‘The burning question from everyone was how do you follow series one? And just ten minutes into episode one of series two, it’s clear that Sharon [Horgan] has done it again,' says actress Eva Birthistle. 'It just feels like a very seamless, natural transition for the Garvey sisters.'
We caught up with Birthistle ahead of the hotly-anticipated release of Bad Sisters series two. The first season received multiple Critics’ Choice, BAFTA and Emmy nominations, loved by fans and critics alike, so it's fair to say that there was a certain amount of pressure surrounding a return.
Season one told the story of the five Garvey sisters – Eva (Sharon Horgan, also credited as writer and creator), Grace (Anne-Marie Duff), Ursula (Eva Birthistle), Bibi (Sarah Greene) and Becka (Eve Hewson) – who find themselves at the centre of a life insurance investigation when Grace’s abusive husband John Paul (Claes Bang) unexpectedly dies. Considering Grace’s four sisters had all plotted to murder ‘the prick’ as they dubbed him, their lives begin to unravel under the pressure.
Season two starts two years later, with Grace preparing to marry the much nicer Ian Reilly (Owen McDonnell). But it isn’t long before the sisters’ past threatens to catch up with them. For Eva, 50, returning as middle sister Ursula was an absolute delight.
‘It sounds like a naff thing to say or a cliché, but it is a dream job,’ she shares. ‘I've had lots of lovely jobs over the years, but the five of us Garvey sisters have become really close. The relationships, the friendships that have formed are just very, very special. When we're not with each other, we're in constant contact with each other and trying to see each other so it's wonderful.’
It's a dream job
Eva also notes that while the industry has improved since she started out (as Regina Crosbie in the TV drama Glenroe in 1996), it never happens that you receive a script with five well-developed female leads.
In season two, Ursula has split from husband Donal (Jonjo O'Neill) following her affair and has moved back to the family home to live with big sister Eva (Horgan). And as Eva explains, it’s clear that she’s really struggling with her actions in series one.
‘Ursula is still working in the hospital and she's seemingly holding it together on the surface, but then we realise she’s self-medicating and isn’t okay,’ she says. ‘She's not coping with living with the guilt of what happened in series one - walking around with that knowledge is taking its toll on her. And because she's not talking about it, she’s distanced herself from her sisters as well. She's put herself in quite a lonely place. And only just getting by.’
While the five Garvey sisters are front and centre of the storyline, there are some new faces among the cast. Thaddea Graham (Sex Education) joins as Una Houlihan, a newly-promoted Detective Inspector with a clear sense of right and wrong who becomes frustrated by the nuances of the cases that she’s assigned; as well as Owen McDonnell as Grace's second husband Ian.
A stand-out addition to the cast of Bad Sisters for series two however is the speculator Fiona Shaw (Harry Potter, Fleabag, Killing Eve) as Angelica, the domineering busybody sister of Roger (Michael Smiley) who seems to be harbouring a dark secret.
‘We all love talking about Fiona because we love her so much,’ jokes Eva – who has recently followed in friend Sharon Horgan’s footsteps by writing and directing her own feature film Kathleen Is Here which has been heralded as an 'accomplished and realised story' by critics. ‘She is just a joy. She's a very playful actor. It’s clear she adores what she does, and she takes it very seriously in that she puts a lot of thought and time and effort and energy into it, but then she just has fun with it.
‘She just was having whale of a time and she just made us laugh so much. She's terribly funny. She had everybody crying with laughter through the nuances of her performance. Her choices were just so genius that it's a bit of a masterclass every time watching her. She's wonderful. And I think she's also loved the job. She very much feels like a Garvey girl now so we’ve made her an honorary sister and she's delighted.’
Daisy Hall is a News and Entertainment writer on Grazia, specialising in TV and film meaning that you can count on Daisy for the latest (and best) recommendations.