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32 Jan/Feb 2017
COVER STORY
Law Society Gazette | gazette.ie
or the first time in a TV
drama series, the Irish legal
system has taken centre stage
with the launch last month of
RTÉ’s Striking Out, focusing
on a Dublin-based solicitor
who quits her job in a large
firm to set up her own family
law practice.
The show’s four-week run has already
concluded, but the signs are good for a second
series. Development work for a follow-up sixepisode
series is underway, according to RTÉ’s
head of drama Jane Gogan, who describes the
response to the opening run as very positive.
The viewing figures for the Sunday night
airing of each show were also strong. Week
one, which went out at 9.30pm on New Year’s
Day, pulled in an average audience of 445,000
viewers, while 550,000 people tuned in for
episode two and 492,000 for week three. These
figures were supplemented by good numbers
watching the Saturday night repeat and
catching up on the RTÉ Player.
Starring Amy Huberman, the show is
centred on solicitor Tara Rafferty, who – on
her hen night – discovers that her fiancé and
co-worker Eric Dunbar has been cheating
on her with another colleague. She quits her
relationship – and the firm – and with the
personal and professional help of a motley crew
of supporting characters, decides to go out on
her own.
Getting personal
The show has a ‘story-of-the-week’ format,
introducing and resolving a different case
within each episode. The fact that those cases
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AT A GLANCE
Striking Out is the first TV drama
series to focus specifically on the
Irish legal system and Irish lawyers
The series follows Dublin-based
solicitor Tara Rafferty, who quits her
job in a large firm to set up her own
family law practice
On average, the series has
attracted about half a million
viewers per episode
The main stars are Amy Huberman
as Tara Rafferty and Neil Morrissey
as Vincent Pike SC
A number of solicitors and
barristers pored over the scripts in
order to ensure the accuracy of the
legal process
A second series is now being
considered
have a strong focus on personal relationships
was a big attraction for Huberman.
“That’s at the heart of most things when
you’re watching a drama and how they
build up, are tested, and break down,” Amy
told the Gazette. “And because Tara’s been
through her own personal disturbance, she’s
seeing all these other things through her own
experience and where she’s at with it.”
Huberman was also very interested in her
character’s journey. “She has been on this track
her whole life and nothing has ever really upset
her that much. This is the first time where she
has real self-reflection. It’s the first time where
she’s probably had to find the measure of her
own stock and how strong she is, because she’s
front and centre of the job she does. There’s no
hiding.”
As regards the law, Huberman has relatively
limited experience, apart from a stint on jury
duty a number of years ago and having several
friends who work as solicitors.
Her preparations for the role included
spending a day in court with a solicitor.
Although legal advisors were on set during
filming to ensure the accuracy of the writing
and that everyone conducted themselves
correctly, it was very useful to see things firsthand,
says Huberman.
Particularly fascinating was the shorthand
of how people speak to and deal with each
other. “There’s all the old-school formality of
how you talk to the judge, but I was kind of
surprised at how everyone’s talking over each
other and at how busy it is.”
While she never considered becoming a
solicitor, Huberman regards it as a “hugely
interesting job”. “You nearly have a luxury in
[acting] to be able to dip into it without having
to do the four or five years of college. I cheated
and pretended. But I think I learnt a lot through
it, and it was good fun to do.”
First-time barrister
Her co-star Neil Morrissey, who plays senior
counsel Vincent Pike, was drawn to his role by
“interesting storylines” and the fact that the
show is set in Dublin. “And it was a good part.
I’d never played a barrister before. And I think
it was brave of them to think of me to play that
part.”
His preparations for the role were boosted
to some extent by the fact that his real-life
partner is a lawyer. “I was able to run some of
the dialogue by her, but she got her law degree
in America at Berkeley and then she retook to
practise in Washington, then in Los Angeles,
and then moved to England and took the bar
there. And it’s different again when you come to
Ireland.”
For him, the most challenging aspects
of the role were the courtroom scenes. “The
dialogue isn’t triggered by a response. In scenes
that aren’t in the courtroom, it’s easy because
it’s the kind of dialogue you’re used to: the train
of thought is there, and it’s in the last question.
That’s not the case when you’re in court. It’s not
a flowing dialogue and it’s really hard to learn.”