From threesomes,murders, toy-boys, and lots of sex - TG4's brand new show is about to land on our screens with a bang

If the trailer for Why Women Kill is anything to go by, we are set to see our pulses racing as Lucy Liu leads a cast of amazing actresses in this gripping 10-part dark-comedy drama.

Marc Cherry is the creator and writer of the hilarious show, and considering he is the man who brought 180 gripping episodes of Desperate Housewives to the world from 2004 to 2012, Magazine+ jumped at the chance to get an exclusive chat with the 58-year-old TV legend.

He took the call at 8.30am local time on his way to what has become a routine Covid test, which allows him to walk onto the set of his new show, and he seemed in flying form, despite burying his mum just two-and-half weeks earlier.

"I can't wait for Ireland to see this show," the Californian beamed. "It is set over three different eras following three different women who are suffering at the hands of their husband for various different reasons.

"The link is the house - they all live in the same house at different times and all three plot lines end in murder," he laughs. "Other than that, there are no similarities between the three at all. I fully understand that people will compare this to Desperate Housewives because I wrote it and because the leading characters are all strong women from different backgrounds, but it isn't the same.

"There are some much darker moments and funnier moments, and I also don't think anything will ever match the global phenomenon of Desperate Housewives.

"We live in a different time now; there is a far bigger buffet to sample from. It is so much easier to get a show off the ground now, but it will never get the kind of ratings that Desperate Housewives did. There will never be a Dallas show again that has the whole of America and the world tuning in for. I know that.

"But Why Women Kill is fun and sexy and dark and I am really proud of it. Season one finished in the US last year, so we are about to start filming season two now. It is, by far, the most magnificent finale I have ever written. That was helped by the fact that I had a 10-episode run to complete. It was different to Housewives because that ran for 180 episodes.

So what is the key to creating so many strong female lead characters over several shows?

"It's in my DNA, I guess."

He pauses: "Well, I'm a gay writer, so maybe it is because I don't feel the need to sexualise women. I see them for their talents and strength. I write stuff that makes me laugh and I have a big imagination.

"Also, my mum was the biggest influence on me throughout my life. She was the most amazing person on the planet. I wrote Bree and Lynette from mum. They both had lots of her in their characters. I do ask myself regularly while writing: 'What would mum do here?'

"I used to watch my mum and her friends and I obviously picked up characteristics in them that I can bring to the pages. Unfortunately, she passed [away] two-and-half weeks ago."

Marc admits that he drafted in some help with writing this show, especially with the modern storyline. "I was able to write the 1960s dialogue no problem and I had help from [American screenwriter] Joe Keenan for the 80s strand, but the modern-day storyline needed the most help. So all the young writers worked on that," he laughed. "Some of the lingo was all wrong, so I got some help, but I am really happy with the results."

Does he ever watch any of his shows back? "I have sat through seven or eight versions in the edit room before it is sent to the network, so I never actually watch them when go out.

"I did throw a huge party for the final episode of Desperate Housewives. I had all the cast and crew over to my house, but even then, I couldn't watch it. I was too sad to. I was broke and unemployed before it got commissioned, so it represented such a profound change in my life and I was sad that it was over."

Luckily, Cherry didn't retire his typewriter after Desperate Housewives and from this Tuesday at 10.30pm, you can watch Why Women Kill.