Writer Eugene O'Brien nervous ahead of 'Pure Mule' return
EUGENE O'Brien, the Edenderry writer behind Pure Mule, admits to being nervous about the reaction to its latest two episode instalment, 'Pure Mule The Last Weekend', which airs on RTE this weekend.
A critical success when the original series aired over six episodes in September 2005, Pure Mule also proved to be a big hit with viewers, culminating in an audience of 437,000 for the final episode.
The two episodes were shot entirely in the midlands for four weeks in June and July this year, with much of the filming taking place in Banagher and Birr.
It would have been very easy to succumb to the temptation of writing a second series of Pure Mule, purely out of the fact that it was RTE's most successful drama ever. However, this wasn't something that particularly interested the Edenderry playwright.
"The head of RTE drama asked us in January would we be interested in doing a two part special, particularly now as the country is in the s**t. They were keen to go back to the town now that we are in a recession - the original series was written four years ago in the good times - and I decided OK there would be something in that," Eugene explained.
It was also left open-ended on the Scobie/Jennifer unrequited love angle and this was also something which Eugene felt could be developed.
Fast forward four years, and Seamie has moved to Australia with Terese and on the last weekend in question, Scobie has his bags packed and is ready to join them when Jennifer returns from London, throwing a spanner in the works.
"She returns from England to bury her mother with a very nice looking English man in tow. She has now cleaned up her act and is very solid with a good set up," outlined Eugene.
While the recession is a backdrop to the two episodes, Eugene said its not something that is ever mentioned. The building sites which provided well-paid local employment and fuelled the main protagonists' lifestyle is now disused and unfinished, with Scobie employed as night watchman on one of them.
The four year remove from the original series was something which Eugene felt gave him an opportunity to develop Scobie's character and also gave greater scope for complexity and depth. "Scobie isn't the happy-go-lucky fella he was and is getting that bit more bitter."
There is now a certain element of displacement in his character as his sidekick, Seamie, is no longer around and he is no longer the young man about town, and is facing a challenge to his mantle.
"There is now a younger character who is getting the young ones and Scobie is a bit out of the loop. He is hanging out with young fellas but he just doesn't know what he's about. He has an 'arrangement' with an unmarried mother of a six year old kid, but he's unsure of his place in the world. Before his character was very sure in himself and his place in the community," Eugene said.
It might have been easy to quickly script a second series of Pure Mule on the back of the success of the first series, but with this success comes pressure to emulate or better the critical and commercial success of the first series. "We did get a great response from the first series and at the time I was moving on to other things and I though we should quit while we were ahead."
He had moved onto adapting his most successful play, Eden, to a feature length film along with Clara born director, Declan Recks. This was a labour of love for both men and Recks was once again behind the camera for the latest two episodes of Pure Mule, having directed a number of episodes previously.
While Eugene's direct involvement is now finished - apart from the publicity and interview process prior to the airing of the two episodes - Declan was 'locked away' in sound production, with a particularly tight production schedule crammed into a few intense months.
Since the making of Pure Mule, Declan's father, Richie, who played the perma-smoking barber who dispensed worldly advice, passed away. Declan actually performs the role originally done by his father in this series, although you only get to see his hands as the scene focuses on Scobie and doesn't show the barber himself.
Despite the success of Pure Mule, and then of Eden, Eugene admits that it doesn't get any easier with the small amount of investment available in Ireland and success is never guaranteed.
"It is always a struggle to get money for anything. I was working away for two years on a tv show which then didn't appear. In the end it just didn't get the go-ahead. It was to have been a big Irish family saga starting in the 70s and running right up to modern day. It was quite an ambitious piece. You can spend a lot of time on something and then be told it's not getting made. I did get a few bob for it and I've been very lucky that stuff I did before did get made."
He recently has been asked to get involved in a 'big movie' which a film-maker asked him to come on board with. Set around the time of the Famine, Eugene is now rewriting this and is hopeful the Irish historical film will be a success. He and Declan Recks are also collaborating on another project.
Returning to the build up to the latest episodes, Eugene admits that he is both "nervous" and "hopeful" for the Last Weekend episodes. "There does seem to be anticipation and interest in it so in a way I'm waiting with baited breath." Having seen the finished product, Eugene said the production team is happy with the way it has turned out.
It can be difficult to follow-up such a successful series and Eugene said he had some trepidation about returning to the project. "It can be difficult enough. You don't want to be rehashing the same stuff but it can't be too different either. You have to walk the middle ground a little bit. I think we have managed to do that successfully and now it is just a matter of having to wait and see".
'Pure Mule The Last Weekend' will be screened this Sunday and Monday, September 6 & 7 at 9.45pm on RT One.
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