‘The Unreal’ (the award-winning family folk horror series) returns to RTÉ One on Sunday 25th October.

It runs through until early November and then is available on the RTÉ Player.

The series has proud Waterford ties, with director Bonnie Dempsey, producer David O’Sullivan and actor Jamie Beamish (Derry Girls, Bridgerton) all growing up in the county.

Dyehouse Films and RTÉ Kids have revealed the cast and first details of ‘The Unreal’ Series 3, a brand-new adventure steeped in Irish mythology, mystery and folk horror. 

The series premieres on RTÉ One on Sunday 25th October, with episodes 1 and 2 airing back-to-back at 4:40pm and 5:10pm. The final two episodes of ‘The Unreal’ Series 3 will air on RTÉ One on Sunday 1 November and Sunday 8 November respectively, at 5:10pm. 

For those who can’t wait to find out what happens, immediately after the first two episodes air on RTÉ One on Sunday 25th October, all four episodes in the series will be available to view on RTÉ Player. 

The return of ‘The Unreal’ arrives hot on the heels of a major win for the show: writer Rodney Lee has taken home the 2026 Writers’ Guild of Ireland Zebbie Award for Best Children’s and Young People’s TV Script for ‘The Unreal’ Series 2.

At the heart of ‘The Unreal’ lies one very strange secret: the Kelly family aren’t supposed to be real. They’re characters who escaped from a long-forgotten 1980s TV sitcom into the real world and they’ve been trying to blend in ever since.

Then an anonymous postcard lands on the in Kevin’s locker. Its sender knows exactly who – and what – the Kellys are.

The hunt for answers leads the family to Inishscéal, a remote island that seems frozen in another time. There, they come face to face with strange islanders, mummers, and the legendary Morrigan, and everything they thought they knew about monsters, outsiders and themselves is turned upside down.

Actor Jamie Beamish says: “I first became aware of The Unreal when Bonnie approached me. Reading the scripts for Series 3 and having the pleasure of watching Series 1 and 2 on the RTÉ Player, I realised this was a funny, smart and VERY Irish kind of show that I wish they had made when I was young. It doesn’t talk down to its audience and has a weirdness and a dark humour that all the best Irish storytelling has had – from Irish mythology to the modern day. So, it absolutely appealed to me, and when I read the character of Lenny I was all in. Lenny is the classic idea of the archetypal male hero of his own story: strong, idealistic, unwavering in his notions of manhood. But there’s something else going on. There’s a crack in his armour, a flaw in his ideals that the arrival of the Kellys make him face up to. But will that make him change who he is and what he believes in? Well. You gotta watch series 3…”