Unforgiven (TV series)

Unforgiven is a three-part British television drama series, written by Sally Wainwright and directed by David Evans, that first broadcast on ITV (ITV1 and UTV) in January 2009, and later on STV in 2012. Produced by the Red Production Company, Unforgiven follows Ruth Slater (Suranne Jones), 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, 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 and directed by Nora Fingscheidt, was released in theaters on 24 November 2021, prior to streaming on Netflix on 10 December.

Cast

 * Suranne Jones as Ruth Slater
 * Siobhan Finneran as Izzy Ingram
 * Peter Davison as John Ingram
 * Douglas Hodge as Michael Belcombe
 * Jemma Redgrave as Rachel Belcombe
 * Matthew McNulty as Steve Whelan
 * Emily Beecham as Lucy Belcombe
 * Jack Deam as Kieran Whelan
 * Flora Spencer-Longhurst as Emily Belcombe
 * Faye McKeever as Hannah Whelan
 * George Costigan 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

Critical response
Writing in The Guardian, Gareth McLean 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 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."