Writers Susan E. Connolly and Cara Loftus discuss ‘Hidden Assets’ season 3

The Criminal Assets Bureau is back in action, and this time the stakes are higher than ever. The new season opens with a brutal murder in Bilbao that pulls DS Claire Wallace (Nora-Jane Noone) into a dangerous web of corruption, embezzlement and international crime.

Behind the suspense and intrigue is a team of writers led by Peter McKenna, joined by returning writer Susan E. Connolly (Redemption, The Iris Affair) and newcomer Cara Loftus (Spilt Milk, Hardacres S2).

Following the season 3 debut on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player Sunday, 9 November at 9:30 pm. IFTN caught up with Susan and Cara as they discuss the energy of the writers’ room, the evolution of Irish storytelling on a global stage, and what audiences can expect from the show’s third outing.

Hidden Assets season 3 is available on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player every Sunday at 9:30 pm.

IFTN: Cara, this is your first time writing for Hidden Assets. What was it like stepping into an established show with a strong voice and loyal audience, and what did you most want to contribute to it?

Cara: “Good question. It was my first time writing for TV, so that was really exciting. It was my first time in a writer’s room. I’d seen the other two series. I loved the world. I loved the characters. I was really excited to see how the show was put together and to step into a writers room as a writer whose writing TV for the first time. So the writers room experience was brilliant.

Because you’ve seen the other seasons, the tone of the show, the voice of the characters, the dilemmas that they’ve already had. That’s really exciting to draw on and see where they’re going to go further and how those characters are going to be pushed and what kind of directions you can push them in.”

IFTN: Susan, what drew you back to Hidden Assets for a second season, how did it feel to be back?

Susan: “It was wonderful to come back, obviously I love the show and the characters and having then written on season 2, you love them more because they’re kind of your babies, and then on a professional level everyone I’ve ever met has been so nice. I never believe any compliments are real apart from the compliment of actually being asked back to write again! That’s the only time I believe all the nice things they said.

It was great to get back in a room with Peter and Mary and Marty. It was great to meet a new friend, Cara. It was actually, really valuable to have Cara with us because obviously Peter had been there since the start, and me, Mary and Marty were there for season 2. So having someone who is a talented writer but who absorbed the show as a viewer beforehand is really interesting. It gives us a different perspective, we might have all these internal ideas about what happens but she would have a view that was not informed by that.”

IFTN: You worked as part of a larger writing team led by Peter McKenna. What does that collaboration look like in practice — and how did your individual voices find space within the shared story?

Susan: “Working with Peter is great. Peter is obviously an extremely experienced writer. It’s really wonderful because you get to learn from his experience. He’s worked in so many rooms, he is so experienced, he’s also aware that there’s a reason he’s not there in a room on his own, you know? He gives you the space to contribute and have your ideas and bring a different perspective.

I think he’s also very good at managing a group of people with the diverse perspectives. You have to be confident because if you’re not confident in a room, you’ll end up saying nothing useful. And making sure that everyone is heard, but also that they feel heard. Also that you are not having any preconceived notion about where it is they’re going with their idea, because they might see the world a little bit differently from you. I think I was very lucky to have Peter there with those years of experience.”

Cara: “It was a brilliant learning experience, seeing someone who has created these amazing shows. I think the great thing about the room was that it was such a creative space and you felt really encouraged to share your ideas and really supported in saying, ‘well, what if this person did this?’ That was always really encouraged.”

IFTN: Hidden Assets is both a distinctly Irish series and a European co-production. How do you think Irish storytelling is evolving in this kind of global context, and what does that mean for writers like yourselves?

Susan: “Even in the bits that aren’t set in Ireland, there is an understanding of Ireland as an international country, a global country, which we are and that’s one of the great things about Hidden Assets is that one of the important things about the message of the show is that that these crimes cross borders. They are international.

I will watch shows that are set entirely not in Ireland and I can empathise with them, connect with them, like Vikings. Or I can watch shows entirely set in America, one of my favourite shows is ER, which is about American healthcare, nothing to do with us. I can watch shows set in Britain that are incredibly British. And now there are a lot of shows in Ireland that have an international success, I feel there’s big opportunity.”

Cara: “The co-production element is brilliant but also that (Irishness), it’s very much built into the DNA of the show. And I think that’s what’s brilliant about the authenticity of the world.”

IFTN: Susan, you were part of Season 2’s writing team. What did you want to develop about the tone, themes or characters in Season 3?

Susan: “What I wanted to do, was to do exactly what Peter plans to do because it was correct! But the parts of it that I enjoyed the most were that we had had a really fun opportunity this season to bring in some new characters and go to a new location. But it was it was always bittersweet, because there are some characters who you love, or that you’ve actually grown to love over the course of the show that can’t be there anymore because their story is over. So bittersweet. But then what an opportunity, because then you can bring in new characters, put in new settings.”

IFTN: Cara, coming from your IFTA-nominated feature Spilt Milk, how did you find the transition to writing for a collaborative television drama like Hidden Assets?
Cara: “What’s amazing about working in TV is that you’re working as part of a creative writing team. You’re surrounded by this amazing creative group of people. When you’re writing a feature, some parts of writing, a feature can be quite insular.
You’re maybe by yourself a bit more and you’re working with a smaller group of people.

They’re different paces as well. The feature I was developing for a few years, but when you’re coming into the writers room, the show is established, there’s two seasons, everyone’s written episodes on previous seasons. And so as a creatively collaborative experience that was so rewarding for me.”

IFTN: Cara, could you tell us in a couple of words what audiences can expect from Hidden Assets season 3?

Cara: “Dramatic. Pacey. A journey full of twists and turns!”

IFTN: Susan, without giving too much away, could you share one of your highlights from Hidden Assets season 3?

Susan: “My favourite part of the season is Sean’s very bad, no good, horrible day!” [Cara and Susan laugh]

Hidden Assets season 3 is available on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player every Sunday at 9:30 pm.