Hidden Assets (TV series)

Hidden Assets is an Irish/Canadian/Belgian crime drama developed by Peter McKenna and directed by Thaddeus O'Sullivan and Kadir Ferati Balci. The series premiered on RTÉ on May 10, 2022. The second season premiered on RTÉ on September 3, 2023. The series is a spinoff of Acceptable Risk.

Premise
The first series is set in present day Shannon, County Clare, Ireland, its Free Zone and airport, and the port of Antwerp, Belgium. It focuses on the Irish Criminal Assets Bureau (CAB) and the Belgian Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU).

The second series of Hidden Assets is also set between Antwerp and County Clare (Limerick, specifically). Following Angeline Ball's departure from the cast, Nora-Jane Noone joined as DS Clare Wallace.

Main

 * Angeline Ball as Emer Berry (season 1)
 * Wouter Hendrickx as Christian De Jong
 * Peter Coonan as Fionn Brannigan (season 1)
 * Charlie Carrick as James Melnick
 * Cathy Belton as Norah Dillon
 * Aaron Monaghan as Sean Prendergast
 * Sophie Jo Wasson as Siobhan Brannigan (season 1)
 * Kwaku Fortune as Josh Ola
 * Gilles De Schryver as Vincent Thys
 * Jane Brennan as Eileen Gately
 * Simone Kirby as Bibi Melnick
 * Michael Ironside as Richard Melnick (season 1)


 * Nora-Jane Noone as Claire Wallace (season 2)
 * Maya Albert as Mila Albert (recurring season 1, main season 2)
 * Bert Kettermans as Aubrey Cline (recurring season 1, main season 2)
 * Steve Geerts as Viktor Maes (recurring season 1, main season 2)
 * Eva Kamanda as Passent Hussein (season 2)
 * Karine Vanasse as Frances Swann (season 2)

Recurring

 * Caroline Stas as DSU Leader
 * Rover de Hauwere (season 1) and Davin McElherron (season 2) as Arthur Melnick
 * Birgit Herteleer as Belgian News Anchor
 * Dr. Marianne Baert as Ariane Van Vliet
 * Sari-Lynn Kerkhofs as Chessa
 * Burak Balci as Zev (season 1)
 * Matthieu Sys as David (season 1)
 * Natali Broods as Isobel Delvey (season 2)
 * Teli Jalloh as CTU Julien (season 2)
 * Natalya Strutsenko as Tedora Babic (season 2)

Production
The series is a spinoff of the crime drama Acceptable Risk. The series was commissioned by RTÉ and Acorn TV in association with Screen Ireland, Screen Flanders and SuperChannel, and is financed through tax incentives from Ireland (Section 481), Belgium (BNPPFFF) and Canada (Quebéc production tax services).

Hidden Assets is produced by Irish production company Saffron Moon and Canada’s Facet4 Media and co-produced with Belgian producer Potemkino. The series was developed by Peter McKenna.

The first season was written by Peter McKenna and Morna Regan. The second season was written by Peter McKenna, Mary Fox & Marty Thornton, Sinéad Collopy, and Susan E. Connolly.

Ratings
The first series' finale was watched by 458,000 viewers in Ireland.

Critical reception
Irish Examiner Esther N. McCarthy felt that the first series "aimed high and delivered for audiences". Pat Stacey of the Irish Independent considered it to be an improvement over Acceptable Risk. Rachel Sigee of i compared the series' handling of sociopolitical themes and international setting to Nordic noir.

The Guardian called the second series of Hidden Assets "superbly dark and twisted" ahead of its transmission on BBC Four on 2 December 2023.

Sales
UK-based distributor DCD Rights confirms new deals for the second season of international crime drama Hidden Assets. Sales include the BBC (UK), SBS (Australia), Stan (Australia), Acorn TV (New Zealand), TV4 (Sweden) and TV2 (Norway).