British broadcaster Channel 4 has commissioned an Irish writer to script a sitcom set during the Great Famine which led to the death of one million Irish people and the emigration of a further 1.5 million.
Screenwriter Hugh Travers told the Irish Times that he was writing Hungry after the channel offered him the opportunity to create a comedy series based on any idea he wanted.
"Well, they say ‘comedy equals tragedy plus time," Mr Travers said.
“I don’t want to do anything that denies the suffering that people went through, but Ireland has always been good at black humour.
Mr Travers describes the sitcom as being similar to the hit Channel 4 show Shameless.
Hungry has been dividing social media, with many commenting that the historical significance of the Irish potato famine is not rife for parody:
Channel 4 commission a comedy show on The Irish Famine. What a total disgrace. An insult to their memory! http://t.co/x4NPytfszR
— David McGuinness (@CllrMcGuinness) January 1, 2015
Channel 4: Petition NOT to make a comedy series, about the Irish famine , https://t.co/vHhtce0hw0 via @Change
— Helen Kap (@helen_kap) January 2, 2015
Trust @channel4 to commission a sitcom about the Irish Famine and call it Hungry. Unbelievably crass and insensitive. I hope it's not true..
— James Foran (@JimmyForan) January 1, 2015
