Cardboard Gangsters creator Mark O’Connor has told how he wants his new crime show to
highlight the horror of gangs rather than glamourise them.
But the writer, who is venturing into TV with the series Darklands, insists the drama will be completely different to his hit movie.
Explaining his inspiration behind the plot that follows 16-year-old MMA fighter Damien Dunne at a crossroads in his life, he told the Irish Mirror: “It strikes me very hard when I see these things happening to people.
“Like you hear about people getting killed in this world and it is really hard-hitting. I’ve heard many stories about it and it is like a nationwide problem now.
“There is one in Dundalk and Dublin, obviously, and Cork and Limerick and it is spreading so our goal was always to be a moral tale to people so when they watch this they will be horrified.
“And hopefully young people will think that’s not for me.
“It wasn’t about glamorising it, it is obviously supposed to be entertaining in order to sell it but you can do that in other ways cinematically.
“Using the landscape because we shot it all in Bray, and there is beautiful scenery and the music is nice and light but then you’ve got the horror of the reality of the world. We did film the violence for people to see it for what it is.”
O’Connor highlighted differences between Darklands and his hit film which follows a drug trade in Dublin’s Darndale.
He said: “Cardboard Gangsters was a very gritty type of gangland drama but this is much more showing female characters, they are very strong.
“And also, it is not about demonising young people, it is a crime drama showing how people can get involved in the circumstances and the effect it has on family and the bigger effect on society.
“We are looking to create something very believable and realistic.” The director has also faced comparisons to RTE’s Love/Hate in the run-up to Darklands’ debut on Virgin Media next week.
He said: “It is a completely different story.
“I have had connection with Love/Hate and stuff in the past and my actors ended up being in that and that was an amazing, Barry Keoghan and Peter Coonan to be in Love/Hate.
“Love Hate is great but it is completely its own thing and a different story.”
- Darklands starts on Virgin Media One at 9pm on Monday.
