''Rough Diamond'' is a television series co-produced by

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

and

RTÉ (; ; RTÉThe É in RTÉ is pronounced as an English E () and not an Irish É ()) is an Irish public service broadcaster. It both produces and broadcasts programmes on television, radio and online. The radio service began on 1 January 1926, ...

. The series also appears on

RTÉ One RTÉ One is an Irish free-to-air flagship television channel owned and operated by RTÉ. It is the most-popular and most-watched television channel in the country and was launched as ''Telefís Éireann'' on 31 December 1961, it was renamed ''R ...

in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

The story explores the relationship between discredited

racehorse trainer A horse trainer is a person who tends to horses and teaches them different disciplines. Some responsibilities trainers have are caring for the animals' physical needs, as well as teaching them good behaviors and/or coaching them for events, which ...

Aidan Doherty and Jonah Price, the son he never knew existed. The first episode begins with Doherty about to sell his run down

stable A stable is a building in which working animals are kept, especially horses or oxen. The building is usually divided into stalls, and may include storage for equipment and feed. Styles There are many different types of stables in use tod ...

s to his neighbour and former employer Charlie Carrick, wealthy owner of the neighbouring Firebrand stables, and move to

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. However, his best laid plans change when a young man appears, later revealed to be his son, Price. The series is directed by Simon Massey and

Dermot Boyd Dermot Boyd is a Northern Irish-born television director. Programmes he has directed include: ''The Return'', ''Four Fathers'', '' Feather Boy'', ''Johnny and the Bomb'', '' Drop Dead Gorgeous'', ''Rough Diamond'', ''Whistleblower'', ''Casualty'', ...

and produced by Peter Norris.

Production

''Rough Diamond'' was a six-part drama series co-produced by BBC Northern Ireland and RTÉ, airing on BBC One and RTÉ One in 2007. The series was produced by Peter Norris, with executive producers Tony Garnett for World Productions and Stephen Wright for BBC Northern Ireland. The writing team included Robert Jones (episodes 1, 2, and 6), Sergio Casci (episode 3), and Ted Gannon (episodes 4 and 5). Direction was split between Simon Massey (episodes 1, 2, 5, and 6) and Dermot Boyd (episodes 3 and 4). Filming took place entirely in County Kildare, Ireland, with equestrian experts hired to train actors for realistic horse-racing scenes.

Cast

Reception

Despite initial expectations, ''Rough Diamond'' was not recommissioned for a second series by the BBC. While the show garnered successful ratings in both Ireland and the UK, it did not meet the BBC's anticipated reception. A BBC source stated, "It wasn't quite the hit it was expected to be. As a result, the drama department has decided not to go ahead with a second series."

References

External links

*
BBC Press Office
Rough Diamond Press Pack. Retrieved 5 February 2007.
Rough Diamond
at

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

. Retrieved 5 February 2007. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rough Diamond (Tv Series) 2007 British television series debuts 2007 British television series endings BBC television dramas Television series by World Productions