Louisa Harland & Máiréad Tyers to Star in 'The Walsh Sisters'

Irish author Marian Keyes is a success story out of a novel. After growing up in Limerick, she moved to London only to suffer depression and addiction. But in the depths of her recovery, she began to write short stories drawn from her family experiences, only to have her editor ask for a full-length novel. That was in 1995, and it resulted in the publication of her first book, Watermelon, in which she introduced the world to the Walsh family via the eldest sister, Claire. Six more novels followed featuring the family, including bestseller Rachel’s Holiday. Now Rachel's Holiday will form part of the basis for the BBC's The Walsh Sisters, loosely adapted from the series.

The new series will draw from two of Keyes' middle books, the second book, the aforementioned Rachel's Holiday, and Anybody Out There, the fourth novel. The seven-book cycle was a major coming-of-age series for Millenials and the Gen Z crowd coming up behind them, and the BBC is giving the series the ensemble cast treatment befitting its status as a cultural marker. 

Danielle Galligan (Obituary) stars as eldest Claire, with Stefanie Preissner (Finding Joy) as mum's favorite, second sister Maggie; Caroline Menton (All Creatures Great & Small) is middle sister Rachel; Louisa Harland (Derry Girls) is second youngest Anna, and Máiréad Tyers (Extraordinary) plays baby of the family Helen. Carrie Crowley (The Quiet Girl) plays Mammy Walsh; Irish-American actor Aidan Quinn (Legends of the Fall) is Daddy Walsh. 

We should note this is the second set of novels by Keyes to be ordered to series in the past year. In 2024, Netflix commissioned Keyes' 2020 novel, Grown Ups, featuring the Casey and Kinsella families. In its usual fashion, Netflix has made no announcements about its forthcoming adaptation, but the streaming service is expected to release the first season before the end of 2025.

Here's the series synopsis:

Billed as “a comedy about serious things,” The Walsh Sisters is set in their Dublin hometown and follows the lives of Anna, Rachel, Maggie, Claire, and Helen as they navigate the peaks and troughs of their late 20s and 30s. This is a sisterhood full of in-jokes, hand-me-down resentments, and more than a few old wounds. But their DNA, history, and shared love of power ballads keep the Walsh sisters together in the face of heartbreak, grief, addiction, and parenthood.

The cast also includes Jay Duffy (The Wheel of Time), Samuel Anderson (Doctor Who), Gina Moxley (Stay), and American actress Debi Mazar (Kaos).

Preissner pulls double duty, starring in and acting as lead writer on the series, adapting four episodes with Kefi Chadwick (Rivals) taking the other two. Director Ian Fitzgibbon (Hullraisers) helms all installments. Preissner and Keyes executive produce with Tony Baines, plus David Crean & Dermot Horan for RTÉ, Dixie Linder & Nick Marston for Cuba Pictures, James Durie & Tom Misselbrook for Cineflix Rights, and David McLoughlin for Metropolitan Films.

The Walsh Sisters will commence filming in the spring of 2025. The series is expected out in 2026.