Small Town, Big Story: cast, plot, first looks and everything you need to know

Small Town, Big Story stars Christina Hendricks as a Hollywood producer who returns to her home town in Ireland.
Small Town, Big Story stars Christina Hendricks as a Hollywood producer who returns to her home town in Ireland. (Image credit: Sky)

Small Town, Big Story is set in a small town in Ireland with a big secret to hide. And things get tough when a Hollywood production decides to shoot a movie on their doorstep, threatening to uncover truths that have stayed hidden since the turn of the Millennium. 

Created and directed by Bridesmaids star Chris O’Dowd, the series stars Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks as Wendy Patterson, a local girl turned hot-shot TV presenter, and Paddy Considine as local doctor Seamus Proctor, who is a pillar of the community. 

Chris O’Dowd says: “I bloody love television, and am most engrossed by stories that bring the remarkable to the everyday. I hope we’ve made a beautiful show that an audience will find funny and will keep people on the edge of their seats…and beyond.”

Here’s everything you need to know about the series Small Town, Big Story

Paddy Considine as doctor Seamus Proctor.

Paddy Considine as doctor Seamus Proctor. (Image credit: Sky)

Small Town, Big Story release date

Small Town, Big Story is a six-part series launching on Sky Max and NOW in early 2025. As soon as a release date is announced, we’ll update you on here, plus details on its US release and channel. 

Is there a trailer for Small Town, Big Story?

Not yet but if and when Sky releases one, we’ll post it up on this page. 

Small Town, Big Story plot 

The residents of Drumban, a small rural village on the border of Ireland and ‘another world’, have been keeping a huge secret since the eve of the Millennium. But then a big Hollywood production team arrives to film an epic drama in the village and throws the area into the spotlight. Can the residents, a collection of ‘rattled misfits’, keep long-buried truths from being revealed to the world? 

The locals often meet in The White Ridge bar (see pictured below), a quintessential Irish pub at the heart of the village. A gathering place for a band of Drumbánian oddballs.

The locals in The White Ridge bar, a quintessential Irish pub at the heart of the village. A gathering place for a band of Drumbánian oddballs, including Keith McCurdle (David Wilmot), Barbara the butcher (Michelle Forbes), Matt Magee (Peter McGann), and barkeep Shelly McGoldrick (Evanne Kilgallon).

The locals in The White Ridge bar, including local oddballs Keith McCurdle (David Wilmot), Barbara the butcher (Michelle Forbes), Matt Magee (Peter McGann), and barkeep Shelly McGoldrick (Evanne Kilgallon). (Image credit: Sky)

Small Town, Big Story cast — Christina Hendricks as Wendy Patterson

Christina Hendricks plays local girl done good Wendy Patterson, who’s now a Hollywood TV producer who returns to Drumbán after over 20 years, having left there under something of a cloud. 

Christina is best known for her role as Joan Harris in the hit show Mad Men but she’s also starred in Bad Girls, Bad Santa 2, Ginger and Rosa, The Buccaneers and Tin Star and voiced characters in animations such as Robot Chicken, Solar Opposites, Scoob and Tinker Bell and the Pirate Fairy. 

Christina Hendricks plays Wendy Patterson in Small Town Big Story.

Christina Hendricks plays journalist Wendy Patterson in Small Town, Big Story. (Image credit: Getty Images)

Who else is starring in Small Town, Big Story? 

Small Town, Big Story has a great cast. Paddy Considine (House of the Dragon, The Third Day and The Outsider) is Drumban’s local doctor Seamus Proctor. He has a neat and well-ordered life, or at least he thinks he does. Soon he will find himself in the eye of a storm as a celluloid circus descends, threatening to blow open a secret he has been harboring since the Millennium.

David Wilmot plays Keith McCurdle , Michelle Forbes is Barbara the butcher, Peter McGann is Matt Magee and Evanne Kilgallon barkeeper Shelly McGoldrick.

Paul Tylak, David Pearse, Jamie Michie, Ruth McCabe, Ruth Codd and Eileen Walsh round out the cast. 

Paddy Considine House of the Dragon.

Paddy Considine House of the Dragon. (Image credit: HBO)

Behind the scenes and more on Small Town, Big Story

Small Town, Big Story is a Sky Original series produced by Playground / FilmNation Entertainment and HotCod Productions in association with Sky Studios. Executive producers are Colin Callender and Scott Huff for Playground, Glen Basner, Milan Popelka and Stefanie Berk for FilmNation Entertainment, and Alex Moody for Sky Studios. Christina Hendricks and Chris O’Dowd are executive producers, Liz Gill is series producer. Directors include Chris O’Dowd, Catherine Morshead, as well as Mike Ahern and Enda Loughman. NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution handle international sales of the series on behalf of Sky Studios.

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Nicholas Cannon
TV Content Director on TV Times, What's On TV and TV & Satellite Week

I'm a huge fan of television so I really have found the perfect job, as I've been writing about TV shows, films and interviewing major television, film and sports stars for over 25 years. I'm currently TV Content Director on What's On TV, TV Times, TV and Satellite Week magazines plus Whattowatch.com. I previously worked on Woman and Woman's Own in the 1990s. Outside of work I swim every morning, support Charlton Athletic football club and get nostalgic about TV shows Cagney & Lacey, I Claudius, Dallas and Tenko. I'm totally on top of everything good coming up too.