Anglo-Irish co-production sees John Banville novels air on UK television

Quirke is a new three-part series for BBC One adapted by screenwriters Andrew Davies and Conor McPherson and starring Gabriel Byrne in the title role based on the books by Benjamin Black – pseudonym of award-winning Irish writer John Banville.

John Banville says, “I am very excited by the prospect of seeing my character Quirke incarnated by Gabriel Byrne, a perfect choice for the part.  I know both Quirke and Benjamin Black will be wonderfully served by Andrew Davies and Conor McPherson, two masters of their craft.”

Quirke -we never get to know his Christian name- is the chief pathologist in the Dublin city morgue – a charismatic loner whose job takes him into unexpected places as he uncovers the secrets of sudden death in 1950s Dublin. It’s a rich and smouldering world along whose smoky streets and damp alleys Quirke goes from bars that glimmer with peat fires and whiskey to elegant Dublin houses brimming with sexual tension. It’s a time full of mystery, secrets and intrigue.

Each 90-minute episode will see him investigate the death of one of the unfortunate souls who end up on his mortuary slab. But as Quirke turns accidental detective he discovers his investigations are often more closely linked to his own life than he could ever have imagined. Little by little he is forced to confront the sins of his past as he peels back the layers of his own tangled family history.

The three feature-length episodes each take their stories from different books in the series, ‘Christine Falls’ and ‘The Silver Swan’ by Andrew Davies and ‘Elegy for April’ by Conor McPherson. Commissioned by Danny Cohen, Controller BBC One and Ben Stephenson, Controller Drama Commissioning.

John McColgan, Founding Director, Tyrone Productions, adds, “As a friend and colleague of Gabriel Byrne over the years I am thrilled to see him bringing the brilliant, mercurial character of Quirke as created by John Banville to screens worldwide. BBC Drama has brought an incredible pool of writing talent to this project and I’m looking forward to seeing their scripts going into production.”

The series is a co-production between BBC Drama Production and Dublin-based companies Element Pictures and Tyrone Productions. Filming begins in Dublin later this year.