Hope Street (TV series)

Creation

Hope Street was created by Paul Marquess and Susanne Farrell. Marquess stated that his aim whilst creating the series was to make a long-running local drama. Born in Belfast, Marquess said he wanted to avoid the stereotypes that come with Northern Irish media portrayals, instead focusing on the "humour and warmth" of the area.^[2] The series was commissioned in March 2021 by BBC Daytime and BritBox North America in a joint collaboration, with Marquess' and Farrell's production company, Long Story TV, co-producing the series with BritBox North America.^[5]

Development

It was important for Marquess and Farrell that the series not focus on the Troubles but instead, on the resilience of Northern Ireland. Another of Marquess' aims was to increase the number of television productions in Northern Ireland since he was hoping to return to the area after having left as a young person.^[6] He and Farrell created a cast and crew almost entirely formed of local talent from in and around Donaghadee, where the series is filmed.^[2] The 10-episode first series was funded by Northern Ireland Screen and it was confirmed that it would premiere on BBC One Northern Ireland in November 2021 as well as having a January 2022 broadcast on BBC One in the other regions of the United Kingdom.^[6]

The show stars an ensemble cast almost entirely collected from the local area, including Ciarán McMenamin, Kerri Quinn, Niall Wright, Des McAleer, Bríd Brennan, Aaron McCusker and Niamh McGrady.

McMenamin was helped with his research about the police by two schoolfriends who are part of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI). After reading the scripts for the series he was excited to be part of Hope Street owing to its modern-day portrayal of his community. He said that his experiences on set were the happiest moments of his professional life, owing to the locations they filmed in and the cast and crew. McMenamin explained: "The craic is a different level. When you live away, to come home and be surrounded by people just as sarcastic as you, makes getting out of bed in the morning a joy".^[2] Quinn opined that it was refreshing for Hope Street not to mention the Troubles and appreciated that the scripts focused on relationships and the small community of Port Devine.^[2] Wright echoed her comments, feeling that the serial drama was "a completely different take" from other dramas on television at the time of transmission. He added that the series would have plenty of twists and cliffhangers and hoped that it would be renewed for several further series.^[7] English cast member Karan said that whilst filming for the series the locals of Donaghadee were very proud of their town but "went out of their way to make [her] feel welcome".^[2] She added that she loved playing Leila even though she "sticks out in her new environment like a sore thumb".^[2]

In April 2022 the show was renewed for a second series, which premiered in November 2022, with Stephen Hagan taking on the role of new lead character, DC Al Quinn.^[8]

In April 2023 the show was renewed for a third series, which premiered in October 2023, with Karen Hassan taking on the role of new lead character DC Jo Lipton.^[9]

In April 2024 it was confirmed that the BBC had renewed Hope Street for a fourth series and would commence filming that month, with eight episodes being commissioned.^[10]

In June 2025 it was confirmed that the BBC had renewed Hope Street for a fifth series and would commence filming that month. The fifth series will contain the show's 50th episode.^[11]

Filming

Hope Street is filmed in Donaghadee, Northern Ireland, which acts as the fictional Port Devine.^[12] Locations within Donaghadee used as part of filming include Pier 36, a local restaurant that acted as The Commodore Pub,^[13] and a building on Shore Street used as Port Devine Police Station.^[12]

Series 1 (2021–2022)

Series 2 (2022–2023)

Series 3 (2023–2024)

Series 4 (2024)

Series 5 (2025)