ITV has taken UK rights to The Galway Bay Murders, an upcoming Irish crime thriller led by Kate Mulgrew and Colm Meaney. The deal was confirmed at MIPCOM Cannes, with Irish broadcaster RTÉ already attached and ITV Studios handling international distribution.
The series
Created by new TV writer Eithne Verling, the drama follows Nora Savage, a veteran NYPD detective who moves to Ireland’s west coast looking for a quieter life. That plan unravels when the body of a young woman is pulled from a bog, drawing Savage into a complex murder investigation alongside the local Garda team. The ensemble includes John Connors, India Mullen, Cillian O’Sullivan and Jack Rowan, with Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy directing.
The project began after Mulgrew and Verling met by chance while the actor was on holiday in Galway. That early actor attachment helps explain the package: a known lead, a first-time writer and a distinctive setting.
Why the deal matters
For ITV, this is a familiar acquisition shape: a star-led crime thriller with a strong sense of place. Mulgrew’s international profile and Meaney’s Irish screen pedigree make the series easy to pitch to buyers. For Two Cities Television, though, the more interesting story may be the financing.
The series was previously titled The Yank and is deliberately lower-budget, with deficit financing from ITV Studios. Two Cities bosses have said the structure gives the indie “almost total editorial control” while the distributor handles sales. It is produced with Keeper Pictures and AS I AM Productions, and backed by STV Studios.
The financing logic
Deficit financing usually means a distributor covers the gap between a show’s confirmed funding and its full budget in exchange for sales rights. Here ITV Studios is both financier and international seller, while the producer keeps editorial control. The lower budget is the trade-off: it shrinks what must be raised, making the deficit smaller and the control easier to protect. For independent producers, that is a template worth studying.
What the buyers think
Darren Nartey, Head of Content Acquisitions at ITV, called the series “precisely the kind of bold, high-calibre drama our audiences love,” pointing to the central mystery, the cast and the west coast backdrop.
- ITV – UK broadcaster acquiring the series.
- ITV Studios – international distributor and deficit financier.
- RTÉ – Irish broadcaster already attached.
- Two Cities Television – lead producer, backed by STV Studios.
- Keeper Pictures / AS I AM Productions – co-producers.
What to watch next
The test is whether ITV Studios can convert a UK sale and an Irish anchor into broader international demand. At the same market, the distributor also unveiled a new Australian drama label under Sara Richardson and reported sales for Steven Moffat’s Number 10. With a lower-budget model, a UK broadcaster attached and a distributor already in place, The Galway Bay Murders is a useful case study for producers weighing creative control against financing.
Source: Deadline
