Hardy Bucks
| Hardy Bucks | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Also known as | Hardy Bucks Ride Again |
| Written by | Martin Maloney, Chris Tordoff, Owen Colgan, Tom Kilgallon, Peter Cassidy, Mike Cockayne |
| Starring |
Martin Maloney Owen Colgan Peter Cassidy Tom Kilgallon Chris Tordoff |
| Country of origin | Ireland |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Mike Cockayne |
| Running time |
26 minutes per episode (TV) 9 minutes per webisode |
| Release | |
| Original network | RTÉ Two |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 9 October 2009 |
Hardy Bucks is an Irish media series, filmed in mockumentary style and following the fictional exploits of a group of young Irishmen living in small-town Ireland.
It started out as a series of largely improvised online. A six-part webisode series went on to win the 2009 Storyland competition held by Irish national broadcaster RTÉ Television.
Production
In January 2009, Hardy Bucks was shortlisted into the top ten of RTÉ's Storyland Project.[1] A total of 122 applications participated in the new competition. After a Successful pitching round, Hardy Bucks was one of nine projects that were commissioned to make one episode. According to Poll Daddy, (Irish internet Poll server) votes poured in from across the globe. In September 2009 it was announced that Hardy Bucks had won Storyland. [2]
September 2007, with a full cast of actors Martin Maloney, Chris Tordoff, Owen Colgan, Tom Kilgallon, Peter Cassidy, formed the core group of Hardy Bucks. After borrowing camera from equipment from BCFE and help from friends and family, they shot Hardy Bucks Episodes 1-3. After sitting on the footage for a year, Tordoff uploaded the shorts to YouTube.
Hardy Bucks was entered into the RTÉ Storyland competition and from a total of 122 applications to participate in the competition, nine projects were commissioned to make one episode each. These episodes were released in March 2009. With all nine projects on the website, the public could vote for their favourite and at the end of every month the shows with the lowest amount of votes would be voted off, leaving the remaining teams to make the next episode with the same €8,000 budget per episode, ultimately the team with the largest amount of votes between the two finalists wins the competition.
The programme has been compared to Trailer Park Boys, a Canadian mockumentary, with Tordoff citing the show as an influence.[3] The show was filmed on location in Swinford, County Mayo.
In May 2010 director Mike Cockayne joined as a writer and producer. The Hardy Bucks have filmed a Christmas special and second series with director Liz Gill.
Irish Comedy series Created by Mike Cockayne was commissioned and broadcast by RTÉ from 12 October 2010 until 26 October 2010.[4] Following the success of their debut television series, the Hardy Bucks were commissioned by RTÉ to produce a half-hour Christmas special which aired on 26 December 2010.
Starring Martin Maloney as Eddie Durkan, Chris Tordoff as 'The Viper'. It is written by and produced by Mike Cockayne, Hardy Bucks features Peter Cassidy, Owen Colgan and Tom Kilgallon, plus a cast of extras from Swinford and beyond. The series was directed by Liz Gill.[5]
The three-episode television series, written by the writing trio Tordoff, Maloney and Cockayne, was commissioned and broadcast by RTÉ from 12 October 2010 until 26 October 2010.[3] Following the success of their debut television series, the Hardy Bucks were commissioned by RTÉ to produce a half-hour Christmas special which aired on 26 December 2010. The Hardy Bucks' second series, a six-episode run, was broadcast by RTÉ during 2011.
The Hardy Bucks Movie was released by Universal Pictures in Feb 2013, achieving Box Office No 1 on its opening weekend and becoming the most successful Irish film of 2013.
Hardy Bucks returned with a 3rd series in November 2015.
Characters
Protagonists
- Eddie Durkan (Martin Moloney) — the main character, an unemployed and lazy youth with vague ambitions of emigrating to find a better life.
- Billy "Buzz" McDonnell (Owen Colgan) — Eddie's best friend, something of a philosopher who often argues with Eddie. Almost always wears a Celtic shirt.
