Shiv Sheridan (Roisin Gallagher) has only been sober for six months when she travels to Dublin for her grandmother’s funeral. Her career as an artist in London is stagnating, she lost her job in a gallery, and her flat share can do without her. 35 years old, broke, no prospects – but at least dry, that’s the, well, sobering balance sheet. And in this less than triumphant state, she meets her family. This is how the series “The Dry – Sekt oder Selters” begins, a co-production of the Irish public broadcaster RTÉ One with the British ITV Studios.
The dear relatives
And this Sheridan family in their unappealing prefab home on the outskirts of Dublin isn’t without it. The sister Caroline (Siobhán Cullen) is a successful doctor with a supposed picture book friend who is training for a triathlon, but things are crumbling under the facade. Brother Ant (Adam John Richardson) lives in the garden house and indulges in his party life with a never-ending supply of drugs and lovers. Father Tom (Ciarán Hinds) is having an affair, and mother Bernie (Pom Boyd) is always the first to judge others. Although, that’s not entirely true: the pious aunt Ag is actually even more unbearable. The only one who always did everything right is brother Carl, and he’s dead.
Trailers
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The Dry – sparkling wine or seltzer
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Video: ARD media library, image: ARD Degeto/Element Pictures (The
This constellation is good for one thing in particular: driving each other insane in a targeted manner and developing unhealthy compensation mechanisms in the process. And nothing, really nothing gets any better when the wake turns up Jack, Shiv’s ex, with whom she had a pretty toxic on-off relationship for many years. Shiv used to be funnier, he finds, having had some success with mediocre decorative arts. After all, Shiv is allowed to work in his pregnant girlfriend’s gallery from now on. This brings some money, but also does not advance the self-discovery process for the purpose of overcoming addiction. It’s up to the tough Karen (Janet Moran), a bridal saleswoman and Shiv’s sponsor in North Dublin’s most miserable AA group. There aren’t even any cookies there.
Sensitive and grotesque
In fact, one likes to follow Shiv and the Sheridans through the eight episodes so far. That’s first and foremost due to Roisin Gallagher, who makes you wonder where on earth she’s been hiding since it’s her first starring role. This Shiv credibly stumbles, makes touchingly futile attempts to gather her family for honest group talks that fail spectacularly, and still wants far too much to please the far too wrong people. The fact that the only thing she has to show, namely her sobriety, is not exactly appreciated by the family doesn’t help either. Written by Nancy Harris, an award-winning Irish playwright who, like her main character, moved to London as a young adult, the screenplay skillfully balances empathy and the grotesque.
If you watch the series in the original, you get a nice arsenal of Irish swear words, which are then translated as “damn” in German, but that’s not a new phenomenon. ITV and RTÉ One have already commissioned the next season from the production company, so we can continue to watch Shiv and the Sheridans as they come to terms with their tragic comedy.
The Dry – Sekt oder Selters starts today on ONE, from June 24th in the ARD media library.
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