What’s coola boola in French? Love/Hate goes international

RTÉ’s crime drama Love/Hate is to be dubbed into German and French.

The creators of Love/Hate have signed a deal with European Netflix which will see all five series to date being streamed in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

It will be interesting how French and German interpreters translate some of the Dublin argot used by the characters such as “now get the f*ck out of me car, you nosey gee bag”, Fran’s “coola boola”, “I’ve got a bone to pick with you Nidgy” and Tommy’s immortal line when he came around from his coma “can I have a fizzy orange”.

Being dubbed means all the characters will need new voiceover actors in both Germany and France.

Love/Hate already airs in 30 countries including the UK, Norway, Australia, Singapore, South Korea, Israel, Brazil along with Hulu, Netflix and Amazon in the US.

ITV Studios Global Entertainment on behalf of RTÉ secured the multi-year subscription video-on-demand deal with Netflix.

RTÉ's Head of Television Drama Jane Gogan described the Netflix's deal as "fantastic news for RTÉ and Octagon Films".

“Our ambition has always been to make good drama for Irish audiences that can work internationally as well.

“After the excellent engagement with the most recent series of Love/Hate it’s good to see international audiences looking for the show.”

Love/Hate ended the fifth series with the death of main character Nidge. Creator Stuart Carolan has said there will not be a sixth series next year. The drama will return to Irish screens in two years time.

Mr Carolan has spoken of the strain of putting together the series on a budget that is a fraction of what it would be in other countries.

He estimated they spend €600,000 an episode for a series that would cost an American studio €4 million per episode to make.