TV3 ARE ON the hunt for their first ever soap opera.

The broadcaster is currently inviting production companies from the UK and Ireland to pitch ideas for a brand new Irish drama which will be based in an ‘urban setting’.

Spokeswoman Sharon McHugh says that they are still in initial stages with the commissioning process, so a clear vision of what the soap will be is up for grabs.

You can forget about shabby efforts–the station are keen to utilise their new Sony HD studio for the production, and are open to it being a co-production effort.

While the soap is set to broadcast just twice a week, it’s hoping to go up against RTE’s flagship soap, Fair City.

It’s not the only aim, but it’s an aim. Every big station now has their own soap, so we’re not only going against Fair City, but also Eastenders and not forgetting Tyrone Productions’ Ros Na Run.

As for content, the soap is very much open to interpretation at this point.

The style will all depends on ideas pitched, we’re still in the early stages of the process and are inviting producers to form the show themselves.

TV3′s director of programmes, Jeff Ford, is currently scouting the Guardian Edinburgh International Television festival to put the feelers out among independent UK production companies.

It’s welcome news, and comes after Ford’s promise to deliver over 2,252 hours of new home-grown programming across all genres this season.

Sadly, the soap won’t be hitting screens until 2015. Ah well, at least we’ll have At Home With the Healy-Raes to tide us over until then.

What can we expect from At Home With the Healy-Raes?>

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