The Rachel Incident Series Is Coming – & We Have A Cast

via Channel 4

Last year, it was announced that Cork author Caroline O’Donoghue’s novel, The Rachel Incident was going to be adapted for the small screen.

And now we have a cast as production begins in Ireland.

Caroline has been keeping fans up to date as she relocated from her London home back to Ireland at the end of 2025.

So who is starring in the upcoming mini-series?

Leading the cast is Máiréad Tyers, who will know from The Walsh Sisters as Rachel, who stars alongside Ellis Howard (What It Feels Like for a Girl, Red Rose) as James.

Normal People and Bad Sisters star Sarah Greene will take on the role of Deenie while A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms star Daniel Ings will play Dr Fred Byrne.

 

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The synopsis of the show reads: “Set in Cork in 2010, Rachel is a student working at a bookstore when she meets James – and it is love at first sight. Effervescent and insistently heterosexual, James soon invites Rachel to be his roommate, and the two begin a friendship that changes the course of both their lives forever.

“Together, they run riot through the streets of Cork City, trying to cultivate a bohemian existence while the reality of the recent financial crash looms over them.

“When Rachel admits to a huge crush on her married professor, Dr. Fred Byrne, James helps her devise a launch for his new book at the store, with the hope that she might seduce him afterwards… But Fred, as it turns out, has other desires. So begins a series of secrets and compromises that intertwine the fates of James, Rachel, Fred, and Fred’s wife Deenie, an incredibly cool and well-connected literary editor.”

The series also stars Cúán Hosty-Blaney (Say Nothing, House of Guinness) as Carey, Ciarán Dowd (Bad Sisters, Marriage) as Ben, Helen Behan (Malpractice, The Virtues) as Bridget, Ardal O’Hanlon (Sherlock and Daughter, The Woman in the Wall) as Paul, Jeanne Ní Áinle (Hidden Assets, North Sea Connection) as Sabrina, Molly McFadden as Sinead, Maria Doyle Kennedy (Kin, Recipes For Love And Murder) as Vivian.

The show is produced by Element Pictures, the same people behind Normal People. So we’re in for a treat!

Speaking about the casting, Caroline O’Donoghue said: “Máiréad Tyers is a star and has always been my first choice to play Rachel. She and the phenomenally charming Ellis Howard create what feels like an instantly iconic double act, fizzing with all the love and panic that makes being in your early twenties both nightmarish and amazing.

“To have the brilliant Sarah Greene and Daniel Ings as Deenie and Fred is a dream, and I’m gushing with enthusiasm for the rest of the cast who make the world of THE RACHEL INCIDENT feel so alive and full of energy – including but not limited to Ardal O’Hanlon and Maria Doyle Kennedy, actors I grew up loving and still can’t believe are joining our team.

“Collaborating with Giulia Gandini and Megan K. Fox and our entire crew has already been such a joy and I am once again grateful to the teams at Channel 4, UCP, Element Pictures and PAGEBOY for their continued support in building this show, which I can’t wait to share with audiences.”

Watch this space!