Virgin Media Television (VMTV) has announced details of its new season schedule, with an improved version of Virgin Media Play streaming app for mobile, tablet or smart TV as home to content from September 2. Available live or on demand, viewers can restart content and watch VMTV channels in-app and stream shows minutes after being aired. New drama series include The Arrangement and reality shows such as Million Dollar Listing.
Other new dramas this season include Dead & Buried written by Irish author, Colin Bateman and filmed across various Irish locations. A happily married schoolteacher literally bumps into the person who killed her brother when she was a teenager – a man she presumed was still in prison. But the knowledge that he is back in the same town spawns an obsession which threatens to tear two families apart and ultimately leads to murder.
The four-part series is produced by Three River Fiction and Vico Films (The Young Offenders) for VMTV and BBC Northern Ireland in association with All3Media, with support from Screen Ireland, Northern Ireland Screen and Coimisiún na Meán. Another new drama this autumn is Coma, where a family man at breaking point is terrorised by teenagers. He confronts the group leader, and a split-second decision changes everything.
Real Life with Lucy follows Lucy Kennedy (above) as she explores the lives of Irish youths. From identity theft to romance fraud, the chatty host explores how young people are falling victim to the sophisticated and murky world of scams. She spends time with young addicts recovering from substance abuse and takes an unfiltered look at what life is really like for the transgender community. She meets psychics, mediums and witches.
Virgin Media News investigates University Hospital Limerick in Ireland’s Most Dangerous Hospital. The documentary, fronted by Richard Chambers, focuses on the harrowing stories of families who have lost loved ones due to systemic failures. Generation Rent, presented by Virgin news reporter Zara King, explores issues surrounding the housing crisis in Ireland, speaking with young people who are struggling to get on the property ladder.
Victims
Another homegrown documentary set to air this autumn explores the world-wide Thalidomide scandal. Ireland’s Thalidomide Scandal examines how pregnant women in the late 50s and early 60s were prescribed the drug which was marketed as a sedative and treatment for morning sickness, leading to their babies being born with a range of disabilities. Fronted by Paul Quinn, the documentary follows Irish victims as they fight for justice.
Stormy is a documentary about Stormy Daniels, who unexpectedly found herself in the international spotlight when news broke of a secret payment she had received to keep quiet about an encounter with Donald Trump, before he became US president. Everyone had an opinion about the former porn-star and her involvement with Trump. Daniels shares her story, events that have become part of American history, and the fallout she faced.
Pictured at the launch of VMTV’s autumn schedule are Ireland AM presenters Alan Hughes, Muireann O’Connell and Tommy Bowe
