David Farnor | On 11, Aug 2023

Ruth Wilson is returning to BBC One this month for The Woman in the Wall, and a new trailer gives us first look at the gothic thriller.

The six-part series is created and written by Joe Murtagh (Calm with Horses) and directed by Harry Wootliff and Rachna Suri. The sensitively crafted, fictional drama series examines the legacy of one of Ireland’s most shocking scandals – the inhumane institutions known as The Magdalene Laundries.

Wilson stars as Lorna Brady, a woman from the small, fictional Irish 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.

Unluckily for Lorna, Detective Colman Akande (Daryl 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 the Garda Síochána thanks to his natural aptitude. His scathing wit hides a quiet 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.

Made by Motive Pictures for BBC and SHOWTIME, THE WOMAN IN THE WALL is written by with Susan Breen as producer. Executive producers are Simon Maxwell (Get Millie Black, Deep State), Sam Lavender (Saint Maud, The Lobster, ’71), Joe Murtagh, Ruth Wilson and Harry Wootliff, with Lucy Richer for BBC.

Stay tuned for an exact air date. In the meantime, here’s the trailer:

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