The BBC and Fremantle‘s Dancing Ledge Productions have unveiled a pair of behind-the-scene photos from “Prisoner 951,” a brand new drama collection based mostly on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s real-life imprisonment in Iran.
Starring Narges Rashidi (“Gangs of London,” “Beneath the Shadow”) and Joseph Fiennes (“Expensive England,” “The Handmaid’s Story”), “Prisoner 951” tells the story of Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who in 2016 was torn from her child daughter and accused of espionage in Iran, going through years of jail time.
“1000’s of miles away, in London, her husband Richard refuses to surrender hope,” the present’s synopsis reads. “When it’s revealed that Nazanin is a pawn in a decades-old political dispute, Richard is pressured to battle tyranny overseas and seeming indifference at dwelling. Spanning six harrowing years, this highly effective true story charts one household’s extraordinary braveness and resilience: a mom’s nightmare, a husband’s mission and a household’s unbreakable bond.”
The four-part collection, premiering on BBC One and iPlayer Nov. 23, is written by Stephen Butchard (“This Metropolis Is Ours,” “5 Daughters”) and directed by three-time BAFTA winner Philippa Lowthorpe (“Three Ladies,” “The Crown”). It’s based mostly on the forthcoming guide “A Yard within the Sky,” written by Nazanin and Richard Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Joseph Fiennes behind the scenes of “Prisoner 951.”
BBC/Dancing Ledge
In an announcement, Butchard stated the collection “exhibits how unimaginable we will be at instances beneath duress.”
“In some way, we are able to summon the energy to maintain going ahead, to maintain hoping, to maintain combating. Lots of people will establish with that, all of us have our struggles to varied levels. It’s what we do, we discover a means ahead, we glance to the sunshine,” he added. “Among the ladies within the jail [Evin prison in Tehran] are nonetheless there however they’re nonetheless wanting in the direction of the sunshine. It’s about discovering hope in every day and I believe that’s necessary. Regardless of the subject material it may be a extremely uplifting story.”
Butchard continued: “It is a very human story nevertheless it additionally it brings in a thriller factor. It may be gripping in locations, traumatic and uplifting in others. Hopefully, it’ll be one thing that stays with the viewers and makes them speak about it the following day. I believe that’s the job of drama.”
Director Lowthorpe referred to as “Prisoner 951” a “devastating story, however a narrative of affection and of hope as properly, which is what makes it so compelling.”
She added, “I believed it is a crucial story to inform to spotlight the plight not solely of what Nazanin went by way of, however of all different hostages who’re taken for political causes everywhere in the world. By telling Nazanin and Richard’s story, we are able to spotlight what it’s prefer to be a state hostage. Folks don’t actually know what it’s prefer to be in solitary confinement, to have limitless pretend trials or for use as a political pawn. I believe this story illuminates what it was like for Richard and Nazanin to undergo this horrible expertise.”
“Prisoner 951” was produced by Fremantle’s Dancing Ledge Productions for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Fremantle is dealing with worldwide gross sales.
