The Echo goes on set with The Young Offenders; the stars reveal their favourite episode

OUR two favourite Cork boyos are soon to be back in town as The Young Offenders ramps up for the second series.

Series one was a perfect balance between the sublime and the ridiculous as we saw the two protagonists wrestle with a full-sized tuna, try (and mostly fail) to woo their love interests, Siobhan and Linda Walsh, and even de-escalate a dramatic bus heist.

Lovable rogues Conor and Jock are soon to return to the small screen and actors Alex Murphy and Chris Walley are just as excited as we are.

Speaking to  The Echo, who were on set with the cast yesterday, Chris Walley (Jock) told us he was delighted to work on the second series. 

“It’s like a big family and we always have a laugh”, he said. 

“In 2015 I don’t think we ever envisaged this would happen. The film was one thing and then when we heard about the series we didn’t think that would happen, but it did. Now there’s an appetite for more and more. It’s just mad," he continued.

Speculating as to why the series has such a wide appeal, the cast credit director Peter Foott’s incredible writing.

“It has heart," Walley said.

“I think that’s what Peter does so well with the writing, in that there are all these conflicts and all these character flaws and then the characters always learn from them. 

"They come full circle but rest assured the next episode will go back to the same antics again! But they are developing themselves. 

"They’re constantly furthering themselves as people but they’ll probably never fully be there which is why it’ll hopefully always be entertaining to watch.” 

P.J. Gallagher, who plays Principal Barry Walsh and wonderfully depicts the struggle of dealing with two adolescent daughters says family tensions is a key theme audiences can relate to. 

“It’s hard to live with anyone, even if you love them, without wanting to set fire to them the odd time”, he joked.

Reminiscing about the first series, Alex and Chris were both in agreement that the final episode was probably their favourite.

“Episode six on the bus was an incredible piece of writing. It was a proper heist. It was almost like a standalone thing”, said Alex Murphy (Conor). 

With the shock announcement of Siobhan’s pregnancy at the end of the first series, we’re pretty sure the best is yet to come in series two as we eagerly await a release date.