoholic mother of two. People, at their core, care about each other and there’s a lot of love here. But centres around a small town secret: whatever happened to Tommy Burke?
When the only thing pressing for the local sergeant, PJ Collins, to deal with is exterior paint colour in the main street, as dobbed in by local shopkeeper Mrs O’Driscoll, it comes as a shock to face real police work. Builders turn up human bones while demolishing a home, and Duneen is immediately overrun with talk. Most people are convinced they belong to Tommy Burke, the local rake who disappeared 20 years ago, soon after ditching a woman at the altar.
Two women are named most frequently in the village chat: Evelyn Rodd (Charlene McKenna, Peaky Blinders, Vienna Blood, which is ), who was close to Tommy, and Bríd (Siobhan McSweeney, Derry Girls), his betrayed betrothed, now unhappily married, with two delightful children she’s dedicated to and a live-in mother with a caustic tongue and a drinking problem she seems to have passed on.
Sergeant Collins, played to melancholic perfection by Conleth Hill (Game of Thrones, Dublin Murders and ), oscillates between welcoming this new challenge and crumbling at the thought of it. He’s quickly demoted when Detective Linus Dunne (Clinton Liberty, Normal People, ) shows up, and seems equal parts relieved and put out by this.
Evelyn Ross (Charlene McKenna) and Bríd Riordan (Siobhán McSweeney) in ‘Holding’. Source: Distributor
This is a whodunnit that’s as quiet as the village appears to be when we first scoot in on the heels of Collins’ housekeeper and cook (Brenda Fricker, , ) in the opening credits. The first episode sets up the series as rich and rounded. We meet most of the players here – we have an inkling others will arrive to fill in the gaps in this story.
The saddest characters, those struggling to cope with everyday life in this quiet corner of West Cork, including Bríd and the gentle Sergeant Collins, inspire the desire to see them more settled, more at peace within themselves. They endear us to want the best for them.
Collins is ‘new’ in town, “three years and 10 months”, and a reserved fellow who has moved to Duneen as he’s found it’s “the safest place in the world”. But with this discovery, he’ll have his work cut out for him. As Dunne derails communications with the locals with his insensitive approach, Collins finds himself stepping in, albeit tentatively, to smooth over ruffled feathers. So far, he’s taken comfort in binge-eating carbs, but now, he is presented with the test of his career. It’s a journey we eagerly embark on with him.
Conleth Hill as Sergeant PJ Collins in ‘Holding’. Source: Distributor
Graham Norton, best known for entertaining entertainers on his popular talk show, wrote the novel of the same name that this series is based on. For its TV adaptation, he was happy to hand it over to writing duo Dominic Treadwell-Collins and Karen Cogan. Norton and Treadwell-Collins both have homes in West Cork where Holding was filmed, lending the series its authentic feel. As director Kathy Burke says, “We all know Graham Norton and there’s a warmth there plus a sneakiness and a darkness. So half the job is done when you’ve got all that at the core of it.”
The script is layered and emotive, modern and timeless. The four-part series is tightly drawn and the performances solid as a rock. Siobhán McSweeney shines in her leading role as Bríd, and Hill elevates as Collins, in a role he’s called “probably the best” he’s ever been presented with.
Conleth Hill and Clinton Liberty. Source: ITV
Perhaps Duneen’s tight-knit locals won’t be in a holding pattern for too much longer.
