Winner of the Edinburgh Comedy Award for Best Newcomer Ciarán Dowd has adapted his critically acclaimed live show Don Rodolfo into a television short for the screen, airing at 10.00pm on Thursday 22nd April on BBC Two. Co-written with Tom Parry (Pappy’s, Badults), the ten-minute short is directed by Tom Marshall (Ted Lasso, Chewing Gum, Famalam) and produced by Avalon. 

Don Rodolfo is a total butthead, a shameless libertine and the greatest swordsman the world has ever seen. Now barricaded inside a remote tavern, surrounded by the Catalan army and facing almost certain death, Rodolfo has ten minutes to drink a bottle of Valdepañas and tell his epic tale…

This opening chapter will see Ciarán reprise his award-winning character alongside Jayde Adams (Good Omens, Alma’s Not Normal), Ariyon Bakare (His Dark Materials, Rogue One) and Abbie Hern (The Twilight Zone, The Pact). 

Coming off the back of two sell-out Fringe shows in 2018 and 2019, successful runs at Soho Theatre and a nomination for Breakthrough Act at the 2019 Chortle Awards, Don Rodolfo will add to broadcast credits for Ciarán including Stephen Merchant’s Fighting With My Family (Film4), Romesh Ranganathan’s The Reluctant Landlord (Sky), Keith Lemon: Coming in America (ITV2),  Josh (BBC1), GameFace (E4/Hulu), and Zapped (Dave), and he has made the most guest appearances on Drunk History (Comedy Central). Ciarán was also a member of the critically acclaimed sketch group BEASTS, whose sell-out shows were among the top reviewed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2014, 2015 and 2016.

Produced by Avalon, Don Rodolfo Is directed by Tom Marshall (Ted Lasso, Chewing Gum, Famalam). It was commissioned by Shane Allen, Director of BBC Comedy. The Executive Producers are Richard Allen-Turner, Rob Aslett and Jon Thoday. The Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Gregor Sharp.

Read our original Don Rodolfo review here.

Don Rodolfo, 10pm, Thursday 22nd April, BBC Two.