Larry adds a Miss to his string of hits
Dancing With The Stars producer Bass tells Niamh Walsh about his big move into drama
Larry Bass is one of the biggest names in Irish television. With his company Shinawil Productions, he is the man behind some of our biggest TV shows, including Dancing With The Stars, The Voice of Ireland,
Dragons’ Den and Home of the Year.
With two decades in the industry, Bass has amassed a wealth of experience and says that while talent can get you on television, hard graft and empathy are the star qualities that will make a glittering career.
Bass has just wrapped up the fourth season of DWTS, which was cut short due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Reflecting on this season, he was full of praise of his troupe of celebrity dancers.
‘It was great. The cast this year was fantastic. A lot of people thought it would get harder to cast – and it is hard to cast the right mix – but we had a great cast this year,’ he says.
‘I’m disappointed we didn’t make it to the final, as we had great things planned. It was a hard call to make. It was a really difficult week, the country was a totally changed place the week of the semi-final.
‘We cut the crew back to the minimum we could sustain to produce the show, and even that was 150 people.
‘We had to decide whether to do a show at all and then whether to do a semi and a final in the one show.’
And while Lottie Ryan eventually lifted the glitterball trophy, Larry said the final four were all fab.
‘Lottie was great – God almighty, she worked hard. I didn’t really know Lottie terribly well, and to see how hard she worked was incredible,’ he says.
‘If any of the four had won that night, I would have been delighted.
‘Ryan Andrews was truly exceptional, Aidan [Fogarty] had never danced and he took it on and every week was just fantastic.
‘Gráinne [Gallanagh] was exceptional, she did some extraordinary things on the show.’
Now that the sequins and spandex have been put away until next year, Bass has turned his producer’s eye towards drama, with period thriller Miss Scarlet and The Duke.
The Crown’s Kate Phillips has won critical acclaim for the first episode of the new Victorian detective drama as she takes on the lead role of Miss Scarlet.
‘It’s been a long time coming. We set up the drama division of Shinawil five years ago. Our ambition was always to get into that space,’ says Bass.
‘We have a significant international focus. The aim and objective is to increase the business and interest of Shinawil internationally and to look for business opportunities.’
After a fortuitous encounter with international production company Element 8, Bass convinced the team to pool their production talents and brought the shooting of Miss Scarlet and the Duke to Ireland.
The show also stars Irish actress Cathy Belton, who was last seen in Virgin Media’s Red Rock.
Miss Scarlet And The Duke follows Eliza Scarlet who, after her father dies, is left penniless in a time where marriage is her only option for financial security. But the headstrong Eliza is determined to find another way. Luckily, she has an ace up her bonnet – her father’s business
– a private detective agency. Eliza knows all the tricks of the trade but as a genteel 19th century lady she’s never been allowed to put them to use.
To operate in this man’s world, she needs a partner. Step forward Detective Inspector William Wellington of Scotland Yard, who is also known as “The Duke” – a drinker, gambler and womaniser.
Eliza and The Duke strike up a mismatched, fiery relationship that crackles and smoulders with sexual tension as they team up to solve crime in the murkiest depths of 1880s London. Miss Scarlet And The Duke is on Alibi, Sundays, 8pm.