Fran (Peter Coonan), Darren (Robert Sheehan), Nidge (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), Tommy (Killian Scott) in ‘Love/Hate’. Photo: RTE

“Love/Hate” is one of my new favourite shows of all-time. In fact, I would argue that it’s one of the best shows you’ve never seen. Why would you have never seen it if it’s that good? Because it’s not bloody easy to find.

It’s not on Netflix or Stan or any of the 1000 other streaming services that now exist. You can buy seasons 1, 2, 4 and 5 on iTunes, but not 3. Alternatively, you can buy seasons 1, 3, 4 and 5 on Microsoft Store, but not 2. You can try and track down the DVDs if you’d prefer but they’re going for over $100 on Amazon, so good luck with that.

“Love/Hate” never formally got a release of any kind in Australia even though the rights were bought. Why it still hasn’t been put on any of the streaming services, not even SBS on Demand, is beyond me.

“Love/Hate” isn’t a new show and you can tell, but if anything that just added to how good it was for me. In the very first episode, the main protagonist, Nidge, is asked by his partner Trish why the door’s locked to his study. His response? “Updating me Bebo page.”

That sent me WAY back. It was both hilarious in that I haven’t thought about the discontinued social networking site in well over a decade (which really shows you when the show was made) but also because what Nidge was actually doing was learning how to assemble and disassemble a Glock. In his study, in the middle of the day, with his kid running around. It sets the scene perfectly.

If I wasn’t clear enough to begin with, “Love/Hate” is about gangsters. Specifically, gangsters from Dublin played by actors you will have seen in a million different things, which is how I originally stumbled upon the show.

You know when you click on an actor’s IMDb page to see what they’ve been in, and then two hours later you’ve somehow found a show that has everyone you’ve seen in other things in it? But, somehow, you’ve never seen it? Yeah, that’s “Love/Hate”.

Nidge is played by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor (in the role of a lifetime), who was in “Dublin Murders” (which was great) but also in the very underseen “Maze”, which was also great and is now streaming on Stan.

He’s joined by Killian Scott, who was also in “Dublin Murders” as well as “Damnation”, which was underrated and cancelled before its time. There’s also John Boy, played by Aidan Gillen aka Littlefinger from “Game of Thrones” or Aberama Gold from “Peaky Blinders”, whichever you prefer.

His brother is played by Brian Gleeson, who is also in “Peaky Blinders”, but was also in “Rebellion” (which is also very good and streaming on Netflix). He’s joined by another “Rebellion/Peaky Blinders” alumni in Charlie Murphy.

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Then there’s Robert Sheehan, whom millennials of a certain age will recognise from “Misfits”, joined by his “Misfits” co-star Ruth Negga, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2016.

There are also multiple cast members from “Derry Girls”, but I’ll let you pick them out. You could argue the cast is absolutely stacked, which it definitely is, and is a huge part of the reason it’s so appealing and eminently watchable.

“Love/Hate” is the kind of thing that doesn’t get made in Australia anymore, especially not now that local content quotas have been seriously weakened amidst the pandemic and reality TV is so much cheaper to make.

It harkens back to the first season of “Underbelly”, the one that we couldn’t watch uncut on telly but that circulated throughout Melbourne anyway despite all the court orders. It’s got the same gritty underworld feel, not only because it’s gangsters, but in the way it’s shot, the way the action goes down, and the narrative.

In the first episode alone, Nidge sets the tone by texting over the body of his dead mate. That’s also not a spoiler, the entire show is predicated on various deaths. It’s about Dublin gangs in the aftermath of the Celtic Tiger; of course there are deaths. It’s a show called “Love/Hate”; if there weren’t deaths, you’d be disappointed.

As John Boy puts it: “It’s a real Irish thing, isn’t it? Funerals, paying your respects, respect … respect for the dead. It’s good though, over in England they put you in a fridge for two weeks and nobody comes, not even your neighbours.”

And John Boy is mostly right. It’s got a particular feel not able to be replicated by gangster shows out of any other country. It’s unique. Ireland is still super-Catholic, Darren (Robert Sheehan) rejects God, his sister Mary (Ruth Bradley) has her rosary beads out the minute they’re required. John Boy has a huge ass tattoo that says “Only God Can Judge Me” across his shoulders. He’s also the owner of a mega-naff Last Supper mural which I could not stop laughing about once I saw it. But I can’t post it here, lest I spoil Season Two.

If you’re a fan of the first season of “Underbelly”, “Peaky Blinders”, “Boardwalk Empire”, “Gangs of London” or even “The Sopranos”, you need to watch “Love/Hate”. In fact, consider this the start of my formal campaign to get it on streaming services in Australia.

We’re missing out, and it need not be that way. All we need is at least ONE streaming service to pick up one of the best and most underseen shows of all-time. It’s got gangsters, family drama, the existential battle between having faith and losing it, as well as a character who calls herself “The Original Gangsta Vodka Bitch.”

For the love of all that is good, make Stuart Carolan’s “Love/Hate” accessible to the masses. Amen.