Anna Friel, David Threlfall & Anna Maxwell Martin Among Cast Of BBC Drama From Jimmy McGovern

Anna Friel, David Threlfall and Anna Maxwell Martin are among the cast of an upcoming BBC single drama about grooming and sexual abuse from Time writer Jimmy McGovern.

Set and filmed in Liverpool, the currently-unnamed drama, per the synoposis, “centres around the Mitchell family, who are dealing with the devastating aftermath of an act of abuse, and the knowledge that it was perpetrated by a member of their own family who, after serving his sentence, has just been released from prison.”

Friel (Marcella, Pushing Daisies), who was BAFTA-nominated for her work in Jimmy McGovern’s Broken, leads the cast alongside Maxwell Martin (Motherland, A Spy Among Friends, Poppy Shakespeare), BAFTA-winner Threlfall (Nightsleeper, Shameless, Housewife 49), Bobby Schofield (Time, Anne, SAS Rogue Heroes), BAFTA-winner and Mark Womack (The Responder, Playing the Field, Moving On). Further casting will be announced in due course. 

McGovern’s LA Productions is making the drama, which will be for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Julia Ford (Showtrial, The Bay, Safe). McGovern is writing and executive producing alongside Colin McKeown for LA Productions, and Nawfal Faizullah and Katherine Bond for the BBC. 

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, said: “Jimmy McGovern is one of our greatest dramatists, and a master at writing about today’s world. His new film sensitively examines the pain of abuse and how it affects not only the victim but ripples out across the whole family. To see it brought to the screen with such a high calibre cast and creative team is further testament to the quality of Jimmy’s writing.” 

McGovern added: “I can’t believe the cast and crew that have been assembled for this production. It’s a challenging film, yes, but I can’t wait for it to be shown.”