Ireland’s ‘The Boy That Never Was’ Turns A Parent’s Worst Nightmare Into An Engrossing Mix Of Thriller & Psychological Drama — Global Breakouts

Jesse Whittock
·6-min read

Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s new strand in which, each fortnight, we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films killing it in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.

This week we return to Ireland, where psychological thriller miniseries The Boy That Never Was has had scintillating reviews and top ratings on public broadcaster RTÉ. The show, starring Colin Morgan and Toni O’Rourke, plays on a primal fear — of losing a child and never finding them again — while playing with memory and sanity. And with shooting having taken place in Ireland and Morocco, with investment also coming from Finland, The Boy That Never Was is a production that reflects how producers are piecing together funding to make their ideas come to life.

More from Deadline

Name: The Boy That Never Was
Country: Ireland
Network: RTÉ, France Télévisions, UKTV
Producer: Subotica
For fans of: The Missing
Distributor: Sphere Abacus

“Having a child changes everything in your universe and that is the fear that this series runs on — the feeling in your stomach when your child wanders off in the supermarket,” says Tristan Orpen Lynch, founder and exec producer at Subotica, the Irish indie behind this week’s Global Breakout.

The Boy That Never Was takes the concept of losing a child and turns it into the central theme of the four-part miniseries. After an earthquake apparently kills their young son, couple Harry (Colin Morgan) and Robin (Toni O’Rourke) Lonergan are thrown into disarray after an alleged sighting of their child in Dublin. Harry becomes obsessive in his quest to find his son, and discover the truth, with grief, suffering and deteriorating mental health all domineering themes, which are contrasted with the search across the city.

Orpen Lynch calls the plot “not sentimental, but visceral and strong,” adding that the series had recreated the “incredible energy” that was in the original book, a best seller from Irish author Karen Perry (the portmanteau of a pair of writers, Karen Gillece and Paul Parry). “Is he going mad or is he right?”

The idea for the series began in an airport bookshop. A Swedish friend of Orpen Lynch who was an avid reader had found the novel waiting for a flight, and immediately recommended it. After a read through, Subotica tracked down the authors and things expanded from there. Sessions in Neary’s pub in Dublin helped the creative team thrash out the story, though the initial idea was for a feature film. After a couple of failed iterations, Orpen Lynch and his team realized a limited series was the correct route.

Limited series have been hard to land in recent times as money becomes tighter in scripted TV drama and commissioners hunt for more profitable, returnable projects. “They are hard to get away these days,” concedes Orpen Lynch. The producer, however, had an ace card in RTÉ Director of Co-Productions and Acquisitions Dermot Horan, who championed the idea and was instrumental in bringing France Télévisions on as co-producer further down the line. Harry Wild writers Jo Spain and David Logan, and director Hannah Quinn, were also attached, bringing further firepower into the creative team, and Sphere Abacus, then Abacus Media Rights, boarded the project and were later able to land co-production investment from UKTV and its Alibi network in the UK.

“Dermot’s point of view is there is always a part of the schedule where you have gaps and limited series can fill them,” says Orpen Lynch. “As audiences change, their feeding habit requirements change as well. A while back, we told buyers we wanted 10-12 episodes a year ago and now it’s usually only six. For us, the length of the series and its ‘returnability’ is down to the creative material, and if sometimes it is really good in four parts, people will be happy.”

The Subotica boss, who launched his business in 1998 and has seen trends come and go, adds: “You have to have returnable stuff on your slate, but every now and then you get an IP that seems to be really strong. If people stop making limited stuff it would be a terrible shame from business point of view. Returnable is the best for business, but it’s not necessarily good for creativity.”

With part of the book set in Morocco, the decision was taken to shoot in the North African nation. Though Subotica has a track record as an international indie producer of films such as Aisha, Sonja the White Swan, Joyride and Terminal, the company had never shot in Morocco before, but were pleasantly surprised by the established crew base in Casablanca. Line producer Hamid Herraf admirably led things on the ground and Subotica was able to access the country’s generous 30% rebate on local expenses. “We had some unwarranted worry heading over there, but it was a revelation,” says Orpen Lynch.

Cultural blends

Not only that, but he noted how the Irish and Moroccan crew and actors shared several similar traits such as their sense of humor. Despite obvious cultural differences, “the Irish and Moroccan crews blended together well,” Orphen Lynch says, working closely with director Quinn and cinematographer Tim Fleming, who had both worked in the country before on Black Hawk Down.

Further funding was secured through Screen Ireland and the Finnish Impact Film Fund, as Helsinki’s Aurora Studios pushed into international production. This led to what Orpen Lynch calls the “stunning visual effects that you see in the first episode,” along with the casting of actress Milka Ahlroth.

The result was a series that saw its premiere episode in a Sunday night slot earlier this month secure a 30% share, according to RTÉ citing Nielsen numbers, three times the amount of any of the pubcaster’s rivals. The hope is streaming on RTÉ Player and its longer-term performance match up. Reviews have matched the ratings.

“We’re delighted with the reviews and online reaction,” says Orpen Lynch. “When a show launches these days you watch your phone with a sense of dread, and when the social media reaction is good you can relax.”

Orpen Lynch says that having 20 years of experience producing indie features and TV series and working with everyone from Anthony Hopkins, Jessica Chastain and Colin Farrell to up-and-coming actors, has handed Subotica an advantage in a highly competitive marketplace. “It’s a tricky business and you have to adapt,” he says. “We’ve been working in the indie feature world for years, and the limited TV series has turned to that approach. Indie film producers felt ahead of this curve as traditional TV producers used to full commissioners found it trickier to survive.”

The conceit of The Boy That Never Was may make stomachs churn, but those yearning for challenging, engaging drama might just find themselves satisfied.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Latest stories