Ballykissangel - Complete Series Four

Meanwhile, returning characters Brendan (Gary Whelan), a teacher, and Siobhan (Deirdre Donnelly), the veterinarian, give birth to a daughter and struggle to come to terms with their unmarried relationship. Shop owner Kathleen (Aine Ni Mhuiri) has an unexpected encounter with an interrupted romance from her past, Brian's stooges Donal (Frankie McCafferty) and Liam (Joe Savino) keep trying to play an angle that will finally work for them, and Father Mac (Niall Toibin) is no less exasperated with his new priest, Father Aidan O'Connell (Don Wycherley), than he was with Father Clifford. Father O'Connell, a former monk who, until recently, was cut off from the mainstream world for a decade, is a somewhat reserved fellow undergoing a kind of re-entry shock. Fortunately, he has his outgoing sister, Orla (Victoria Smurfit), around to help him, though Orla proves quite interesting in other respects, particularly her unusual (and strictly platonic) bond with Brian. Finally, there's the aforementioned Colin ("Col" in the show's credits) Farrell, who plays Danny, a young nephew of shepherd Eamonn (Birdy Sweeney) and something of a fugitive in possession of a horse called Razor. Farrell is very good in the role, a haunted boy-man whose historical ties to the region--and to a much-resented other arrival, Sean Dillon (Lorcan Cranitch) and the latter's daughter, Emma (Kate McEnery)--are much more complicated than he knows. --Tom Keogh