Hi °C | Lo °C Viewers eager to see what's being called the Irish version of The Wire will have to wait months longer.
Drama series The Guards, our equivalent of the day-to-day goings on of Detective McNulty and his police cohorts in Baltimore, is tipped to be one of the biggest shows of the year.
It was originally lined up for a two-episode stint on TV3, but was extended by six extra shows in January, and rumours emerged that the programme would receive a regular primetime slot.
But viewers won't be getting a taste of the crime drama until later in the summer. TV3 said the programme had been delayed until later in the summer. "These things always happen, Ben [Frow] just thought it would be better suited somewhere else," said a spokesperson referring the station's director of programming.
"He decided it would be better later in the year, there is no particular reason."
Director Graham Cantwell said that The Guards was a gritty portrayal of the day-to-day work of gardai in Ireland. "It's not as procedural as CSI, it's more realistic, like The Wire or The Shield. It's a drama, it focuses on the individual gardai," he said.
It is set in the fictional Ballycore Garda Station and the characters are being described as "young, stubborn and impulsive" and a "lethal combination".
The show centres around up-and-coming actor Emmet Scanlan who plays Garda Diarmuid O'Briain.
cmcbride@herald.ie
