Autumn 2008 on RTE

The Stage reports on the headliners for RTÉ's new drama schedule this autumn, including the new six-part series Raw.

Set in "the heady world of a top Irish restaurant", it has been created by Derry-born writer Lisa McGee, winner of last year's Stewart Parker Trust Award. Also new is Whistleblower, "hard hitting" two-parter based on an Irish medical scandal in 2006, written by Rob Heyland, co-creator of ITV's Ultimate Force, and starring Adrian Dunbar.

Returning dramas include the soap Fair City, which will reach its tenth anniversary next year, a sixth series of The Clinic and a third outing for police mini-series Single-handed.

There will also be new programmes aimed at children including the animated drama, Ballybraddan, set in a primary school, and Dance Party, a multi-cultural celebration of dance and song.

Among the new documentaries on offer will be a profile of the Tony Award-winning playwright Hugh Leonard, and a look at the life and times of the legendary theatre impresario Anew McMaster.

Update:The Stage's fact-checkers got it wrong in relation to Fair City, which will be celebrating its twentieth anniversary in 2009.