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Unforgivable, the BBC's new drama from award-winning writer Jimmy McGovern, tackles the consequences of family sexual abuse with remarkable honesty. The just-launched Unforgivable trailer gives a glimpse into the emotionally charged series, which explores a family torn apart by deceit and beset by the long shadow of trauma.
The drama features Bobby Schofield, Anna Friel, and Anna Maxwell Martin, and premieres on BBC Two on July 24, 2025. The trailer introduces us to Joe Mitchell (Schofield), who has just been released from prison for sexually assaulting a member of his family.
He is deported to a Catholic centre for reform, St Maura's, where he is treated with intensive therapy by Katherine (Maxwell Martin), a former nun turned therapist. His sister Anna (Friel), meanwhile, is trying to safeguard her two sons and restart their life while adjusting to the psychological impact of her family's history.
Instead of concentrating on the crime itself, Unforgivable looks at the individual and emotional consequences for everyone concerned. It delves into issues of justice, accountability, and whether redemption can ever be achieved. Tone is low-key, eschewing melodrama, and instead is based on painful but honest emotional truth.
The plot: Unforgivable's concentration on consequence rather than crime
The basis of Unforgivable is emotional realism. Joe Mitchell, a young man now in his twenties, returns to society after completing his sentence. He is sent to a therapy clinic, where he starts an agonizingly slow process of coming to terms with his past. His therapist, Katherine, prompts him to explain what he did and why, and encourages him towards responsibility instead of forgiveness.
His family, whom he abandoned, is still reeling from the effects. His sister, Anna, is now bringing up her children in the shadow of trauma. The trailer offers flashes of her holding the family together, leaving little space for healing when safety and trust are already broken.
Themes: Responsibility, therapy, and silence
Unforgivable has a structural understanding of trauma. It gives equal value to both the victim's and perpetrator's paths without mixing sympathy with redemption. Joe's narrative isn't about forgiving—it's about confronting reality. His sessions with Katherine are clinical and psychologically intense, illustrating how therapy compels confrontation over evasion.
Anna's point of view is accorded full consideration. She is not instructed to forgive. Rather, the series delves into how her life has been influenced by the crime, and how survival is not just about coping—it demands ongoing watchfulness, particularly as a mother.
The series also explores systemic failure. The system of justice might have acted by sentencing Joe, but the psychological damage persists, unresolved and continuous. Unforgivable employs this conflict to question whether closure is at all possible.
Cast and characters
Bobby Schofield plays Joe Mitchell, giving a contained performance of a man struggling with internalized guilt and denial.
- Anna Friel plays Anna, a mother and survivor who must navigate her roles as protector and truth-bearer.
- Anna Maxwell Martin appears as Katherine, whose function is to push back against Joe's internal story and try to deal with the psychological mechanisms behind his abuse.
- David Threlfall stars as Brian, the patriarch, whose very presence highlights the intergenerational legacy of silence and complicity.
Austin Haynes and Fin McParland are the children of Anna, portraying the next generation trapped in the ripple effect.
Release date and availability
Unforgivable will be broadcast on BBC Two at 9 PM on 24 July 2025, and all episodes will be available to view on BBC iPlayer from 6 AM on the same day. The BBC has served content warnings and published links to help services for viewers impacted by the content.
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What sets Unforgivable apart is its refusal to frame the story around easy binaries of good and evil. The characters are flawed, deeply human, and in many cases, unsure of what recovery even looks like. Jimmy McGovern’s script does not excuse or redeem, but it examines. The result is a series that prioritizes emotional truth over dramatic spectacle.
Based on the trailer alone, Unforgivable promises to be one of the most challenging and necessary dramas of the year. It offers no catharsis, but instead presents a difficult, nuanced portrait of what happens when a family must confront something that can never be undone.
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