Unforgivable on BBC2 and iPlayer

Each to their own, I'm sure it was very well written and made.

I found a very old copy of the Radio Times and it made me realise what a range of offerings we had, including entertaining, fun, cheery and inspiring.

A lot of McGovern's work forces the viewer to think about what they would do in the circumstances of the stories he tells. They are real moral mazes, and this was no different. How do you support a member of your family who has harmed another?

I thought Anna Freil was very good in this drama. Thank God those ridiculous lips she had done have gone down. I couldn't watch her in Marcella because of them.

No. Jimmy McGovern is too misogynistic for me. Even as a left winger I found his comments of Ditch the Bitch in Thatcher’s time too much. Haven’t trusted him since.

I thought it was excellent - well written and well acted.

My only reservation is that having been abused as a child was the only reason given for the abuser to have gone on to do the same. This is not an area I know anything about, except that someone I know was abused as a child, and was very upset at the implication that she would almost inevitably abuse as a result. She is extremely vocal about that, and I know that she would be very upset at that implication in the drama.

I realise, however, that one drama can't possibly cover all nuances of things like this, and as I say, I did think it was an excellent production.

Excellent drama …yes ending was truly emotional

On my Watch list anything written by Jimmy McGovern is good and always gritty.

I fail to see how anyone could find it too long I didn’t want it to end I wanted to know more and how he fared afterwards

I worked with abuse for about ten years going back to the 90 s and men were barely helped then only ever seen as the abusers never the abused
We opened our doors to abused men and were really taken apart by women’s groups but we were very careful and never saw men on the same days as women so there was no overlapping or difficulties It actually worked well
Very few men came forward though but their stories were just as harrowing as the women’s
Excellent writing, excellent acting needed showing well done all round

Yes I watched it totally mesmerised. The acting was excellent, one felt as if you were actually there with the family. The grandfather was torn, his love for his grandchild was plain to see and I think anyone with grandchildren would understand. I know I did, I was very emotional watching it on my own and wish I had someone with me. Jimmy McGovern is excellent when writing dramas this was one of his best, it deserves an award.

Gin
I saw no indication of poverty in the play.

Nor did I, although she was a single mum bringing up two boys with no support from their father. I felt a terrible sadness for the whole family including, although I didn’t want to, the abuser. A brilliant play and extremely well acted which gave food for thought.

I saw no indication of poverty in the play.

I haven't watched it but I heard Jimmy McG interviewed and I was concerned. First of all the paedophile shows remorse which is as rare as hen's teeth. Secondly, he linked predatory behaviour and multi generational offending to poverty which I find very naive. Middle class abusers are just more likely to get away with it and multigenerational offending would suggest we should be quickly over run with female predators as they are the majority victims. He shows a concerning lack of interest in sexual politics and the fact that society often victim blames. Men who abuse do so because they choose to do so knowing that the odds are in their favour. Yes, their own childhood trauma may play a part but they still make a choice and are responsible for their actions as adults.

This was first rate..Television as it should be.

Got straight to the point about a very difficult subject. Nothing fancy great actors and production.

New insights on a hugly serious matter

Well done Jimmy. Top stuff.

👍👍👍

I'll have to watch this on my own, as DH reacts very badly to emotional/traumatic dramas and has bad dreams for days after watching anything like this I'm not entirely sure why that is - his own childhood and background were very "normal" from everything I know over the 45 years we have been together and very much like my own. I think since having children and grandchildren he has been much more sensitive for some reason.

Thank you for recommending, I do find this sort of drama challenging but I think it will be worth watching for me.

I have yet to watch it and I don’t give two hoots about David Threlfells’ hair style but
…a trailer I saw last week showed Head teacher with with Mum and Son across a table and the head said (in effect) we’ll send him to the child psychologist!
Just like that. Wouldn’t they have asked “boy” to step outside? So jury’s out ‘til I watch it😏

Well! I feel rather embarrassed now as I seem to be the only person who didn’t like it. To be fair, the main problem I had with it wasn’t so much the story, which was quite good. It was the fact that it was sooooooo long! I found myself wishing it would hurry up and get to the end. I was very surprised, when I checked, to find it was less than two hours long.
Yes, it had an excellent cast with great acting, but it just lost me.
I don’t know whether it was part of the story, or whether David Threlfell has that idiotic ‘tail’ all the time but either way, it really got on my nerves. Why do so many elderly men insist on having these ponytails? Don’t they realise how utterly daft they look?
That is 45 minutes I’ll never get back!

Watched it on your recommendation Sparklefizz..
I agree it is very very well acted and very moving and I shed a tear or two at the end 😓

As soon as I saw it was written by Jimmy McGovern I knew it would be good.And I was right .Very moving and sad but I didn't take my eyes off screen.Yes I cried at the end as well .

I watched it & as an ex-child protection social worker I have a few comments, the young boy in school at no point was seen by a social worker and this is the bread & butter of child protection, I used to protect the child from the ire of the school, ie being moved to SEND maybe by taking time off & ask a youth worker to see him along with myself then you can really get alongside him & find out what is going on then get him appropriate care, ie CAMHS & child protection police involvement. Many times they can go back to school knowing someone is working with mum & planning care.
Also I felt those looking after the abuser were very stoney and tense, whilst you don't want to minimise the crime there is a middle path to be trodden by supporting the person but not the crime.
Also, the type of sexual abuse in social services is usually way more than that, I guess the BBC were cautious in how much they featured.
But well done Jimmy McGovern for writing it & the Beeb for showing it.
Just next time get the roles of the professionals right, I don't think a psychologist would withhold an allegation like that anymore, that used to be the case but now they're much more likely to tell the child that they are bound to pass such information on & help them see this is helpful not a hinderance

Oh dear, call me a wimp but I don't think I could watch this.
Things I see or watch on TV stay with me & I get very emotional and upset. I'm build of stern-stuff but not for programs. such as this. 😶

It was very powerful.

My DIL is a psychologist dealing with very disturbed children.

She always has bruises, bite marks and so forth. Those children have been so badly abused and/or physically damaged that some will never recover and make adequate adults.

It is an utter tragedy.

Yes I watched it and thoroughly enjoyed it. Am now rewatching both series of Rev on the iplayer. Brilliant!

Thankyou Ladies, I would not have watched this without your recommendations. I was in tears at the end! As Boing said how many predators have also been abused?

It was very insightful. I didn't read the write-up so had no idea of the story - I was glued to it. I couldn't believe that my views changed so much from his visit to the graveyard onwards but I had to keep reminding myself that he was a sex offender afterall. It left me wondering about the many, many sex offenders out there and whether they were all victims too, maybe a percentage are.

It was a really hard watch.