David Farnor | On 05, Mar 2016

BBC Three’s Murdered By My Father will arrive on the online channel at 6pm on Tuesday 29th March – and the BBC have released a first look at the drama.

Based on fact, Murdered By My Father tells the story of the so-called ‘honour’ killing of a 17-year-old girl by her father and explores how family love and duty can be turned to violence and murder.

Adeel Ahktar, known for his roles in Four Lions, Utopia and The Night Manager, stars as Shahzad, with Kiran Sonia Sawar, whose TV drama performances have included parts in American crime series Legends and the BBC’s Holby City, playing his daughter, Salma. Salma’s love interest, Imi, is played by Mawaan Rizwan, known for his YouTube comedy channel Malum TV and most recently for fronting BBC Three’s documentary, How Gay Is Pakistan.

Focusing on the bonds of love and grief uniting a daughter with her widower father, as well as his need to control her burgeoning teenage wish for freedom, the show is penned by young screenwriter Vinay Patel and based on testimonies of a range of individuals, many of whom have never spoken in public, as well as charities and institutions set up to deal with the problem of ‘honour’ based violence.

The drama is directed by Bruce Goodison and aims to examine the psychology of this shocking but prevalent crime. It follows the success of similar BBC Three dramas based on real-life testimonies, such as the BAFTA-award-winning Murdered By My Boyfriend.

“Honour killings continue to occur across various cultures and communities in the UK today,” explains BBC Three, “with 12,000 ‘honour-based’ crimes reported in the UK since 2010 and 29 murders committed in the past five years.”

Executive Producer Aysha Rafaele, says: “We felt so excited to be working with our young cast and writer, the wonderful Vinay Patel, and to be part of BBC Three’s great story of breaking new creative talent.”

The drama will be accompanied by separate short-form content on BBC Three, which will include a short film defining Love, Shame and Guilt, a ‘Threebrief’ interview with the creators of the programme, a podcast exploring the story of an arranged marriage, and a separate piece about the recent history of ‘honour’ crimes.

“BBC Three continues to be the home of thought-provoking content for younger audiences to discover and I’m delighted that we’ve assembled such a strong cast for this remarkable, hard-hitting drama inspired by real events,” comments Controller of BBC Three, Damian Kavanagh. “This is also a good example of the creative freedom we now have – we’ve lined up some brilliant short-form content to supplement the film and we’re no longer constrained by timeslots – Murdered By My Father runs to 75 minutes because that’s what has worked for telling this incredibly powerful story.”

Murdered By My Boyfriend will premiere on BBC Three in late March 2016, with the exact release date yet to be confirmed. In the meantime, read on to watch a clip from the programme – or head this way for our guide to what’s coming soon to BBC Three.

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