Camelot, 2010

Produced for US cable giant Starz, Camelot is a historical-fantasy-drama that chronicles the story of the legendary King Arthur. Based on the Thomas Malory’s 15th century book, Le Morte d’Arthur, Camelot redefined the classic medieval tales for a modern television audience. It was penned by The Tudors writer Michael Hirst and Chris Chibnall, who has written for successful TV series including Doctor Who, Torchwood and Law and Order: UK.

The large-scale Irish-Canadian co-production between Octagon Films and Take 5 Productions featured an all star cast including Joseph Fiennes (Flash Forward), Eva Green (Cracks), Jamie Campbell Bower (Twilight), Tasmin Egerton (St Trinians), Claire Forlani (Meet Joe Black) and Peter Mooney (Summer Blood).

It was executively produced by Academy Award winning producer Graham King (The Departed) along with Morgan O’Sullivan (The Count of Monte Cristo), Tim Headington (The Tourist), Craig Cegielski, James Flynn (Ondine), Michael Hirst (Exec Producer, The Borgias) and Douglas Rae (Nowhere Boy). Six months of principal photography on the 10 part epic series took place here at Ardmore Studios and the surrounding Wicklow countryside in June 2010.

Camelot premiered on US Starz network in April 2011 and drew in the largest ever opening for a new drama series on Starz. It sold to international broadcasters including Channel 4 (UK), DBS (Israel), RTL (The Netherlands), Sony AXN (Pan-Asia) and RTÉ (Ireland).

THE TUDORS, 2006 - 2009

The Tudors is an award winning costume drama series focusing on England’s Renaissance dynasty under King Henry VIII. Running for four series, The Tudors is loosely based on the reign of Henry VIII – his string of affairs, divorces and marriages, up until his death and the takeover of the throne by his son Edward VI and later his oldest daughter Mary. The series dramatises Henry VIII’s role as King of England and head of Church of England and his personal affairs, including his infamous marriages to Katherine of Aragon, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Katherine Howard, Katherine Parr as well as his secret marriage to the pregnant Anne Boleyn.

The series received 16 IFTA awards from 2008 - 2011, as well as receiving the four Emmy Awards (Outstanding Art Direction 2010, Outstanding Cinematography 2009, Outstanding Costume for a Series 2007 and 2008) and three Golden Globe nominations.

The Irish-Canadian co-production was produced for the American premium cable television Showtime. Filmed in Ardmore Studios, The Tudors boasted an all-star cast including Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Henry Cavill, Anthony Brophy, James Frain, Sarah Bolger and Natalie Dormer. Broadcasters for the historical drama include BBC Two (UK), CBC Television (Canada), Showtime (US) and TV3 Ireland.

The series received consistently high television audiences with the BBC premiere of series three attracting an average audience of 2.3 million.