Jimmy McGovern drama Unforgiven launches this week on the BBC. Written by McGovern, it is produced by LA Productions for BBC iPlayer and BBC Two. The director is Julia Ford and the producer Donna Molloy.
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.
Having served his prison sentence, Joe (Bobby Schofield) arrives at St Maura’s, an institution which offers him a home and rehabilitation after his release. With the support of Katherine (Anna Maxwell Martin), an ex-nun, Joe undertakes therapy sessions in the hope of understanding what led him to commit the abuse. Simultaneously, his sister, Anna (Anna Friel), is dealing with the enormous impact that Joe’s crime has had on her family – her sons, Tom (Austin Haynes) and Peter (Finn McParland), and her father, Brian (David Threlfall).
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.
Executive producers are Jimmy McGovern, Colin McKeown for LA Productions, and Nawfal Faizullah and Katherine Bond for the BBC.
The following is an interview with Jimmy McGovern, published by the BBC.
Q and A, with Jimmy McGovern
Why is Unforgivable a story you wanted to tell?
I received a letter from a woman who works with sex offenders and wanted to speak to me. She spoke no holds barred about her job and working with sex abusers. She told me certain facts and figures that are quite unbelievable, so I want people to watch the film and learn things about child abuse. I felt compelled to write about it.
You’ve written about this topic before in different ways with shows including Priest and Broken. Can you why you wanted to explore this from a new perspective?
I’ve always been quick to condemn child abusers, as we all are and as we all should be. This is not a film that goes easy on child abusers at all. I wanted the audience to hear a few of the things I’d learned. I think we should be ultra cautious whenever we’re dealing with abusers. I’m a father and a grandfather, I would find it very hard to forgive somebody who had done that to me or my family.
Can you tell us about the individual storylines and who we focus on in the drama?
We zone in on Joe, the perpetrator of the abuse, but we also zoom in a lot on his sister, who’s the mother of the child he abused. He abuses his own nephew – I think you’ve got to show the enormity of that crime. It really is an atrocious crime. If you do it, you deserve to go to prison and suffer the consequences within the prison. We also show the boy affected by it, Tom, and his refusal to speak. He can’t communicate because he knows if he had been able to communicate at the time it was about to happen, it would not have happened. That’s a huge thing for a child to feel and the consequences of that have been enormous.
Can you tell us about the ripple effect of sexual abuse? In Unforgivable, it affects everyone in the Mitchell family.
It’s like a hand grenade going off in the family. Everybody gets shattered with shrapnel. That’s why it’s such an enormous crime. To perpetrate that crime… It’s very hard to forgive. That’s why we concentrate so much on each member of that family, to show the impact that it had on them.
Tell us about Joe, where is he at the start of the drama and how does he change throughout the drama?
He hates himself and blames himself. He thinks that it’s not worth opening up to anybody because people are just going to hate him for what he’s done. He then learns at a crucial point in the drama that there could be a reason why he did what he did – because he too was sexually abused. This makes him want to go after the man who abused him, which he’s never thought of doing. The family’s been torn apart and his poor mother has died after an illness – he’s convinced his mother died because of what he did. We see all of the ramifications.
Could you tell us what you think of the cast?
It was great to finally work with David Threlfall. I’d always admired him. I was delighted when he said yes even though it’s a cough and a spit from what he’s used to doing. Anna Maxwell Martin and Anna Friel, of course, I think they’re marvellous. Two of the best actresses in the world. I worked with Bobby Schofield on Time. He’s a tremendous actor, he really is, and we always wanted him for the drama. I thought the pair of young actors were really, really good. We were fortunate to find them, you’ve gotta be lucky in casting, haven’t you?
Why do you think so many good dramas come out of Liverpool?
I think we’re very good here at seizing opportunity. The crucial thing for me is that it’s a port city, there’s always a curiosity about the traveller. Where have you come from? Where are you going? I think that curiosity about people lends itself to becoming a dramatist.
This drama confronts some difficult truths. Why is it important for people to watch it?
If they watch it, they will learn things. Even though we’re talking about child abusers, I think I still think there’s a need for compassion. Caution, yes, punishment, yes, justice, yes. These are enormous crimes, they must be punished, you must go to prison. But alongside all that, an element of compassion. To understand a bit more and equally condemn.
Image: BBC / LA Productions / Kerry Spicer
Pippa Considine
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