Irish 'Small Town Big Story' to Star Paddy Considine & Christina Hendricks

Sky Studios has commissioned a new comedy-drama from Chris O’Dowd (State of the Union) called Small Town, Big Story. The Irish-set series is currently in production from Playground and FilmNation Entertainment and brings House of the Dragon’s Paddy Considine back to the small screen after his one-season wonder on the HBO hit. He’ll be paired up against American actress Christina Hendricks, who has been lately finding success on British TV and costume dramas. (The Mad Men star will next be part of Apple TV+’s highly anticipated remake of The Buccaneers.) in a tale of Hollywood meeting small-town Ireland.

With the SAG-AFTRA strike still on, Sky stressed this is a U.K. Equity production, and everyone aboard the production is signed as such; therefore, no rules are currently being broken. Like several of the British shows that have been able to continue production during the last few months, the Tory anti-union laws passed in the U.K. over the last decade have been instrumental in allowing the British production studios to keep churning even as the American ones remain mainly at a standstill. (Sky is also filming other series expected to come to American streaming, including Julianne Moore-starrer Mary & George and Eddie Redmayne’s Day of the Jackal remake.)

The irony, of course, is that this comedy is all about when Hollywood comes to town and how the glare of the spotlight and the lure of fame can upend the sleepiest of small towns, even as it ruins lives by undercovering long-held secrets.

Here’s the TV series synopsis:

Every small town has a story to tell. Some don’t know how to keep a secret… The six-part series is about the fictional town of Drumbán, a rural village of rattled misfits on the border of Ireland and another world, and what happens when a Hollywood production rolls into town and throws the spotlight on a secret that’s been kept hidden since the eve of the Millennium when Wendy Patterson, a local-girl-done-good as a hot-shot television producer, who returns to her hometown from LA with a Hollywood production in tow.

Hendricks stars as Wendy Patterson, with Considine starring opposite her as local doctor and pillar of the community Seamus Proctor. Eileen Walsh (Patrick Melrose) stars as Seamus’ wife, Catherine Proctor; Leia Murphy (Fair City) and David Rawle (Moone Boy) star as their kids, Joanne and Sonny. The rest of the cast includes Patrick Martins (The Confessions of Frannie Langton), Evanne Kilgallon (Obituary), Andrew Bennett (The Quiet Girl), Ruth McCabe (Victoria & Abdul), and David Wilmot (The Wonder).

O’Dowd wrote all six episodes and will also direct alongside Catherine Morshead (Downton Abbey), and the directing team of Mike Ahern & Enda Loughman (Extra Ordinary). Hendricks and O’Dowd are also listed as executive producers, along with Colin Callender and Scott Huff for Playground, Stefanie Berk and Milan Popelka for FilmNation Entertainment, and Alex Moody for Sky Studios. NBC Universal will handle global distribution, but it is uncertain if this automatically means the show will stream on Peacock in the US.

Small Town, Big Story is expected to debut in 2024.