RTÉ crime drama Kin to return for third series in 2027 after four-year hiatus

RTÉ's most successful scripted drama since Love/Hate is set to return for a third series in 2027, the broadcaster confirmed on Tuesday as part of what it described as its biggest-ever drama offering. The news ends more than two years of uncertainty that followed the 2023 bankruptcy of Canadian co-producer Bron Studios, which had thrown the show's future into serious doubt.

How Kin got back on screen

The revival was secured after RTÉ found a new financial partner. While RTÉ's director of acquisitions and co-production Dermot Horan had earlier likened the process of acquiring the show's assets to "trying to buy someone's property in an executor's sale", the BBC has since come on board for the third series. The new season will be produced by Irish company Metropolitan Pictures, which worked on the first two series, alongside House of Juno, a production company co-founded by Kin star Charlie Cox.

It was like trying to buy someone's property in an executor's sale.

The third season is already in production and is expected to shoot in Dublin in the coming weeks. RTÉ has indicated that the show will air next year, four years after the second series concluded in 2023.

The Kinsella family's darkest chapter

The official synopsis for the third series warns that the greatest danger to the Kinsella criminal empire now comes from within. "As buried betrayals resurface and internal rivalries intensify, the new series promises the darkest and most compelling chapter yet of the Kinsella story," RTÉ stated. The synopsis adds that "festering rivalries turn inward, and the greatest threat to the family empire becomes the family itself."

Kin Season Three reunites the nation with the Kinsella crime family. As they consolidate power, buried betrayals and festering rivalries turn inward.

The first two series each ended with the deaths of high-profile cast members, and RTÉ's promotional material suggests this pattern may continue. The second series concluded with Amanda Kinsella, played by Clare Dunne, taking over the family operation.

Returning cast and creative team

Created by screenwriter Peter McKenna and co-created by Ciaran Donnelly, Kin first launched on RTÉ One in September 2021. The show stars Charlie Cox, Clare Dunne, and Emmett J Scanlan, with previous seasons also featuring Aidan Gillen and Ciarán Hinds among the cast. The series was a major ratings success and was acquired internationally by the BBC and Netflix. RTÉ has not released further details of casting or plot lines for the third series.

A record slate of 160 hours

The return of Kin headlines a drama slate totalling 160 hours of Irish drama, up from 142 hours last year and described as RTÉ's most ambitious commitment yet to Irish storytelling. The expanded offering includes in-house soap opera Fair City, which accounts for approximately 100 hours of programming annually.

The scale of the 2026 slate will support hundreds of jobs across the Irish screen industry, including writers, directors, producers, crews, post-production teams, designers and technical specialists.

Steve Carson, RTÉ's Director of Video, said 2026 is the broadcaster's "biggest ever year for new Irish drama" and noted that productions are currently filming in locations including Galway, Dublin and Cork.

New and returning titles

Beyond Kin, the second series of The Walsh Sisters, an adaptation of Marian Keyes' novels, is back in production. The show follows five sisters navigating addiction, grief, motherhood and mental health following the events of the first season. Tall Tales & Murder, a darkly comedic drama co-created by Love/Hate creator Stuart Carolan and Chris Addison, was filmed in Dublin last year and will air this autumn. The new commissions also include The Yank, a six-part crime drama starring Star Trek: Voyager actress Kate Mulgrew as an NYPD detective who returns to Ireland after a traumatic event and becomes involved in a murder investigation. Additional Irish drama projects already in production will be announced in the coming months. Children's output will also expand with new dramas including The Unreal, Do Not Watch Alone, and Tales of Terror.