Eccentric yoga-teaching nuns, a "disco tractor", bog bodies and a lone wolf who keeps appearing in the dead of night - oh, and some very bad things happening in a picturesque Irish village.
Welcome to the sleepy (or is it?) hamlet of Bodkin in West Cork.
With Union Hall standing in for the town, this is the latest series from Netflix. The seven-parter is billed as "a dark comedic thriller about a motley crew of podcasters" (Will Forte, Siobhán Cullen, Robyn Cara) who set out to investigate the mysterious disappearance of three strangers in the village’s Samhain festival some twenty years before.
Naturally, the eccentric locals aren’t exactly glad to see the true crime merchants, especially when the ill-matched trio begin to discover the truth about what really happened all those years ago.
If we were doing an elevator pitch, we might say Bodkin is The Valley of The Squinting Windows meets Twin Peaks meets The Wickerman. Or something.
Barack and Michelle Obama are among the executive producers and it boasts a strong cast, including the ubiquitous Cullen (Obituary, The Dry), Forte (MacGruber, Run and Jump), and Robyn Cara (Ackley Bridge) as our three very different podcasters.
It’d darkly quaint stuff. However, we can already feel Irish viewers’ antennae twitching at any hint of sham-roguery or beggorah.
"In our writers' room, half of them were Irish themselves. We’ve a mostly Irish cast - bar Will and Robyn - our crew is all Irish and there was definitely an importance placed on making sure It was an authentic portrayal of Ireland and a real one so I had nothing to worry about to be honest. It feels quite genuine and real."
Dove is not only very misnamed but she is also deeply guarded and distrustful of the locals. She skulks around the picture postcard village in a leather trench coat and shades, looking like Carrie Annie Moss in The Matrix
The cast also features Young Offenders star Chris Walley as cheeky chappy Sean O’Shea, David Wilmot as the crusty and rather fierce Seamus, and Pat Shortt as a farmer with a "melancholic bull" and something to hide.
Californian actor Forte is the SNL alumnus who has carved out a respected comedic acting career, most notably in the excellent MacGyver skit MacGruber. He has already made two films in Ireland, including Run and Jump, and this time out, he even brought his wife along while he was making Bodkin.
He plays the charming and seemingly innocent Gilbert Power, a renowned podcaster who badly needs a hit after his career hits the skids. He sees a trip to Bodkin as a chance to discover his Irish roots and enjoy the Guinness.
To say the least, Gilbert is wearing shamrock-tinted glasses. "When I am over in Ireland as myself, Will Forte, I am just as enthusiastic about Ireland as Gilbert is," he says.
"Everyone is used to American tourists coming over and being gaga over Ireland but everyone has been so nice and accommodating and I love Ireland so much and I’ve never had anything less than just a wonderful welcome."
Quaintness gives way to darkness pretty quickly in Bodkin and by episode two, very strange and very nasty things begin happening.
"Absolutely," says Siobhán. "That’s one of the great things about the show. You’re led down a different route than you think you’ve been going. It keeps you guessing, it keeps surprising you. It definitely keeps the audience on their toes and very quickly things descend into chaos."
Not that the actual good people of Union Hall weren't welcoming.
"They were! In contrast to how the Bodkin locals are on the actual show, we don’t get a warm welcome from them!" laughs Robyn. "The people in Union Hall were lovely. We kind of took over their town so I hope they like the show!"
In fact, Will, Robyn and Siobhán made the most of their time in West Cork and took regular day trips during breaks from filming, "There were lots of adventures courtesy of Mr Forte," says Siobhán.
"I love forcing people into my car and taking them places," says Will. "We went to Mizen Head with Chris Walley and then I took him to Sheep’s Head and made him hike around with me.
"I just forced road trips on people. David Wilmot was the only one who just would not bite. He was the only one who didn’t want to explore with me."
Bodkin is on Netflix from this Thursday
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