A new drama about abortion in Northern Ireland is coming to BBC soon

Will you be tuning in?

While lockdown hasn't been great if there's one thing 2021 has given us it's a lot of brilliant TV shows. Another one that should be top of your must watch list is BBC's Three Families, a drama about abortion set in modern day Northern Ireland. [caption id="attachment_331783" align="aligncenter" width="594"] A receptionist is reflected in the window of the Marie Stopes clinic, the first private clinic to offer abortions to women in Northern Ireland is seen in Belfast, Northern Ireland on October 11, 2012.[/caption] BBC's new drama series Three Families will be set between 2013 and 2019 and will tell three true stories of three women and their families before the recent changes were made to abortion legislation in 2019. Pressure was put on Northern Ireland to make changes to their access to abortion as it was one of the few countries in Europe with no abortion rights. New regulations regarding abortion were brought in last year. The two-part drama will be written by Gwyneth Hughes and and directed by The White Princess’s Alex Kalymnios and is set to star Sinead Keenan, Lola Petticrew, Amy James-Kelly and Genevieve O’Reilly. While based on true stories the real names of those involved have been changed to protect the identities of the three women. Speaking about the new series the show’s executive producer, Susan Hogg said;

"Growing up in Northern Ireland I was always aware of the heated debate surrounding the issue of abortion and this is a story I’ve wanted to tell for many years. Three Families goes behind the headlines to tell the true stories of women and girls and their loved ones who have been deeply affected by the law and some of those who worked to change it."

While there is no official date for its release Three Families was filmed last year so we should be able to expect it to air before the end of the year.