''Proof'' is an Irish television series, co-produced by Subotica for broadcast on

RTÉ (RTÉ) (; Irish for "Radio & Television of Ireland") is the national broadcaster of Ireland headquartered in Dublin. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, whil ...

; it was first broadcast on 5 January 2004. Starring

Finbar Lynch Finbar Lynch (born 28 August 1959) is an Irish actor. Early life Lynch was born in Dublin, and at the age of 11, moved with his family to the village of Inverin, County Galway where his father ran a clothing factory under a scheme to encourage ...

and

Orla Brady Orla Brady (born 28 March 1961) is an Irish theatre, television, and film actress born in Dublin. She has been nominated for several awards from the Irish Film & Television Academy for her work in televised programs, as well as starring in the ...

as investigative journalists Terry Corcoran and Maureen Boland, ''Proof'' lasted for two series, with a second series, subtitled ''Prescription for Murder'', airing in April 2005. The series was a co-production with TV2 of

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, and as such, both series were broadcast in the region in 2006. Likewise, both series aired on PBS in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and were released on DVD in January and April 2007. In 2009, both series were broadcast by Scottish broadcaster STV. The first series was directed by Ciaran Donnelly and the second by

Thaddeus O'Sullivan Thaddeus O'Sullivan (born 2 May 1947) is an Irish director, cinematographer, and screenwriter. Early career In the early eighties O'Sullivan was among a group of filmmakers who co-founded 'Spectre' a collective that included John Ellis (media a ...

. Tristan Lynch and Mary Callery acted as executive producers. Both series were filmed on location in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

. The series was a hit with critics and audiences alike, and became a ratings success for RTÉ, becoming the channel's most watched drama in 2004, beating off soap opera ''

Fair City ''Fair City'' is an Irish television soap opera which has been broadcast on RTÉ One since 1989. Produced by the public service broadcaster Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), it first aired on Monday, 18 September 1989. It has won several awa ...

''. Orla Brady also received an

Irish Film and Television Award The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is an all-Ireland organisation focused on film and television. It has about 1000 members, and is based in Dublin, with branches in London and Los Angeles. The IFTA now holds separate ceremonies for the ...

nomination for Best Actress in a TV serial in 2004, and the first series was also up for nomination for best TV serial.

Production

''Proof'' was created by Tony Philpott, who also wrote the first two episodes of the first series. ''Proof'' notably made headlines when it was discovered that Philpott's original screenplay had been "dumbed down" by network executives and some of the more politically critical elements had been removed. The screenplay was read by a ''

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, w ...

'' TV critic, who noted the excisions and wrote about them in an article separate to his TV column. The column, printed on 1 February 2004, wrote: "It could almost be the plot of a whodunit. A television station commissions a hard-hitting drama set against the sleazy backdrop of Irish political corruption. The designated writer delivers the goods with a script that station bigwigs hail as one of the grittiest and most convincing they’ve ever read. Then, somewhere between the green-lighting of the project and the first day of principal photography, the script is eviscerated. It's astringent depiction of crooked politics, Irish-style, is watered down to bland, generic mush."

Cast

as Terry Corcoran *

as Maureen Boland * Charlotte Bradley as Detective Dolores Quirke * Sidse Babett Knudsen as Nina Kurpreka (Series 1) * Stuart Graham as Andrew O'Hara (Series 1) * Bryan Murray as Miles Carrick (Series 1) *

Cathy Belton Cathy Belton is an Irish actress who has appeared in a wide range of stage, film, radio and television productions. Born in the west of Ireland, she is a graduate of Trinity College, Dublin. Her stage work includes many productions in the Abbey ...

as Kay Corcoran (Series 1) * Jim Norton as Ronan Corcoran (Series 1) *

Emma Bolger Emma Bolger (born 5 January 1996 in Dublin) is an Irish actress who first gained notability as a child actress in the role of Ariel in the Jim Sheridan film '' In America''. Career At the age of seven, in 2002, Bolger became known for her rol ...

as Orla Boland (Series 1) * Declan Conlan as Detective Larry Mitchell (Series 1) * Kate O'Toole as Olivia Bernstein (Series 2) * Dearbhla Molloy as Evelyn Boland (Series 2) * Saoirse Ronan as Orla Boland (Series 2) * Stanley Townsend as Patrick Mooney (Series 2) *

Conor Mullen Conor Mullen (born 1966) is an Irish actor who played Frank in Smother, Stuart McElroy in ''Holby City'' and Aidan Doherty in the 2007 BBC1 drama series ''Rough Diamond''. He was born in Dublin. Both his parents were pharmacists, and he is one ...

as J.P. O'Farrell (Series 2)

Episodes

Series 1 (2004)

Series 2: ''Prescription for Murder'' (2005)

References

External links

{{RTÉ Dramas and Soap Operas 2004 Irish television series debuts 2005 Irish television series endings

Proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a c ...

RTÉ original programming