The BBC drama The Walsh Sisters arrives on iPlayer on Saturday, bringing Irish author Marian Keyes’ beloved novels to the small screen for the first time.
Stefanie Preissner serves double duty on the production, having adapted five of Ms Keyes’ books whilst also portraying middle sister Maggie in the series.
The show follows Dublin siblings Anna, Rachel, Maggie, Claire and Helen as they navigate their twenties and thirties through heartbreak, addiction, grief and parenthood.
Louisa Harland takes on the role of Anna, with Caroline Menton as Rachel, Danielle Galligan playing Claire and Máiréad Tyers as Helen. Carrie Crowley and Aidan Quinn round out the cast as the Walsh parents.
Ms Keyes herself has expressed immense pride in the adaptation, telling fans: “I’m SO PROUD and SO EXCITED, I can’t wait for you to see this gorgeous show.”
Speaking to the BBC about her adaptation process, Ms Preissner acknowledged the weight of responsibility in translating Ms Keyes’ work for television.
“Marian Keyes is so popular and so successful. Her books are beloved,” she explained, noting that the author’s strength lies in revealing characters’ inner thoughts in ways that resonate deeply with readers.
Capturing that intimacy on screen presented particular difficulties, Ms Preissner said, as internal monologue doesn’t translate easily without relying on voiceover techniques.
The television adaptation focuses on the sisterly bonds at the heart of the story
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BBC
One storyline proved especially challenging given its epistolary format. “Anna’s book is a book of letters, which is notoriously difficult to do on screen,” Ms Preissner revealed.
Her solution was to preserve the emotional core of the character whilst depicting key figures Anna encounters during her journey through grief.
Rachel’s narrative required Ms Preissner to make difficult editorial decisions about which elements from the original novel could remain.
The book features numerous characters Rachel meets in the cloisters, but the television adaptation needed to maintain focus on the sisterly bonds at the heart of the story.
The BBC drama The Walsh Sisters arrives on iPlayer on Saturday, bringing Irish author Marian Keyes’ beloved novels to the small screen for the first time
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BBC
“You’re trying to distil it down to what’s important to the characters,” Ms Preissner told the BBC, explaining her approach to condensing the source material.
She described staying faithful to Rachel’s book overall, though this necessitated removing certain scenes that she found hard to let go.
“Because of that I had to get rid of some stuff, which I was really torn about, but I hope people love it,” she admitted.
Ms Keyes herself found the adaptation process initially unfamiliar, having always conceived of her Walsh novels as five distinct works.
Stefanie Preissner (right) in BBC The Walsh Sisters
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BBC
“Reading Stefanie’s scripts was initially a bit of a challenge for me, because I’m used to thinking of the books as five separate entities,” the author told the BBC.
However, she expressed profound admiration for how Preissner had dismantled and reconstructed the source material, weaving multiple timelines into a cohesive single narrative with all five sisters’ stories unfolding simultaneously.
“She’s an absolute genius,” Ms Keyes declared.
Their collaboration involved Keyes providing granular character knowledge when needed, answering questions from Ms Preissner about details such as Luke’s essential nature or what jewellery Maggie would choose.
“I’m so grateful to her for all the amazing work she’s done,”Ms Keyes added.
