The Woman in the Wall

I've had the pleasure of visiting Ireland on several occasions. And have always received a warm welcome which is nice considering the past between the two countries. However it seems whenever the BBC make a program in Ireland it's either about Easter rising or the Irish Catholic Church in particular taking of children from women, Who had given birth out of wedlock.

Not only were these children taken away from the mother's, the women themselves would be sent to convent's run by the Catholic Church and nun's who give the gestapo a run for their money.

Ruth Wilson is excellent as always as the mentally disturbed woman who's life it seemed had been destroyed by her time in the convent.

I suppose it's an original twist on ground we have trodden on before.

7/10.

My Review- The Woman in the Wall My Rating. 9/ 10 Will be streaming later this year on Paramount Plus

I was fortunate enough to get a preview of this series from a friend in the U. K.

Mark this one down on your future viewing diary it's such a compelling and disturbing fictional story written and created by British born Joe Murtagh .

And skilfully directed by Harry Wootliff and Rachna Suri .

Principle fuming took place on location in Northern Ireland and also the Republic of Ireland, namely, County Mayo.

Principle starring roles are Ruth Wilson and Daryl McCormack and they both give wonderful performances as Lorna Brady an Irish woman with severe psychological trauma due to the cruel events that occurred at the so called Magdalene laundries also known as Magdalene asylums which were institutions usually run by Roman Catholic orders of nuns that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries.

I highly recommend an excellent 2002 movie The Magdalene Sisters before watching The Woman in the Wall which for me was like a prequel to The Woman in the Wall .

It starred the wonderful Geraldine McEwan as Sister Bridget and tells the story of three young Irish women struggle to maintain their spirits while they endure dehumanizing abuse as inmates of a Magdalene Sisters Asylum.

The Woman in the Wall is a six-part BBC mystery drama created by Joe Murtagh and Margaret Perry it tells the story of the aftermath of the abuse that occurred in these sweat shops and the trauma and suffering of mothers whose babies were taken away from them at birth.

This was Ireland's stolen generation when babies were sold to foster parents for large so called donations to the Catholic Church.

Many of those mothers including Lorna Brady (Ruth Wilson) believed their babies had died and this forms a vital part of the investigation that young Detective Colman Akande played by Daryl McCormack who recently was so impressive in the 2022 movie Good Luck to You, Leo Grande opposite Emma Thompson.

He experiences suspicion and lack of cooperation in his interrogations from the local Garda Police Sargent who wants to keep the village secrets in the village .

In The Woman in the Wall Irish actor Daryl McCormack shows his versatility this time keeping his clothes on in a much more challenging role as his character becomes haunted and revisits his own childhood trauma that also arises from the crimes of The Magdalene Laundry.

This is definitely a mystery not a documentary that picks up pace after an initial slow but dramatic start taking the viewer on a journey that takes many twists and turns.

The mysterious first episode leads to a fascinating case involving The Magdalene Laundry when Lorna Brady who sleep walks wakes up to find an unknown dead woman in her home doubting her innocence becoming the prime suspect in a murder .

If this series was a movie I have no doubt that Ruth Wilson's performance would be considered Oscar worthy.

I hope when The Woman in the Wall does stream in Australia that it streams in its entirety as a week between the 6 episodes does interrupt the tension and mystery of this unique and fascinating story.

This thoughtful and compelling drama gripped me from the very start. Superb writing (and it was no surprise to find out this comes from the same writer who wrote the wonderful Calm With Horses). This is a writer to et excited about and I'd love to see more from him instead of the same dull tried and tested writers the BBC and ITV usually lean on. Wonderful characterisation and excellent performances compliment this story, part historical, part thriller and succeeding at both.

My only criticism would be that there is a slight reliance on the 'maternity drives women mad trope' - in this case women whose children were taken by the catholic church's magdalen laundry system. They all seem to be severely damaged and while there is oaf course a truth to this for many, women are inherently resilient and there are plenty who survived these horrors and somehow didn't go mad.

But this is a tiny glitch in an otherwise perfect series which managed to be informative, thrilling and entertaining while treating the subject matter extremely sensitively.

This is one of the best things I have seen on TV in a long time.

How anybody could give this 1 star is beyond me.......unless of course your idea of entertainment is Love Island and Emmerdale.

Ruth Wilson is beyond fantastic. She gives the most spine chilling performance and should be commended for her skills, ability and brilliance. The story that is told is both heart breaking and spell binding. Sometimes the truth hurts but needs to be told.

Nothing more to be said.......this is a brilliant piece of TV. For some people it may be very hard to watch but if you leave personal feelings aside, there is no question this is quality.

After a bout of sleepless nights and mental exhaustion, Lorna Brady wakes up one morning to discover a dead woman in her house, believing she's killed her, she walls her up, and then tries to piece together what happened.

Thought provoking, dramatic and provocative, The Woman in the Wall is yet another cracking drama from The BBC, 2023 has been a fine year for the drama wing of The Beeb, this is among the best of them.

I enjoyed the opening episode, I was a bit mixed by the second and third parts, but from four onwards I was captivated. Parts five and six are truly brilliant.

It goes on a totally unexpected journey, you think it's about one thing, but it moves in an altogether darker, more sinister direction, I did not anticipate the outcome.

Ruth Wilson is magical from start to finish, it's a tremendous performance from the star, she sounds and looks so different, there is nothing she cannot do. The supporting cast are fantastic also, Daryl McCormack is brilliant as Akande, if you get a chance check out a film called The Lesson, in which he appears with Richard E. Grant, he's great in it.

Some stunning location work, it looks amazing too, and I loved that music.

9/10.