Warrington bomb TV drama begins filming in Belfast
A BBC drama telling the story of 12-year-old Warrington bomb victim Tim Parry has started filming in Belfast.
Line of Duty star Daniel Mays will play his father Colin in Mother’s Day, which describes how the schoolboy went out to buy a pair of Everton football shorts and never came home. He died alongside 3-year-old Johnathan Ball.
The IRA bomb attack in March 1993 united two women across the
Irish Sea — Tim’s mother Wendy and Dubliner Susan McHugh, who organised a peace rally.
Anna Maxwell Martin, who will play Wendy, said that she is honoured to take on the role.
“I know that many will recall the bravery and dignity shown by the families affected by the Warrington bombings,” she said.
“It’s a real honour to be telling their story,” she added.
The 90-minute film will explore how the devastated Parry family and Mrs McHugh responded to the atrocity.
Mays’ co-star in the hit police drama series, Vicky McClure, will play the Dublin mother-of-two who was so outraged by the loss of young life that she organised one of the largest peace rallies in Irish history and led thousands of people in protest against IRA violence.
“Susan McHugh’s actions back in 1993 remain just as inspirational today as they were 25 years ago,” McClure said. “I feel truly privileged to play her in this incredibly moving new film.”
Screenwriter Nick Leather, who grew up in Warrington, said bringing the “astonishing story to the screen” has been a career-long mission. He described the Parry and McHugh families as inspirational and added: “I hope people are as moved and affected by this drama as we have been in making it.”