ITV picks up crime dramas The Galway Bay Murders and Last King of the Cross

John Connors and Kate Mulgrew in The Galway Bay Murders

MIPCOM: UK commercial broadcaster ITV has acquired new crime thriller The Galway Bay Murders for its linear channel ITV1 and streaming service ITVX.

The six-part drama stars Kate Mulgrew (Star Trek: Voyager, Orange Is the New Black) and Colm Meaney (The Commitments, Gangs of London) and hails from Two Cities Television, the producer behind BBC police drama Blue Lights.

ITV pre-bought the series, which was commissioned by Irish public broadcaster RTÉ, from international distributor ITV Studios in a deal announced on the second day of Mipcom.

Set against the landscape of Connemara, The Galway Bay Murders follows seasoned NYPD detective Nora Savage (Kate Mulgrew), who arrives in the west of Ireland hoping to escape a traumatic past and find a quieter life. However, her plans are shattered when the body of a young woman is discovered, drawing Nora into a complex murder investigation alongside the local Garda team.

The ensemble cast also includes John Connors (The Gentlemen, Irish Blood), India Mullen (Normal People, Under Salt Marsh), Cillian O’Sullivan (Daredevil: Born Again, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds) and Jack Rowan (A Town Called Malice, Wreck).

Darren Nartey, head of content acquisitions at ITV, said: “The Galway Bay Murders is precisely the kind of bold, high-calibre drama our audiences love. Eithne Verling has crafted a completely magnetic crime thriller, with an outstanding cast led by Kate Mulgrew and Colm Meaney, a compelling central mystery and the stunning backdrop of Ireland’s west coast. We’re thrilled to partner with ITV Studios, Two Cities Television and RTÉ to bring this captivating new series to the ITV audience.”

The series is created and written by Eithne Verling. It is directed by Joe Lawlor and Christine Molloy (Baltimore, Kin) and produced by Two Cities Television (part of STV Studios), Keeper Pictures and AS I AM Productions.

In related news, ITV has also acquired Australian crime drama Last King of the Cross.

Starring Lincoln Younes (Grand Hotel, Barons ) opposite Tim Roth (Reservoir Dogs, Lie To Me, Tin Star), the series will be available to stream on ITVX from November 1 following a deal with distributor Cineflix Rights for the first two seasons.

The show was originally produced by Helium Pictures for Paramount+ Australia, produced by Mark Fennessy and Karl Zwicky, and executive produced by Fennessy and John Ibrahim.