Peaky Blinders star Daryl McCormack and His Dark Materials star Ruth Wilson have been cast in a new gothic thriller from the BBC.
Created and written by Joe Murtagh, The Woman in the Wall will examine the shocking legacy of Ireland’s inhumane institutions, The Magdalene Laundries.
Wilson will play Lorna Brady, who wakes to find a corpse in her house with no clue who the woman is or if she murdered her.
Lorna suffers from extreme bouts of sleepwalking that manifested during her time at the fictional Kilkinure Convent – home to one of Ireland’s Magdalene Laundries.
As one of a few survivors of the convent, Lorna is left with lifelong suffering and is unable to lead a normal life.
“Lorna Brady is a complex and fascinating character and I’m thrilled to help bring her to life,” explained Wilson.
“In The Woman in the Wall Joe has created both an enthralling gothic thriller and a moving examination of the legacy of The Magdalene Laundries. It’s a privilege to bring this story to screens.”McCormack will play Detective Colman Akande who is in pursuit of Wilson’s Brady for a seemingly unrelated crime.
A press release describes the drama as: “Distinct, stirring and revelatory, The Woman in the Wall is a gothic detective story shot through with dark humour and elements of psychological horror, which follows a pair of forgotten and unlikely protagonists searching for the answers they so desperately need in a place where they have been long buried.”
Creator Joe Murtagh said he was “frustrated” that so few people had heard of the Laundries and that he hopes to “shed some light on the awful things that occurred within these kind of institutions and introduce this history to the wider public, so that nothing like it may ever happen again.”
Peaky Blinders is available to stream on BBC iPlayer and Netflix.
Source: digitalspy.com