''Clean Break'' is a drama series commissioned by

RTÉ One RTÉ One ( ga, RTÉ a hAon) is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ). It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís � ...

and produced by Octagon Films. The four-part series premiered on 27 September 2015.

Synopsis

Frank is a car dealer running out of fiscal rope. He kidnaps the local bank manager's family, which gets him into serious trouble.

Plot

Frank has money troubles. The bank manager, Desmond Rane, informs him that his house, his car dealership, and a piece of land Frank and his wife had purchased with the notion of building a resort will all imminently be repossessed. Frank's wife currently lives on the Isle of Man and their daughter, Corinna will have to leave Frank and go live with her if the properties are taken away. Working with two local criminals, Frank makes plans to kidnap Rane's daughter and wife. He also hires a local boxer, Danny Dempsey, to assist in the kidnapping by keeping everything on an even keel and making sure nobody gets hurt. Danny's initially reluctant but soon signs on. The job goes ahead, and overall seems to work out well. Then, Rane's daughter, Jenny, recognizes Danny. The other kidnappers hear her say his name. So, they try to kill Danny, who gets shot but manages to escape and begins to seek hiding places around the town. The kidnappers take the money and set the family free. However, a short time later everyone suspects that Danny has committed the crime. The kidnappers tell Frank that he only gets his part of the money when he brings Danny to them. Frank realizes that they might kill Danny. He also finds out that the boxer is his daughter's boyfriend. Corrina is angry that her father asked Danny to take part in the crime. She finds out where he is hiding but refuses to share this information with her father. The kidnappers however know about Corrina's and Danny's relationship and they want to use her to get to him. In the end it turns out that the kidnapping wasn't Frank's idea, but Desmond Rane's. Frank suspects this, having seen Desmond's name in the kidnapper's contact book during a raid of the kidnapper's hideout, but he's not 100% certain. However, the bank manager kills Noel, the kidnapper who not only is the only person who knows of Rane's involvement, but also is the only one who knows where two bags of the ransom money are buried. Rane pretends to have acted in self-defence. The police find evidence that suggests Frank was the brains behind the abduction. Frank gets arrested. Danny leaves town on a trawler, and Corrina finally goes to live with her mother. Next we see of Desmond Rane, he's calling a live

hurling Hurling ( ga, iománaíocht, ') is an outdoor team game of ancient Gaelic Irish origin, played by men. One of Ireland's native Gaelic games, it shares a number of features with Gaelic football, such as the field and goals, the number of p ...

game. He's in possession of one bag of the ransom money. He has got away with his crime. Only his daughter knows what has really happened, but he's convinced, for now, that she won't tell anyone. He uses the money to buy a valuable and unique stamp. He gazes at his prize stamps and begins singing.

Overview

The series was written by

Billy Roche Billy Roche (born 11 January 1949) is an Irish playwright and actor. He was born and still lives in Wexford and most of his writings are based there. Originally a singer with The Roach Band, he turned to writing in the 1980s. He has written a n ...

and directed by

Gillies MacKinnon Gillies MacKinnon (born 8 January 1948, Glasgow) is a Scottish film director, writer and painter. He attended the Glasgow School of Art where he studied mural painting. Following this he became an art teacher and cartoonist, and about this time ...

and

Damien O'Donnell Damien O'Donnell (born 1967 in Dublin) is an Irish film director and writer. He has directed '' East is East'' (1999), '' Heartlands'' (2002) and '' Inside I'm Dancing'' (2004), amongst others. He is from Coolock, Dublin. He has also directed ...

. The story plays in the town

Wexford Wexford () is the county town of County Wexford, Ireland. Wexford lies on the south side of Wexford Harbour, the estuary of the River Slaney near the southeastern corner of the island of Ireland. The town is linked to Dublin by the M11/N11 N ...

. The series stars

Aidan McArdle Aidan McArdle (born 1970) is an Irish actor. Early life McArdle was born in Dublin. He studied for an Arts degree at University College Dublin before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England. Career First r ...

Damien Molony Damien Molony (born 21 February 1984) is an Irish actor. He is best known for his television roles as Hal Yorke in BBC Three's '' Being Human'', DC Albert Flight in the BBC's ''Ripper Street'', DS Jack Weston in Channel 5's '' Suspects'', Jon ...

and

Adam Fergus Adam Fergus is an Irish film, television and stage actor. Early life Born in Drogheda, County Louth and raised in the nearby village of Laytown, he is the son of a nurse and a recruitment specialist. He attended Clongowes College before going ...

began writing the series in 2010. The production of the series started in November 2014.

Cast

as Desmond Rane *

as Danny Dempsey *

as Frank Mallon *

Simone Kirby Simone Kirby (born 28 October 1976) is an Irish people, Irish actress. She is probably best known for playing Oonagh in the Ken Loach film ''Jimmy's Hall''. Other credits include Irene O'Donnell in ''Peaky Blinders (TV series), Peaky Blinders'' ...

as Annette Rane *

Amybeth McNulty Amybeth McNulty (born 7 November 2001) is an Irish actress. She is known for her starring role as Anne Shirley in the CBC/Netflix drama series ''Anne with an E'' (2017–2019), based on the 1908 novel ''Anne of Green Gables'' by Lucy Maud Mont ...

as Jenny Rane *

Kelly Thornton Kelly Thornton (born 13 April 1997) is an Irish actress who began her career as a child actress. She is best known for her roles as Corrina Mallon in the 2015 RTÉ drama '' Clean Break'' and Emma in the film '' Life's a Breeze'' (2013), which ...

as Corrina Mallon *

Ned Dennehy Ned Dennehy (born 8 December 1965) is an Irish actor who has appeared in multiple films and television programmes. He is best known for his role as Mider in ''The Mystic Knights of Tir Na Nog''. He also appeared in ''Blitz'', ''Harry Potter and t ...

as Noel Blake *

Sean McGinley Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

as Ben *

Marie Mullen Marie Mullen (born 1953) is an Irish actress. She is known for co-founding the Druid Theatre Company, located in Galway, Ireland. She is also known for her performance in the 1998 production of ''The Beauty Queen of Leenane'', for which she rec ...

as Mrs. Rane *

Phelim Drew Phelim Drew (born 1969) is an Irish actor. Drew is the son of the Irish folk singer Ronnie Drew, one of the founders of The Dubliners. He graduated at Gaiety School of Acting The Gaiety School of Acting (GSA) is a drama school located on E ...

as Detective Tom Burke *

Jimmy Smallhorne Jimmy Smallhorne is an Irish filmmaker who wrote, directed and acted in his debut feature film ''2by4''. The drama about a closeted gay construction worker in New York City was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival ...

as Sammy

Nominations

Irish Film & Television Award * 2016: Best Drama Script (

) Writers Guild of Ireland: ZeBBie Awards * 2016: Best Television Script (

, for episode four)

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=4183980, title=Clean Break
Watch tantalising teaser for new RTE drama Clean Break from the makers of Love/Hate

RTÉ Pack A Punch With New Drama ‘Clean Break’

* [http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/television/tv-reviews/clean-break-puts-plenty-of-clear-water-between-it-and-stuart-carolans-dublin-gangland-saga-lovehate-31563800.html Clean Break 'puts plenty of clear water between it and Stuart Carolan’s Dublin gangland saga Love/Hate']
“It’s exciting and scary”: Meet one of the stars of new RTÉ drama Clean Break
2010s Irish television series RTÉ original programming English-language television shows Irish crime television series