Red Rock creator Peter McKenna was warned by members of the Garda Siochana to not portray them as “thick or humourless”.
The TV3 writer admitted he is not sure how members of the Gardai will react to their portrayal in the new soap that begins airing tomorrow night at 8:30pm.
“We tell quite hard hitting stories about the guards, not all guards come out looking great in it” he admitted.
“Somebody said very early on, we don’t mind what you do as long as you don’t make us look thick and humourless.
Hit or miss: Peter McKenna is unsure how the Gardai will react to the series | BRIAN MCEVOY
He went on: “If you think of them as a gang and as a workplace they’re kind of a varied bunch so it’s quite fun and I think ultimately – maybe they will like it.”
Peter also revealed one of the priorities when creating Red Rock was to make soaps feel fresh and modern.
“I would say it’s a soap in truth. It’s what TV3 asked for in their commission and that’s what we’ve presented” he told The Ian Dempsey Show on Today FM.
“We’ve tried to make the soap feel fresh and modern. We want people to tune in. What we’ve tried to do is make a soap with the look and the production value of a drama.”
Future hit: Peter says Red Rock is a fresh and modern take on soaps
The writer who has previously worked on shows like Eastenders and Casualty revealed it was a challenge creating a brand new world for the series.
“Most of the shows I have gone to, the world was already created,” he said.
“The real challenge for this one was to create a whole new world from scratch and also to not make it too like everything else, to make it feel fresh and original and to represent what Ireland is like now.”
