Everything you need to know about House of Guinness

Gentleman’s Journal first met Anthony Boyle in 2016, after the actor had dropped out of drama school to take a job on London’s West End. When asked what he’d like to do next, Boyle told us: “Some screen work would be nice. Something with interesting characters and a brilliant script. What more could I want?”.

Almost a decade later (and via stellar roles in Manhunt and Masters of the Air) Boyle has found the ultimate fulfilment of that wish in House of Guinness. Landing on Netflix on 25 September, the pint-pulling period drama is set between 1860s Dublin and New York City, and tells the tale of perhaps the most tumultuous chapter in the Guinness Brewing Company’s history.

Like the stout itself, the story will balance both bitter and sweet notes — and kicks off in the wake of a death; that of brewer, philanthropist and family patriarch Sir Benjamin Guinness. Leaving behind four adult children — described by series creators as a “powerful and debaucherous titular family on the precipice of greatness” — we’ll follow the Irish clan’s various dramas, and witness the back-stabbing, G-splitting schisms that formed in the aftermath of their father’s demise.

On this side of the Atlantic, we’ll flit between the back alleys and stately mansions of Dublin, with the show focusing on both the workers in the St. James's Gate Brewery and the wider Guinness family as they “experience ecstatic highs and heartbreaking lows [working] to live up to their birthright of black gold”. The show will run to eight episodes.

The drama has some serious TV pedigree, calling on a crop creamier than a Guinness’ foaming head to bring it to the small screen. The big player, and series creator, is Steven Knight — he of Peaky Blinders and the man currently busy bashing out the script for Bond 26. Director Tom Shankland is also in the mix (having previously worked on SAS: Rogue Heroes) alongside producers from shows including Killing Eve, Spooks, and A Thousand Blows.

On the design side, Richard Bullock created the ‘look’ of House of Guinness — all sumptuous upholstery, stand collars and chandeliers. Bullock is currently working on another Netflix period piece, Pride and Prejudice, and is fresh off slick-looking successes including The Day of the Jackal with Eddie Redmayne, Stephen Graham’s time-twisting Bodies, and James Norton-starring McMafia.

Before we get into the core four playing the Guinness children, let’s stick with Norton — who also appears in House of Guinness as the “enigmatic” and “intriguing” factory foreman, Sean Rafferty. He’s joined in a supporting capacity by Jack Gleeson, who once so deftly and memorably incurred the nation’s disdain as King Joffrey in early Game of Thrones.

The Guinness children are led by Boyle (as Arthur), with Enola Holmes breakout Louis Partridge playing his brother, Edward. We meet the brothers after they’ve been given joint stewardship of the brewery — as per their late father’s request — in an arrangement the official synopsis likens to being “chained together”. Normal People’s Fionn O’Shea and Black Mirror star Emily Fairn round out the quartet as Benjamin and Anne Guinness, respectively.

Irish actress Dervla Kirwan, who appeared briefly in the most recent season of True Detective, plays Aunt Agnes Guinness, and the show’s official poster gives us a glimpse of the dead patriarch, who looks suspiciously like British actor David Morrissey, with whom director Shankland worked on underrated 2018 miniseries, The City and the City. No official casting has been announced for the role, but we may see the character in flashbacks.

We don’t yet know where this season’s story will end, but there’s no shortage of drink-based drama to tap from the Guinness family saga. In real life, Boyle’s Arthur Guinness ended up selling his half-share of the brewery to Edward Guinness in 1876, before becoming a baron and moving to a castle in Galway. He got £600,000 — the equivalent of £60 million today.

Add to this mountain of money the scandals surrounding the family — Steven Knight calls the Guinnesses “naturally wild” and cites “their zest for life — their lust for life, often literally” — and there’s definitely scope for more. Knight adds this of the family’s motivations in season one: “The first priority is: Don’t screw it up. And the second priority is to make Guinness even bigger.” The show, it seems, is shooting for the same outcome.

Want more from the streamer? Here's what to watch on Netflix in August...

Become a Gentleman’s Journal member. Find out more here.