The 19th-century family feud over control of one of the world’s biggest breweries forms the basis for House of Guinness
HBO scored a critical and commercial hit with Succession, following a group of cutthroat siblings in a dysfunctional family competing for control of the media empire built by their elderly father. While it’s no secret that the series was not-so-loosely based on Rupert Murdoch and his spawn, the scenario that unfolded has been a familiar one in many a successful family business.
That includes Ireland’s famed Guinness brewery, founded in 1759 by Arthur Guinness and remaining one of the most popular and familiar beverages in the world. His grandson, Benjamin Guinness, took over the business in 1839, growing the company by leaps and bounds; by 1855, he’d become Ireland’s richest and most powerful person.
His death in 1868, at the age of 69, sparked a Succession-like battle for control by his grown children, which plays out in new historical drama House of Guinness, the latest from Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight.
“It’s the extraordinary story of a family who happens to be the inheritors of the biggest brewery in the world. They’re young and are given the task of taking on this incredibly successful brand,” Knight tells Tudum. “The first priority is: Don’t screw it up. And the second priority is to make Guinness even bigger.”
Those siblings — Arthur (Anthony Boyle), Edward (Louis Partridge), Anne (Emily Fairn) and Ben (Fionn O’Shea) — are at the centre of the series. “They’re chained together — [with] these kinds of golden hoops around each other’s souls,” says Boyle, describing his character as the de facto head of the family after their father’s death. “Arthur just wants to go to London, have sex, drink, smoke and have the craic [Irish slang for having a good time].”
Edward, on the other hand, boasts a very different temperament. “He is very principled. I like that Edward really knows what he thinks and he’s assertive. He can be strong when he needs to be, he’s confident,” says Partridge.
Their father’s death, and the will he left behind, causes a seismic shift that creates rifts between the siblings. “Here’s a deceased father deciding the fate of his children. The will determines the trajectory of each of those siblings. What’s a better place to start a drama than that?” Knight says. “They all receive whatever they receive. None of them are happy.”
As Knight observes, the four siblings were “naturally wild,” and lived a debaucherous lifestyle commensurate with their vast wealth. “I’m just in awe of their zest for life — their lust for life, often literally,” he says.
According to Knight, it’s the relationship between brothers Arthur and Edward that is at the “heart” of House of Guinness. “I won’t give away the plot — but they were given joint stewardship of the brewery for very interesting reasons,” he explains. “Before he died, their father very deliberately chained Arthur and Edward together in responsibility for the brewery. You’ll find out why when you watch.”
Stepping into the void left by their father’s death is all-encompassing; not only was he the brains behind the brewery’s massive expansion, he was also a political force in Ireland — in addition to being elected the first lord mayor of Dublin.
“The decisions these characters make about personal issues will have consequences for the future of Ireland, which is quite a burden,” Knight says. “The pressure adds fuel and energy to all of those relationships.”
Perhaps the most intriguing character in the series isn’t even one of the four Guinness siblings, but Sean Rafferty (played by Happy Valley alum James Norton). “Rafferty is one of the most extraordinary aspects of this series,” teases Knight. “His relationship with the family depicts how modern the story actually is.”
Other characters include “determined” Ellen Cochrane (Niamh McCormack), “seductive” Lady Olivia Hedges (Danielle Galligan), ambitious Byron Hedges (Game of Thrones villain Jack Gleeson), Aunt Agnes Guinness (Dervla Kirwan), Patrick Cochrane (Seamus O’Hara), John Potter (Michael McElhatton) and shady Bonnie Champion (David Wilmot).
As Knight explains, he came to the project via production company Kudos, with whom he worked on the 2022 military thriller SAS: Rogue Heroes. When Kudos brought him the story of Guinness family feud, he knew immediately that House of Guinness would be his next undertaking. “They thought this project might be of interest to me since I’m interested in beer,” he jokes. “And my answer was, ‘Yes, definitely!’”
While the basic facts are all true, Knight — as is the case with much historical drama — had to invent the details. “What I had to do is take things that these family members did, things that they said, achievements they made, mistakes that they made, and use them as stepping stones. Then I had to fill in the gaps myself,” he explains. “It’s just a question of saying, ‘Here’s the character that I imagine this person is. This is why they did that.’”
As Norton declares, viewers are in for one wild ride. “[The scripts] are rich, full of brilliant characters — a piece of history,” he says. “Tonally, it’s playful, funny, smoky, sexy, and at the heart of it is a great story with a great family dynamic. The show has everything — rich characters, brilliant relationships, and a sexy, textured world to learn about.”
The series premiere of House of Guinness, begins streaming Thursday, September 25 on Netflix