''Unforgiven'' is a three-part British television drama series, written by

Sally Wainwright Sally Anne Wainwright (born 1963) is an English television writer, producer, and director. She is known for her dramas, which are often set in her native West Yorkshire, and feature "strong female characters". Wainwright has been praised for th ...

and directed by David Evans, that first broadcast on ITV (

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the ITV (TV network), Channel 3 ...

and UTV) in January 2009, and later on STV in 2012. Produced by the

Red Production Company Red Production Company Limited was a British independent television drama production company that was founded by Nicola Shindler and owned by French production & distribution company StudioCanal. Background Red Production Company was formed i ...

, ''Unforgiven'' follows Ruth Slater (

Suranne Jones Sarah Ann Akers (née Jones; born 27 August 1978), known professionally as Suranne Jones, is an English actress and producer. Known for her numerous collaborations with screenwriter Sally Wainwright, she rose to prominence playing Karen McDonal ...

), a woman found guilty of murdering two police officers when she was a teenager. Upon release from prison, Ruth is determined to find her sister, who was adopted shortly after the incident. The series is set in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ) is an area of Northern England which was History of Yorkshire, historically a county. Despite no longer being used for administration, Yorkshire retains a strong regional identity. The county was named after its county town, the ...

, specifically the village of Boothtown in Halifax. Broadcast across three consecutive Mondays at 9:00 pm, the series averaged 7 million viewers across its run. ''Unforgiven'' won the award for Best Drama Series or Serial at the 2009 RTS Programme Awards. The series was released on DVD on 2 February 2009. A film adaptation of the series, named '' The Unforgivable'', starring

Sandra Bullock Sandra Annette Bullock (; born July 26, 1964) is an American actress and film producer. The List of highest-paid film actors, highest-paid actress of 2010 and 2014, Sandra Bullock filmography, Bullock's filmography spans both comedy and drama, ...

and directed by Nora Fingscheidt, was released in theaters on 24 November 2021, prior to streaming on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on 10 December.

Cast

as Ruth Slater *

Siobhan Finneran Siobhan Margaret Finneran (born 27 April 1966) is an English actress. She made her screen debut in the independant film '' Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' (1986) and subsequently worked consistently in television drama including roles in ''Coronation St ...

as Izzy Ingram *

Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan Farnon in the BBC's television adaptation of Jame ...

as John Ingram *

Douglas Hodge Douglas William Hodge (born 25 February 1960) is an English actor, director and musician. He has had an extensive career in theatre, as well as film and television where he has appeared in ''Robin Hood'' (2010), '' Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Retu ...

as Michael Belcombe *

Jemma Redgrave Jemima Rebecca "Jemma" Redgrave (born 14 January 1965) is an English actress, and a member of the Redgrave family. She is known for her roles as the title character in '' Bramwell'' (1995–1998) and as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart in ''Doctor Who'' ...

as Rachel Belcombe *

Matthew McNulty Michael Anthony McNulty (born 14 December 1982), known professionally as Matthew McNulty, is a German-born British actor. His credits include '' See No Evil: The Moors Murders'' (2006), ''Looking for Eric'' (2009), '' The Musketeers'' (2016), '' ...

as Steve Whelan * Emily Beecham as Lucy Belcombe *

Jack Deam Jack Deam (born Ian Deam; 29 June 1972) is an English actor. He used his grandfather's name for his stage name. His most notable performances have been as Marty Fisher in Channel 4 dramedy '' Shameless'', DC Ken Blackstone in the ITV crime ...

as Kieran Whelan *

Flora Spencer-Longhurst Flora Spencer-Longhurst (born ) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in the CBBC series '' Leonardo'' (2011), and the FX series ''The Bastard Executioner'' (2015). Early life Spencer-Longhurst joined the National Youth Music Th ...

as Emily Belcombe *

Faye McKeever Faye McKeever (born ) is an English actress. Her notable works include playing Linda in Sky 1 sitcom '' Trollied'', Marie in '' Massive'' and Claire Olssen in '' Little Boy Blue''. Career McKeever first rose to prominence in 2006 playing Do ...

as Hannah Whelan *

George Costigan George J. Costigan (born 8 August 1947) is an English actor who is best known for portraying Bob in the 1987 film ''Rita, Sue and Bob Too'' and for roles in TV series such as '' Happy Valley'' and '' So Haunt Me''. Early life Born in Portsmouth ...

as Eddie Ackroyd * Rebekah Staton as Tracey Broadbent * Daryl Fishwick as Carol Crossland * Freddie Jackson as Charlie Ingram * Matt Hall as Rufus Ingram * Will Mellor as Brad * Bill Rodgers as Alan

Episodes

Critical response

Writing in

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

Gareth McLean Gareth McLean (born c.1975) is a Scottish journalist and screenwriter who has written for ''The Guardian'' newspaper and on soap operas for the ''Radio Times'' magazine. McLean graduated with an MA (Hons) in English from the University of Aberde ...

praised Evans' direction and Jones' performance, saying "Measured and mesmerising, the script is taut and true, and Unforgiven has a bleak beauty about it." Brian Viner of

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

also praised Jones' acting and gave the show five stars, writing: "There are moments when our credibility is, if not quite strained, then certainly challenged ..but on the whole it is an engrossing, believable story, cleverly and thrillingly told."

References

External links

* {{Sally Wainwright 2009 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series 2000s British television miniseries British English-language television shows ITV television dramas Television series by Red Production Company Television series created by Sally Wainwright Television shows adapted into films Television shows set in York Television shows set in West Yorkshire Television shows set in North Yorkshire