The Young Offenders. Image shows from L to R: Conor MacSweeney (Alex Murphy), Jock O'Keeffe (Chris Walley)
The Young Offenders

The Young Offenders

  • TV sitcom
  • BBC Three / BBC One
  • 2018 - 2020
  • 19 episodes (3 series)

Comedy series about two inner-city teenagers, based on the 2016 Irish film of the same name. Stars Chris Walley, Alex Murphy, Hilary Rose, Jennifer Barry, Demi Isaac Oviawe and more.

Episode menu

Series 1, Episode 1

The Young Offenders. Image shows from L to R: Jock O'Keeffe (Chris Walley), Conor MacSweeney (Alex Murphy)
Mischief bring best pals Conor and Jock into conflict with their headmaster, leaving Conor's mum to pick up the pieces.

Preview clips

Further details

Conor's long suffering mother Mairead tries to keep both her son and his best friend on the straight and narrow, with varying degrees of success.

Friendship, loyalty, laughter and lots of mischief bring best pals Conor and Jock into conflict with their headmaster, leaving Conor's mum to pick up the pieces. To add fuel to the fire, the lads strike up friendships with the headmaster's daughters.

Broadcast details

Date
Thursday 1st February 2018
Time
10am
Channel
BBC Three
Length
30 minutes

Repeats

Show past repeats

Date Time Channel
Friday 9th February 2018 11:25pm BBC1
Monday 7th October 2019 10:35pm BBC1
Monday 7th October 2019 11:35pm BBC1 Scot
Monday 31st January 2022 10:35pm BBC1
Monday 31st January 2022 11:35pm BBC1 Scot
Wednesday 2nd February 2022 10:00pm BBC3
Monday 24th April 2023 10:00pm BBC3
Tuesday 25th April 2023 1:15am BBC3
Tuesday 20th February 2024 10:45pm BBC3
Wednesday 21st February 2024 2:30am BBC3

Cast & crew

Cast
Chris Walley Jock O'Keeffe
Alex Murphy Conor MacSweeney
Hilary Rose Mairead MacSweeney
Jennifer Barry Siobhan Walsh
Demi Isaac Oviawe Linda Walsh
PJ Gallagher Principal Barry Walsh
Dominic MacHale Sergeant Healy
Shane Casey Billy Murphy
Guest cast
Christopher O'Flaherty Building Owner
Donal Cotter Teenager
Luke Dunlea Teenager
Ger Mullins Teenager
Luke O'Driscoll Teenager
Thomas McCarthy Teenager with Knife
Dean Cronin Passing Pupil
John Murphy Guard
Joe Campff Teenager Given Mask
Ciaran McCarthy Teenager Given Mask
Chris Kent Conor's Dad
Louis Slattery Young Conor
Writing team
Peter Foott Writer
Derek Dillon Writer (Additional Material)
Ross Browne Writer (Additional Material)
Jocelyn Clarke Script Editor
Production team
Peter Foott Director
Martina Niland Producer
Peter Foott Executive Producer
Cormac Fox Executive Producer
Lotte Beasley Executive Producer
Abby Singer Executive Producer
Eddie Doyle Executive Producer
Justin Healy Executive Producer
Hugh Chaloner Editor
Anna Maria O'Flanagan Editor
Owen Power Production Designer
Mike Foott Casting Director
Derek Foott Casting Director
Patrick Jordan Director of Photography
Lara Campbell Costume Designer
Ray Harman Composer
Jonathan Shaw 1st Assistant Director
Alex Moody Commissioning Editor

Video

Meet The Young Offenders Of Cork

Meet Conor MacSweeney and Jock O'Keeffe of County Cork. Friendship, loyalty, laughter and lots of mischief bring these best pals together.

Featuring: Alex Murphy (Conor MacSweeney), Chris Walley (Jock O'Keeffe) & Dominic MacHale (Sergeant Healy).

Press

The Young Offenders review

Interestingly, a homoerotic undertone is more than hinted at: the love the two scallies have for each other almost made explicit.

Steve Bennett, Chortle, 3rd February 2018

I'm always willing to give BBC Three comedy a try because occasionally it leads to discoveries of hidden gems such as the wonderful This Country. Like This Country, The Young Offenders is another low-budget piece focusing on a couple of youngsters who are presented as outcasts from society. Based on the film of the same name, The Young Offenders focuses on Irish teenagers Conor MacSweeney (Alex Murphy) and Jock O'Keefe (Chris Walley). This first episode is essentially an introduction to the characters, their world and the relationship that the pair share. It's clear that Conor is the smaller, smarter and less confident of the pair whilst Jock acts as his protector which is evidenced in an opening scene where he gets revenge against a bully whose stolen his friend's phone. The main focus of the plot is on the pair being put in the frame for a theft and facing the ire of their unpopular headmaster after they form a romantic attachment with his daughters. The episode also introduces Conor's fiercely protective mother Mairead (Hilary Rose) who, in one of the episode's funnier scenes, provides the boys with a flimsy alibi. As a sitcom, The Young Offenders didn't particularly make me laugh with most of the gags being fairly basic and not provoking anything more than a titter. But at the same time, the programme wasn't without its charm thanks in part to the two leads whose winning chemistry kept me watching the show. Murphy and Walley certainly understand their characters and their partnership is believable throughout even in the episode's more far-fetched moments. Furthermore, I appreciated the sentiment behind the episode; friends will always try to look like each other as that's a way of showing how much the other person means to them. However, I hope that now that the world has been established, the writing team behind The Young Offenders can focus on making it funnier as there's only so many episodes of a sitcom I can watch without it making me laugh. However, I would recommend you at least check out the opener of The Young Offenders on BBC Three as it's a show that has its heart in the right place and one that contains a believable chemistry between Murphy and Walley.

Matt, The Custard TV, 3rd February 2018

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