The Young Offenders (TV series)

The series follows the adventurous and criminalized lives of Cork-based teenagers Conor MacSweeney (Alex Murphy) and Jock O'Keefe (Chris Walley). Although criminals, the boys both have deep feelings about certain views, which Conor says at the end of each episode, giving viewers a message about day-to-day life and how it can make people happier.

The first series reviews the Conor and Jock's feud with their school principal, Barry Walsh (P. J. Gallagher), and their relationships with his daughters, Linda (Demi Isaac Oviawe) and Siobhan (Jennifer Barry), respectively. It also sees Conor try to overcome his fear of his first kiss with Linda, or as Jock calls "shifting", as well as seeing Conor's mother Mairéad (Hilary Rose) begin a relationship with Jock and Connor's enemy, Sergeant Tony Healy (Dominic MacHale), the local police officer. Jock's abusive home life with his alcoholic father (Michael Sands) is addressed further, which results in him moving in with the MacSweeney's.

In the second series, Siobhan is heavily pregnant with Jock and Conor attempting to make as many ways to earn money as possible. Conor and Linda are preparing to go to the next stage of their relationship by having sex. However, their plans are affected when Jock's old best friend Gavin, now Conor's arch-enemy, dares Linda to kiss him. Mairéad and Siobhan's mother Orla (Orla Fitzgerald) attempt to build up a friendship between themselves and the two families for the sake of the upcoming arrival. Principal Walsh tries to show that Jock is not a worthy father by giving him challenges.

The film, The Young Offenders, was released in 2016, which was generally well-reviewed, and won an Irish Film & Television Award. With the popularity of the film, on 9 May 2017, it was confirmed that a six-episode television programme, based on the film with the same name, had been ordered by RTÉ, to be broadcast in 2018.[7] Creator, Peter Foott commented, "It's incredibly exciting to be able to work with the BBC and with RTÉ to bring these characters back to the screen, they have been so supportive of the project and will be a wonderful home for it. The public response to the film, and specifically the characters themselves, was just so overwhelming that we really felt there were a lot more stories to tell".[7] Much of the first series was filmed at various locations in Cork.[8] This series began broadcasting on 1 February 2018, through the online television service BBC Three, and was later broadcast on RTÉ2 in Ireland on 8 February 2018.[9][10] With a popular and high reception, the series was recommissioned for a second series, the projected release date was not disclosed for over a year.[3]

Peaky Blinders star Cillian Murphy was suggested by show producers to Peter Foott as an actor to try and sign on for the second series, and Murphy later told the media that he would be willing to appear in the show if "he was given a good part".[11] Filming for an unannounced Christmas special began in September 2018.[12] In October 2018, it was confirmed that former Love/Hate actor Robert Sheehan had joined the cast in an undisclosed role, after the news was confirmed by Walley during an interview; he portrayed himself in the Christmas special.[5] On 24 November 2018, it was confirmed that a one-off Christmas episode would be broadcast, featuring Sheehan, with the official news that he would only be making a guest appearance in that singular episode.[13] The episode became available for streaming via BBC iPlayer from 14 December onwards, whereas television screen broadcasting occurred on Christmas day.[14] In October 2019, with lack of news over past months except cast member Shane Casey posting the front cover of an episode script on his Instagram account, it was reported that the second series would begin broadcasting in November.[15] Days later, the BBC confirmed that the second series would commence on 3 November.[16] It was later confirmed that all six episodes would be available to be streamed through the BBC iPlayer service from the second series' premiere date.[4] The second series was well-acclaimed by critics, which resulted in the BBC recommissioning the programme for a third series, to be broadcast in 2020, shortly after the second series concluded.[6]

Aoife Kelly of the Irish Independent released a positive review of the programme after the broadcast of the first episode, commenting, "It takes the best of the movie and builds on it".[17] Bruce Dessau stated that the programme was a brilliant show to watch, and that he believed that it had a similar reputation to Channel 4 series Derry Girls, also set in the island of Ireland, with other journalists calling for a crossover to be produced of the two programmes for the future.[18] Some articles reported the show as "heart-warming", with the third episode of the first series, receiving generally favourable reviews from fans and critics alike.[19]

• The Young Offenders on IMDb