We’re always on the lookout for the next hot new show, and it looks like we’ve found it! BBC has announced a new drama starring His Dark Materials and The Affair star Ruth Wilson alongside Good Luck to You, Leo Grande and Bad Sisters’ star Daryl McCormack, and it sounds brilliant. Find out more…
The six-part show, The Woman in the Wall, is written by Calm with Horses screenwriter Joe Murtagh and has been announced as a "gothic thriller". The story will look at the shocking realities of Ireland’s historical institutions known as The Magdalene Laundries.
The synopsis reads: "Lorna Brady is a woman from the small, fictional Irish town of Kilkinure who wakes one morning to find a corpse in her house. Chillingly, Lorna has no idea who the dead woman is, or if she herself might be responsible for the apparent murder. That’s because Lorna has long suffered from extreme bouts of sleepwalking ever since she was ripped from her life at the age of 15 and incarcerated in a convent. There, Lorna gave birth to her daughter Agnes, who was cruelly taken from her and whose fate Lorna has never known.
"Unluckily for Lorna, Detective Colman Akande is now also on her tail, for a crime seemingly unrelated to the body she has discovered in her house. The ambitious Colman quickly rose through the ranks of the Garda Síochána thanks to his natural aptitude. His scathing wit hides a quiet sadness, and when he meets Lorna Brady, he finds himself forced to confront his own haunting secrets.
"As Colman searches for a murderer and Lorna searches for her daughter, their paths collide in ways they could never have anticipated. Lorna’s search for Agnes will take her deep into her own past and to the heart of Kilkinure’s darkest secrets, as she and Colman seek the answers they each so desperately need."
The drama has been described as emotionally compelling with dark humour, and we can’t wait to check it out. The show has yet to confirm a release date, but is coming soon to BBC One and iPlayer - so watch this space!
So what were the Magdalene Laundries? The institutions were run from the 18th to the late 20th centuries and housed women, including prostitutes, petty criminals and unwed mothers. The Irish government has acknowledged that the women housed there were victims of abuse since 2001 and in 2013 set up a £50 million compensation scheme for survivors.
This isn’t the only upcoming project to examine the Magdalene Laundries, as there is currently an adaptation of Enda Walsh’s novel Small Things Like These in the works, which also looks at the institutions. It is set to star Oppenheimer star Cillian Murphy, Ciaran Hinds and Emily Watson.