‘The Woman in the Wall’ preview: Ruth Wilson stars in Irish scandal drama
We’ve got a first look at The Woman in the Wall!
The upcoming BBC mini-series explores the legacy of one of Ireland’s most shocking real-life scandals – the inhumane institutions known as “The Magdalene Laundries.”
Usually run by Roman Catholic orders to supposedly house “fallen women,” these institutions operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries.
BBC One’s six-part fictional thriller stars Ruth Wilson (Luther, His Dark Materials) in the lead role.
The Mrs Wilson actress is also an executive producer on the series, which is written and created by Joe Murtagh (Gangs of London).
“My family is from Mayo, the county in which the fictional Kilkinure is set, and it deeply frustrates and saddens me that it feels so few people have heard of the Laundries that existed across Ireland,” Murtagh previously commented.
“I hope that by making something that has the familiarity of a genre piece we are able 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.”
Wilson is joined by Peaky Blinders actor Daryl McCormack, who you may have also seen in A Very English Scandal, and with Emma Thompson in Good Luck to You Leo Grande.
Described as “a psychologically and emotionally compelling detective story,” The Woman in the Wall was filmed on location in Northern Ireland in 2022.
When’s the release date?
The series will premiere in the UK on Sunday 27 August on BBC One, and streaming on BBC iPlayer.
American viewers will get to see it later this year on Paramount+ with Showtime in the US.
In Canada, Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and South Korea, the series will be streaming exclusively on Paramount+.
Watch the trailer here:
“Lorna Brady (Wilson) is a woman from the small, fictional Irish town of Kilkinure who wakes one morning to find a corpse in her house,” the official synopis reveals.
“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 (McCormack) 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.
“What is the mystery of The Woman in the Wall?”
Mrs Wilson is available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.