Dramatisations of Edna O’Brien’s trilogy of novels about the lives of two girls growing up in 1950s rural Ireland.

S01E01 – Kate and Baba – girls who occupy the twin poles of romance and realism – have nonetheless been friends forever, united by a tacit resilience to the world they have to endure. In this, the opening episode, Kate’s father is off on a drinking binge, so the farm has to cope without him.
S01E02 – Conclusion of Edna O’Brien’s frank, funny story of growing up in rural Ireland in the 50s. Best friends Kate and Baba hate their school life as boarders at a convent, but the Christmas holidays offer welcome respite and a chance for Kate to rekindle her relationship with the much older, Mr Gentleman. Edna O’Brien’s classic tale of coming of age in rural Ireland in the Fifties was banned on publication; it is a frank, funny and subversive portrayal of women’s lives within a patriarchal and religious society.
S02E01 – Kate and Baba blag their way into a wine-tasting and meet Eugene Gaillard. Edna O’Brien’s frank, funny and subversive story of womanhood in Ireland in the 50s.
S02E02 – Kate has escaped from the countryside and returns to live with the married Eugene, but her father and his cronies soon come looking for her with violent results. Edna O’Brien’s frank, funny and subversive story of womanhood in Ireland in the 50s.
S03E01 – It’s the 1960’s. Kate and Baba are living in London, with enough to eat, married, dissatisfied. The third book in Edna O’Brien’s frank, funny and subversive trilogy.
Cast
Kate ….. Charlie Murphy
Baba ….. Aoibhinn McGinnity
Mama ….. Catherine Cusack
Dada ….. David Ganly
Hickey ….. Lloyd Hutchinson
Jack Holland ….. Jonjo O’Neill
Miss Moriarty ….. Helen Clapp
Written by Edna O’Brien