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Miniseries – Death and Nightingales

Play trailer 0:59 Poster for Miniseries – Death and Nightingales Nov 2018 History Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
60% Tomatometer 15 Reviews 33% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
Based on Eugene Mcabe's modern Irish classic, this is a tale of love, betrayal, deception and revenge of a young woman, her secret lover and her stepfather set in the Irish countryside of 1885.
Death and Nightingales — Miniseries

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Death and Nightingales deploys superb British talent to ably furnish an absorbing drama with the coiling undercurrent of duplicity, but some viewers may view the series' stony seriousness to be more leaden than stirring.

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Critics Reviews

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Roxana Hadadi RogerEbert.com May 11, 2021
2/4
The performances are mostly strong, but the subject matter is so dense, the cultural and religious details so complex, and the affection toward melodrama so unrepentant. Go to Full Review Lucy Mangan Guardian Mar 8, 2019
3/5
It is solid entertainment for the darkening winter evenings - and the story of a country in the process of painfully dividing itself has a timeliness of its own. Go to Full Review Deborah Ross The Mail on Sunday (UK) Dec 11, 2018
3/5
Billy could easily be a straight-up-and-down villain but Rhys's portrayal is so wonderfully nuanced he brings us a complex man who wants to love but just doesn't know how. Go to Full Review Tara Bennett Paste Magazine May 17, 2021
6/10
Despite the good, the pace of the series is too problematic. There's a strong argument to be made that the whole endeavor could have been distilled down to a more potent two-hour movie. Go to Full Review Megan Sunday The Spool May 17, 2021
Beautiful and well-acted, Death and Nightingales nonetheless strains the audience's limit for melodrama. Go to Full Review Jasper Rees The Arts Desk Dec 18, 2018
3/5
But for all the trappings of melodrama - stashed coin, poison, secret love trysts and one post-coital dip - it's a bit bewitched by its own lyrical rhythms. Slow. Even ever so moderately dull? Go to Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Andrei D @RT74856639 Jul 17, 2025 Skelly is very good but the story has too many scattered ideas and doesn't five viewers enough context See more Nov 25, 2020 It was an alright time-passer, although very dragged out. I skipped through much of the episodes, as there was alot of backstory which didn't develop, but just kind of went round in circles. The open ended finale made me feel like I had just watched nothing. But the three stars are for the fabulous acting of Matthew Rhys. See more Read all reviews
Death and Nightingales — Miniseries

My Rating

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Cast & Crew

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Matthew Rhys

Billy Winters

Ann Skelly

Beth Winters

Jamie Dornan

Liam Ward

Charlene McKenna

Mercy Boyle

Sean McGinley

Bishop Donnelly

Aoibheann Mullan

Young Beth

Episodes

Episode 1 Aired Nov 28, 2018 On the day of her 23rd birthday, Beth wakes to the bawling of a beast in pain; venturing out into the dark, she discovers a cow dying of bloat; Beth knows what to do, though she has never done it before, and manages to save the animal's life. Details Episode 2 Aired Dec 5, 2018 Beth decides to tell Mercy that she is leaving Fermanagh, but Mercy protests and exclaims it will break her heart, and Billy's too. Beth puts her plan to run away with Liam into action, but a suspicious and very drunk Billy questions Beth. Details Episode 3 Aired Dec 12, 2018 Planning on eloping with Ward, Beth steals Billy's gold and leaves, but the Dummy stops her and issues a dire warning. Details

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Death and Nightingales — Miniseries

Death and Nightingales: Limited Series Trailer Death and Nightingales: Limited Series Trailer 0:59 Now Playing View more videos
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Death and Nightingales — Miniseries

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Season Info

Director
Allan Cubitt
Executive Producer
Allan Cubitt, Tommy Bulfin, Phil Robertson
Screenwriter
Allan Cubitt
Network
BBC
Rating
TV-MA
Genre
History, Drama
Original Language
British English
Release Date
Nov 28, 2018
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