McCormack to star in BBC thriller series
Nenagh actor Daryl McCormack is to star in a new thriller series based on the notorious Magdaline Laundries, due to be screened on BBC One from this Sunday.
The Nenagh man will star alongside Ruth Wilson in the psychological thriller, The Woman in the Wall, that charts life for women in the State supported institutions where unmarried mothers worked virtually as slaves for the “sin” of becoming pregnant out of wedlock or breaching other social taboos.
Wilson plays Lorna Brady, a woman from the small fictional town of Kilkinure who wakes one morning to find a corpse in her house.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.
MCCORMACK'S ROLE
Unluckily for Lorna, Detective Colman Akande, played by 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 an Garda Síochána thanks to his natural aptitude.
According to the official BBC synopsis of the thriller, Colman’s “scathing wit hides a quite 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.”
This latest starring role for McCormack follows the wide acclaim he received last year for performances in the Sharon Horgan drama Bad Sisters and the Emma Thompson film Good Luck to You, Leo Grand. Among his other top roles include one in Peaky Blinders.
Ruth Wilson is perhaps best known for playing Alice Morgan in Luther, but she has also played significant roles in His Dark Materials, Mrs Wilson and The Affair.
The Woman in the Wall is created by Joe Murtagh and the series is directed by Harry Wootliff.
The six-part drama will premiere on Sunday, August 27 at 9.05pm on BBC One, before continuing with its second episode at the slightly earlier time of 9pm the following evening.
It's not yet clear if the remaining four episodes will follow in weekly instalments or continue in the same double-header pattern, or if the full series will be made available as a boxset on iPlayer.