Derek Thompson to exit CASUALTY

Casualty

CASUALTY’s longest-serving cast member Derek Thompson will leave the soap after almost four decades playing Charlie Fairhead, the BBC has announced. The 75-year-old said “the time has come for me to hang up Charlie’s scrubs after the most wonderful 37 years” starring in nearly 900 episodes of the much-loved TV programme. The BBC said Thompson will be filming until autumn, with his final scenes airing next year in the “culmination of a gripping exit storyline which will see the character front and centre of the action”.

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Hinds in THE RINGS OF POWER

Ciaran Hinds

BELFAST star Ciaran Hinds has been cast in a recurring role in THE RINGS OF POWER. Hinds is a GAME OF THRONES alum joining the fold, having been nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2022 for his performance in BELFAST alongside OUTLANDER‘S Caitriona Balfe, Jamie Dornan, and Judi Dench.

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NTA 2023 Honours List

Northern Ireland

A number of big names in the Northern Irish film and TV industry have been recognised for this year’s National Television Awards. The NTAs are the most prominent ceremony for the industry in which the results are voted on by the general public, and are often branded as ‘television’s biggest night of the year’. This year’s ceremony will be hosted by presenter Joel Dommett and will take place at the O2 in London on Tuesday, September 5 2023.

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QUEEN CHARLOTTE’S Irish producer

Netflix

How does one woman from Dublin go from watching the Sopranos on the couch with her dad as a child to producing QUEEN CHARLOTTE, one of the biggest titles to come out of Netflix so far this year? Well according to Anna O’Malley, it takes a lot of hard work and fighting through those moments when it feels like things have ground to a halt. 

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Irish Television

Celebrating Cillian Murphy

Cillian Murphy

On his 47th birthday, we’re honouring the top 10 Cillian Murphy on-screen triumphs. Born and raised in Cork, Murphy wasn’t always on track to become an actor. Up until his early 20s, he was regularly performing as the guitarist in several bands, with every intention of making it as a full-time musician. His decision to pursue acting, which would come not long after, has gifted audiences around the world with one of the most prolific, versatile and vibrant actors of the 21st century.

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Remembering Ray Stevenson

Ray Stevenson

Ray Stevenson, the Northern Irish actor who played the villainous British governor in RRR, Volstagg in the THOR films and a main antagonist in the upcoming STAR WARS series Ahsoka, has died aged 58. Representatives for Stevenson said he had died on Sunday, four days before his birthday. The Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported he had been hospitalised with a sudden illness on the island of Ischia, while in production on the film CASSINO in Ischia.

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ONCE UPON A TIME IN N.I preview

The Troubles

ONCE UPON A TIME IN NORTHERN IRELAND is a new five-part documentary about the Troubles that combines personal accounts with archive footage to tell the stories of people and communities dealing with violence and conflict on a daily basis. Series director James Bluemel said his experience directing the Bafta and Emmy award-winning ONCE UPON A TIME IN IRAQ inspired him to take on the task of telling the story of a conflict closer to home. Now streaming on BBC iPlayer.

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CLEAN SWEEP on RTE

Charlene McKenna

PEAKY BLINDERS star Charlene McKenna plays a woman with a dark past in gripping new Irish drama CLEAN SWEEP. There’s some good writing in this twisty drama which follows the interconnecting stories of the large cast, including teen son Derek (Rhys Mannion) who is developing a fondness for reefer, daughter Caitlin (Katelyn Rose Downey) on the edge of adolescence, and precocious and sickly Niall (Aidan McCann), who is wiser than his tender years.

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Irish Television

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