A woman’s fabricated life in America collapses when she returns to Dublin for her father’s funeral.
Nora Moggin (Angeline Ball) returns to her native Dublin after years in America, ostensibly a successful actress. Reconnecting with her old friends Stevie Macutcheon (Susan Lynch) and Kate O’Dowd (Zara Turner), the glamorous facade quickly crumbles. Nora is revealed to be penniless, her career a complete fiction. Her hopes of a fresh start are pinned on her late father’s inheritance, but this lifeline is severed by the unexpected appearance of a wife she never knew existed, who arrives to claim the entire estate. Stripped of her money and her story, Nora is forced to confront her failures and rebuild her life from the ground up.
Set against the backdrop of Celtic Tiger-era Dublin, this six-part comedy drama used the character of the failed emigrant to construct a story about authenticity and reinvention. The serial’s strength was its focus on the dynamic between the three central female characters, whose loyalties are tested by Nora’s deceptions. Rather than simply mocking its protagonist’s lies, the script by Ali White grounded her predicament in a recognisable pressure to project success. The series operated as a sharp character study, mixing its dramatic premise with a warm, observational humour drawn from the frictions of old friendships and new realities.
Broadcast: BBC One, 6 Episodes, 8 August – 12 September 2002
Written by: Ali White
Directors: John Woods, Brian Kirk, Declan Recks
Producer: Lesley McKimm
Executive Producers: James Mitchell, Brendan McCarthy, Mary Callery, Kate Triggs
Main Cast: Angeline Ball (Nora Moggin), Susan Lynch (Stevie Macutcheon), Zara Turner (Kate O’Dowd), Ciarán McMenamin (Johnny Doherty), Patrick O’Kane (Colin Duggan), Ruth McCabe (Margaret Macutcheon)