- "Frenchtoast" O'Toole (Peter Cassidy) — known for his love of nature and fishing, and for making political statements.
- Tommy "The Boo" Hagen (Tom Kilgallon) — a fitness lover with a mysterious past
Antagonists
- Francis "The Viper" Higgins (Chris Tordoff) — the main antagonist, a vain and arrogant small-time drug dealer with ambitions of a musical or film career. Wannabe Tadhg, ambitious to follow in his footsteps.
- Stateside (Tommy Miller) — one of the Viper's henchmen
- Dragon (Wayne Lynch)
- Viper 2 (Paul Butler Lennox) — an actor hired by the Viper to act as a decoy
Other characters
- Salmon (Michael Salmon
- Svetlana (Lisa McAllister) — Salmon's improbably attractive Russian girlfriend
- Big Mick (Eugene Maloney) — Eddie's uncle
- Simcard (Kevin McGahern)
- "Scorpio" Lyons (Alan Carter)
- Noreen (Loretta Lee)
- Cowboy Lavin (Stephen Kelly)
- Orla Flannery (Sheila Moylette)
- Lexus (Paul Maloney)
- Crowbar (Chris Kilcoyne)
- Garda Koffi (Koffi Kuovi)
- Aloysius Lavin (Micheál Mac Donnchadha)
- Sligo Boy (James Durcan)
- Ladybird (Kate Lawless)
Episode list
Webisodes
| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Eddie & Buzz" | 19 October 2008 |
| Introduces the two "hardy bucks" and the Viper. They visit the library where they meet "Ladybird" who runs a psychic book club. "The Boo" somehow finds his way into Eddie and Buzz's cottage, and teaches them about weapons. Eddie gets drunk and stoned the night before his Safe Pass test. | ||
| 2 | "Safe Pass" | 19 October 2008 |
| Eddie sits the Safe Pass Course which he needs to get on the sites in Galway. Buzz has other ideas and runs away to meet new friends at Ladybirds workshop. | ||
| 3 | "The Plan" | 20 October 2008 |
| It's time for a plan. Galway beckons but the lads have no money. With a bit of help from an unwitting buddy, they hatch a scheme that's guaranteed to at least cover the petrol money. The lads manage to escape the disturbing Aloisius Lavin but how will they throw a party if the Viper has their mushrooms? | ||
| 4 | "The Mitzi Turbo Cup" | 16 March 2009 |
| The lads try to earn a bit of money "in the claw" by entering the Mitzi Turbo Cup - an annual underground boy racer tournament. | ||
| 5 | "Foamy Nites" | 27 April 2009 |
| 6 | "Episode 6" | 5 June 2009 |
| 7 | "The Drink is a Curse" | 21 July 2009 |
| 8 | "The Interview" | 31 August 2009 |
| 9 | "Episode 9" | 29 September 2009 |
Television
Season 1 (2010)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "The Shkyline" | 10 October 2010 |
| 2 | 2 | "Zambezi Nights" | 17 October 2010 |
| 3 | 3 | "King of the Town" | 24 October 2010 |
| 4 | 4 | "Christmas Special" | 26 December 2010 |
| The Bucks hit the 12 pubs of Christmas culminating in the ultimate hangover cure – a Hardy Christmas dinner. | |||
Season 2 (2011)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 14 November 2011 |
| A lie told by Eddie in order to impress his ex-girlfriend sets his life on a new track. Meanwhile, Frenchtoast hopes to change his fortunes, but is finding it difficult to get help from the lads - especially Buzz, whose sex life has reached an unexpected high. | |||
| 7 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 21 November 2011 |
| Boo has an offer the gang cannot refuse, a plan that will see them bringing the cottage into the 21st-century, but they hit a stumbling block when Buzz's aunty decides to visit. Meanwhile, Viper schemes to bring his big plan to fruition, but realises he needs help from Simcard to make it happen | |||
| 8 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 28 November 2011 |
| Having lost the cottage, the lads are homeless. Buzz and Frenchtoast move in with Simcard, leaving Eddie to move back in with his family. Eddie gets the lads work at an "LA pool party", organised by an unknown artist. | |||
| 8 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 5 December 2011 |
