Jimmy McGovern’s ‘Unforgiven’ Tackles Child Abuse Trauma in Gritty New Liverpool Drama

A Raw Look at Child Abuse and Rehabilitation in ‘Unforgiven’

Jimmy McGovern isn’t afraid to wade into uncomfortable waters. His latest BBC drama, Unforgiven (working title: Unforgivable), is a hard-hitting exploration of families living with the scars of child abuse. The idea hit him after getting a letter from a woman who worked with sex offenders—a perspective rarely brought to the screen. Her brutally honest take on her job pushed McGovern to dig into parts of society most people avoid even thinking about.

Set in the heart of Liverpool, Unforgiven follows the Mitchells, a family turned upside down by past trauma. The focus lands on Joe (Bobby Schofield), a man just released from prison after serving time for abuse. He tries to piece his life together at St Maura’s, a tough institution where rehabilitation is slow and uncomfortable. The person in charge of guiding him isn’t the typical therapist but Katherine (Anna Maxwell Martin), a former nun with a thick skin and huge reserves of empathy. Watching over Joe’s reintegration isn’t just about ticking boxes—Katherine’s mission is to push him toward genuine reckoning with his crimes.

But the aftermath doesn’t end with the abuser getting treatment. Joe’s sister, Anna (Anna Friel), faces her own battles. She’s left to pick up the pieces back home, surrounded by the whispers and stares of neighbors and struggling to support her sons, Tom (Austin Haynes) and Peter (Finn McParland), as well as her aging father, Brian (David Threlfall). The family’s pain goes quiet in public but spills out behind closed doors. Nothing wraps up neatly, and that’s the point.

Challenging Viewers Without Easy Answers

Jimmy McGovern is known for human stories that avoid black-and-white portraits. If you’re expecting villains and victims locked in easy roles, Unforgiven will force you to look closer. McGovern, himself a survivor of childhood abuse, puts his experiences and observations at the core of the show. When he says, “People are more than the crime they committed,” he isn’t asking for sympathy for sex offenders. Instead, he’s asking viewers to face the complicated reality—yes, these crimes destroy lives, but society is left to debate what happens after prison, after therapy, after everyone else has turned away.

The production is sharpening its focus on authenticity. Filming in Liverpool isn’t just scenery—it adds grit, context, and a realness tough to fake on studio lots. The cast, with heavy hitters like Anna Friel, Bobby Schofield, and Anna Maxwell Martin, brings weight to roles that demand emotional honesty. Director Julia Ford, alongside producer Donna Molloy and execs Colin McKeown, Nawfal Faizullah, and Katherine Bond, rounds out a team determined not to sugarcoat tough issues.

What McGovern wants, more than easy answers or wrapped-up stories, is conversation. He admits the show won’t give viewers a comforting sense of closure. It’s awareness, discomfort, and debate he’s after. Unforgiven will stream on BBC iPlayer and air on BBC Two, and with its roots deep in true pain and the real words of rehabilitation workers, expect it to hit differently than your standard crime drama.