Steven Knight's new Netflix period drama is tipped to be one of his best according to key cast member James Norton.
The King and the Conqueror actor who also stars as Guinness foreman Sean Rafferty in Knight's upcoming series House of Guinness, said the script was "Steven at his absolute best, firing on all cylinders" (via Radio Times).
As the name implies, House of Guinness tells the story of the Guinness dynasty.
Set in 19th-century Dublin and New York, the eight-part series will focus on the family behind the famous brewery and is set to "reimagine the period immediately after the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the extraordinary success of the Guinness brewery".
The series will delve into the impact of Benjamin's death on his four adult children Arthur, Edward, Anne, and Ben, as well as "a group of Dublin characters who work and interact with the phenomenon that is Guinness".
"It's the extraordinary story of a family who happens to be the inheritors of the biggest brewery in the world," the SAS Rogue Heroes creator told Tudum.
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"They're young and are given the task of taking on this incredibly successful brand. The first priority is: Don't screw it up. And the second priority is to make Guinness even bigger."
Norton's Rafferty folds into the story as a lapsed Catholic from the south of Dublin who found himself working for the Guinnesses, sometime after a possible stint in Crimea.
"I have to say that until Steven Knight's scripts came along, I hadn't pictured myself doing a thick Dublin accent in mid-19th century Ireland," the Happy Valley star told Radio Times.
Norton described his character as a man with a "weakness for love and sex".
"He has these complicated relationships with women of high status. And while normally he's cool and reptilian, he starts to fall in love and it terrifies him," he said.
Joining Norton as the titular foursome are Anthony Boyle (as Arthur Guinness), Louis Partridge (as Edward Guinness), Fionn O'Shea (as Benjamin Guinness) and Emily Fairn (as Anne Plunket, née Guinness).
House of Guinness will arrive to Netflix on 25 September.
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TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since. For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing. She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.