| Buzz visits Eddie in the middle of the night after experiencing a vision in a dream, but when the future does not pan out as Buzz imagined, it is up to Frenchtoast to bring the boys back together. Meanwhile the Viper gives Simcard his dream job. | |||
| 9 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 12 December 2011 |
| Eddie is asked to perform an important duty for Salmon, and considers Uncle Mick's surprise solution to his problems. | |||
| 10 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 19 December 2011 |
| Buzz calls on the help of Boo when his sex-life causes him problems, and Viper goes into hiding after his insurance policy falls through. Meanwhile, the whole town turns out for a major event on the social calendar, and Eddie spots an opportunity to make amends when he shares an intimate moment with his ex. | |||
Season 3: Hardy Bucks Ride Again (2015)
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | "Episode 1" | 26 October 2015 |
| Eddie feels he needs a woman's touch to put him back on the straight and narrow, so tries to win back Noreen. | |||
| 12 | 2 | "Episode 2" | 2 November 2015 |
| After ruining his chances with his ex, Eddie Durkan finds love in a psychiatric ward, and Boo offers the lads the chance to run their own pub. | |||
| 13 | 3 | "Episode 3" | 9 November 2015 |
| Castletown is about to witness its first ever interracial gay wedding, while Eddie has finally got a job. But can he cope with the pressure from his nymphomaniac girlfriend, the lads at work and his best mate, who all think he's gone soft? | |||
| 14 | 4 | "Episode 4" | 23 November 2015 |
| When a minor celebrity lands in Castletown Eddie spots an opportunity and decides to put on a science fiction convention. Meanwhile Viper joins one of Ireland’s biggest gangs, but has he bitten off more than he can chew? | |||
| 15 | 5 | "Episode 5" | 30 November 2015 |
| Castletown is hosting a major music festival and Eddie decides to organise a day out with the lads, but his plans for a bonding session go awry when his long-lost brother turns up. | |||
| 16 | 6 | "Episode 6" | 7 December 2015 |
| With Frenchtoast still on the wagon, the lads decide to take drastic action and plan an intervention to get him back on the drink. Meanwhile, Eddie and Buzz's love lives become very complicated. | |||
Live shows
The Hardy Bucks have performed live shows across Ireland and the UK, at venues including The Academy, Dublin and Three Sisters, Edinburgh, The Garage (music venue) London, Electric picnic festival 2011, Roisín Dubh (Galway).
Film
On 28 November 2012, a trailer was released to promote The Hardy Bucks Movie, scheduled for cinematic release on 21 February 2013. The film follows the Hardy Bucks as they travel to Poland to support the Irish football team during the UEFA Euro 2012 football tournament. The film was partly funded by the Irish Film Board, which granted the project a €175,000 production loan and produced by Universal Studios. The film had a budget of €300,000 and was an Irish box office success. It grossed €176,887 on its opening weekend from 57 locations. To date, The Hardy Bucks Movie has taken over €500,000 at the Irish box office.
Series 1 released 12 December 2010. Series 2 released 12 December 2011.
References
- ↑ "RTÉ announces winners of StoryLand competition to develop drama series for the web". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 26 January 2009.
- ↑ "RTÉ Storyland winner announced". Raidió Teilifís Éireann. 8 September 2009.
- ↑ INTERVIEW:The Hardy Bucks of Swinford Mayo News, 22 June 2009
- ↑ Hardy Bucks TV debut Connaught Telegraph, 12 October 2010
- ↑ "Hardy Bucks". RTÉ.ie. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
External links
- Hardy Bucks Channel at YouTube
- Facebook page
- Hardy Bucks on Twitter
- Hardy Bucks at the Internet Movie Database