Unforgivable | Preview (BBC Two)

An original drama from multi-award-winning screenwriter Jimmy McGovern (Time, Cracker, The Street) which explores the impact of grooming and sexual abuse on one family.

Set and filmed in Liverpool, the fictional drama centres around the Mitchell family who are dealing with the devastating aftermath of an act of abuse perpetrated by a member of their own family.

The drama examines the extensive ripple effect of abuse from multiple perspectives and how those involved can try to move forwards in the midst of the devastation.

Emmy-winner Anna Friel (Marcella) stars as Anna, Bobby Schofield (Time) as Joe, BAFTA-winner Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland) as Katherine, BAFTA-winner David Threlfall (Nightsleeper) as Brian and Austin Haynes (Adolescence) as Tom.

Further cast includes Mark Womack (The Responder, Playing the Field, Moving On), Paddy Rowan (Time, The Bay, This Town), Phina Oruche (Anthony, Magpie Murders, Taken Down) and Fin McParland making his television debut.

Colin McKeown, executive producer for LA Productions says: “This is a profoundly challenging and sensitive subject, tackled with intelligence and care by Jimmy McGovern. It’s a privilege to be working with him again following the success of our previous collaborations on single dramas: Common, Care, Reg and Anthony.”

Lindsay Salt, Director of BBC Drama, says: "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."

Unforgivable airs Thursday 24h July at 9pm on BBC Two.