Sinéad Keenan

Robyn does not have to be pleasant to make us want to stay with her. In How to Get to Heaven from Belfast (2026), Sinéad Keenan plays her alongside Roisin Gallagher’s Saoirse and Caoilfhionn Dunne’s Dara. The three make a long friendship credible before its history becomes important, allowing their characters to find one another exhausting without leaving us wondering why they still meet. We warmed to Robyn because Keenan makes that irritation feel compatible with affection. It is a considerable help in a mystery-comedy whose plot is sometimes harder to believe than its people.

The harder-pressed women have occupied much of her television work. Her breakthrough came as Nina Pickering in the supernatural comedy-drama Being Human (2009–2011). Little Boy Blue (2017) gave her the grieving mother Melanie Jones, while Unforgotten (from 2023) cast her as DCI Jessica ‘Jessie’ James, alongside Sanjeev Bhaskar. The former draws on her ability to convey grief; the latter makes use of her authority and empathy. It would be easy to keep asking her to be the serious person who copes.

Lisa McGee is a recurring collaborator, and her Northern Irish humour makes particularly good use of Keenan’s bluntness. It depends on people saying what they think without making us doubt that they care for one another. In Robyn, that gives Keenan something more interesting to play than a reliable source of sharp remarks. The humour belongs to the friendship, and Gallagher and Dunne matter as much to its success as she does.

The reservation is that the writing does not always repay the cast. The plotting wanders, and some of the silliness feels compulsory; believable friends can only do so much for an unbelievable development. Keenan helps keep the programme worth watching, but we would recommend it for the company rather than the mystery. We would happily see McGee give her more comedy and rather less plot to manage.