EXCLUSIVE: How about this for a sunshine wedding gone wrong?
Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (Love/Hate, Avengers: Infinity War, Endgame), Justine Mitchell (Derry Girls, Smother), Jason O’Mara (Agents of SHIELD, The Man In The High Castle) and India Mullen (Normal People, Say Nothing) are among the cast of The Sacred Vows, a dark and quirky drama series for Ireland’s RTÉ.
It comes from screenwriter John Butler, who recently wrote and directed on Season 3 of Stephen Merchant’s BBC and Prime Video comedy-drama The Outlaws.
Made in association with Banijay Rights, which has international sales rights, and Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland, the show comes from Rob Walpole and Rebecca O’Flanagan from Irish independent production company Treasure Entertainment, whose credits include Butler’s feature films Papi Chulo, Handsome Devil and The Stag IFTA-winning TV sketch show Your Bad Self, Paddy Breathnach’s Oscar-shortlisted Viva and most recently John Carney’s Flora and Son and his upcoming Power Ballad film.
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The six-part series centers around an Irish wedding in Spain, where a week of day-drinking and chaotic nights release secret fears and jealousy and desire bubbles to the surface.
Per the logline, These Sacred Vows “opens the morning after the wedding, when the body of a priest is found floating face-down in the swimming pool of the young guests’ villa.” Over the course of the series, the action jumps back in time to revisit key events of a wild previous week, each from the perspective of a different character.
Vaughan-Lawlor plays Fr. Vincent, Mitchell plays mother-of-the-bride Sandra and O’Mara father-of-the-bride Jerry. The cast also includes Adam John Richardson (Vikings: Valhalla, The Dry), Tom Hanson (Brassic, The Outlaws), Jade Auguste (His Dark Materials, Trauma), Aaron Heffernan (Brassic, Femme) and Aoife Hinds (Normal People, Dune Prophecy). Also in the case are Irish comedians Shane Daniel Byrne and Catherine Bohart.
Production on location in Tenerife today ahead of a 2026 release date in Ireland. Banijay will be shopping rights ahead of launch.
Executive producers for RTÉ Acting Head of Drama David Crean and Director of Acquisitions and Co-Productions Dermot Horan; Walpole and O’Flanagan for Treasure; Banijay Rights CEO Cathy Payne and EVP Content & Acquisitions Simon Cox for Banijay Rights; and Kate McColgan for Fís Éireann/Screen Ireland.
Crean said: “John Butler’s amazing drama leaps off the page with life and fun and naughtiness. These Sacred Vows showcases the very best of Irish talent to Irish and international audiences.”
“I love the idea of six films of the same style, all set in the same place on successive days, with each of those characters experiencing the madness of an Irish wedding very differently,” said Butler. “Irish weddings are unique – and uniquely mad – and can be related to by everyone because, as with vermin, you’re never too far away from the looming spectre of ‘Someone’s Big Day.’”
O’Flanagan and Walpole called Butler’s series “bitingly funny yet moving,” adding, “John is a master at combining the sublime with the ridiculous and never more so than in these beautifully crafted scripts.
“RTE have been enthusiastic supporters of this project from the very first verbal pitch; Screen Ireland have been long time supporters of our work with John; and to have Banijay on board across global distribution rounds out the finance beautifully. In front of the camera we have assembled our dream team of established talent and exciting fresh faces. We are so excited for this one.”
Banijay’s Cox said the series has a “stand-out script, acting line-up and creative team” and “to be the latest in a long line of hit TV dramas to hail from Ireland.” He added that it has the potential to be a “returnable drama,” and that Banijay Rights will be taking it to market “later this year.”
Kate McColgan, Head of Television for Fís Éireann/ Screen Ireland, added the project was a “very clever, funny and compelling television series that will be destination viewing, not just for Irish audiences, but for those who love great TV around the world.
The post India Mullen, Justine Mitchell, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor and Jason O’Mara To Take ‘These Sacred Vows’ For RTE appeared first on Deadline.
