RIPPLE effect

ANNA FRIEL on a dark story looking at the aftermath of a traumatic crime

- HANNAH DAVIES

UNFORGIVABLE NEW THURSDAY, 9PM, BBC2 DRAMA

The devastating domino effect of grooming and sexual abuse on one family is examined in BBC2’s hard-hitting new drama Unforgivable.

Written by BAFTA-winning screenwriter Jimmy McGovern, the story is set in Liverpool and sees Anna Friel (Marcella) play supermarket worker Anna McKinney, whose son Tom (Adolescence’s Austin Haynes) was 12 years old when he was sexually abused by her brother, Joe Mitchell (This City Is Ours actor Bobby Schofield).

The feature-length one-off tale begins as Joe is freed on licence having served only half of his four-year prison sentence and arriving at St Maura’s, an institution that offers him a home and rehabilitation.

HEARTBREAKING

As he undertakes therapy sessions with help from ex-nun Katherine Farrell (