Not a bad year for Paul and Daisy
As we inch ever-closer to the end of 2020, it's that time of the year whereby all of the ends of the year lists begin to come out of the woodwork.
And one impressive statistic to make note of is just how well 'Normal People' performed for the BBC this year. The joint venture between the UK broadcaster and the US streamer Hulu (based on the novel by Irish author Sally Rooney) was viewed 62.7 million times on the BBC iPlayer up until December.
It shouldn't come as any surprise that the series has become the broadcaster's most-watched series of 2020, arriving on the year that most of us remained indoors more often than we had anticipated. The second most-viewed series on the iPlayer this year was the third season of 'Killing Eve' with 39.3 million views.
Launching back in April to overwhelming praise, 'Normal People' created a huge controversy on our little island with those who deemed the series to be "a porno movie" - not our words, but the words of some Joe Duffy listeners. It certainly would be interesting if RTÉ revealed their viewing figures of the show on the RTÉ Player.
However, the most talked-about drama series ensured that the two main stars of the series, Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones, would also be thrown headfirst into the limelight. The meteoric rise of Mescal saw him bag himself a number of leading Hollywood roles, as well as an Emmy nomination, while Edgar-Jones became the first-ever winner of the Rose d'Or Emerging Talent Award in November.
Work on Rooney's first novel 'Conversations with Friends' is in development with the same team behind 'Normal People' - director Lenny Abrahamson is on board to return - and filming of the limited series will begin in 2021. Expect there to be A LOT of buzz around this one.