BBC orders grooming drama from Time scribe Jimmy McGovern via LA Productions

Anna Friel, Anna Maxwell Martin and David Threlfall

The BBC has commissioned an original drama from multi-award-winning screenwriter Jimmy McGovern (Time, Cracker, The Street) that will explore the impact of grooming and sexual abuse on one family.

Directed by Julia Ford (Showtrial, The Bay, Safe), the as-yet-untitled single drama will be made by LA Productions (Broken, Anthony, Care) for BBC iPlayer and BBC One.

Anna Friel, Anna Maxwell Martin, Bobby Schofield, David Threlfall and Mark Womack lead the cast.

Set and filmed in Liverpool, the fictional drama will centre on the Mitchell family, who are dealing with the 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.

The 90-minute drama is being produced by Donna Molloy. Executive producers are McGovern, Colin McKeown for LA Productions, and Nawfal Faizullah and Katherine Bond for the BBC. It was greenlit by the BBC’s director of drama, Lindsay Salt.

McKeown said: “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.”

McGovern said: “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.”