Development The film,
The Young Offenders, was released in 2016 and was generally well-reviewed, winning an
Irish Film & Television Award. With the popularity of the film, it was confirmed on 9 May 2017 that a six-episode television programme, based on the film with the same name, had been ordered by
RTÉ, to be broadcast in 2018. Creator,
Peter Foott commented, "It's incredibly exciting to be able to work with the BBC and with RTÉ to bring these characters back to the screen, they have been so supportive of the project and will be a wonderful home for it. The public response to the film, and specifically the characters themselves, was just so overwhelming that we really felt there were a lot more stories to tell". With a popular and high reception, the series was recommissioned for a second series, although the projected release date was not disclosed for over a year. In November 2018, it was confirmed that a Christmas special had been produced to conclude the first series with the episode becoming available for streaming via
BBC iPlayer from 14 December onwards, whereas television screen broadcasting occurred on
Christmas Day. In October 2019, with lack of news over past months except cast member Shane Casey posting the front cover of an episode script on his
Instagram account, it was reported that the second series would begin broadcasting in November. Days later, the BBC confirmed that the second series would commence on 3 November. It was later confirmed that all six episodes would be available to be streamed through the
BBC iPlayer service from the second series' premiere date. The second series was well-acclaimed by critics, which resulted in the BBC recommissioning the programme for a third series, to be broadcast in 2020, shortly after the second series concluded. In July 2020 it was confirmed that, shortly after a short trailer was released by the BBC promoting the third series' forthcoming release, the third series' entire episode list would be released on 19 July 2020. Furthermore, it was confirmed that
Hilary Rose would also be reprising her role from the film, portraying Mairead MacSweeney, the mother of Murphy's character. whereas
Dominic MacHale and
Shane Casey reprised their roles as Sergeant Tony Healy and Billy Murphy from the film, respectively. In October 2018, it was confirmed that former
Love/Hate actor
Robert Sheehan had joined the cast in an undisclosed role, after the news was confirmed by Walley during an interview; he portrayed himself in the Christmas special. On 24 November 2018, it was confirmed that a one-off Christmas episode would be broadcast, featuring Sheehan, with the official news that he would only be making a guest appearance in that singular episode. The tradition of celebrities making cameo appearances in the programme continued in the second series, when
Irish footballing legend
Roy Keane made a brief cameo where the characters attend a
Cork City Football Club match as caterers.
Filming The majority of the first series was filmed at various locations in Cork. It showed the crew filming at numerous historical locations across the city, including the view from
Shandon, the
English Market, North Mall & the Franciscan Abbey, Kyrl's Quay & Medieval Cork and
Saint Fin Barre's Cathedral.
Principal photography for the second series began in June 2019, with the
BBC confirming that production had begun, with them uploading a promotional image of Murphy and Walley in character. Despite the programme's distributors not publicly announcing its recommissioning for a third series, the third series was filmed back-to-back alongside the second series.
Marketing Scenes from the programme became available on
YouTube, which were distributed by
BBC Three. The trailer for the second series was released in October 2019. ==Episodes==