The BBC and Fremantle‘s Dancing Ledge Productions have unveiled a pair of behind-the-scene images from “Prisoner 951,” a new drama series based on Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s real-life imprisonment in Iran.
Starring Narges Rashidi (“Gangs of London,” “Under the Shadow”) and Joseph Fiennes (“Dear England,” “The Handmaid’s Tale”), “Prisoner 951” tells the story of Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who in 2016 was torn from her baby daughter and accused of espionage in Iran, facing years of prison time.
“Thousands of miles away, in London, her husband Richard refuses to give up hope,” the show’s synopsis reads. “When it is revealed that Nazanin is a pawn in a decades-old political dispute, Richard is forced to battle tyranny abroad and seeming indifference at home. Spanning six harrowing years, this powerful true story charts one family’s extraordinary courage and resilience: a mother’s nightmare, a husband’s mission and a family’s unbreakable bond.”
The four-part series, premiering on BBC One and iPlayer Nov. 23, is written by Stephen Butchard (“This City Is Ours,” “Five Daughters”) and directed by three-time BAFTA winner Philippa Lowthorpe (“Three Girls,” “The Crown”). It is based on the forthcoming book “A Yard in the Sky,” written by Nazanin and Richard Zaghari-Ratcliffe.
Joseph Fiennes behind the scenes of “Prisoner 951.”
BBC/Dancing Ledge
In a statement, Butchard said the series “shows how incredible we can be at times under duress.”
“Somehow, we can summon the strength to keep going forward, to keep hoping, to keep fighting. A lot of people will identify with that, we all have our struggles to various degrees. It’s what we do, we find a way forward, we look to the light,” he added. “Some of the women in the prison [Evin prison in Tehran] are still there but they’re still looking towards the light. It’s about finding hope in each day and I think that’s important. Despite the subject matter it can be a really uplifting story.”
Butchard continued: “This is a very human story but it also it brings in a thriller element. It can be gripping in places, traumatic and uplifting in others. Hopefully, it’ll be something that stays with the viewers and makes them talk about it the next day. I think that is the job of drama.”
Director Lowthorpe called “Prisoner 951” a “devastating story, but a story of love and of hope as well, which is what makes it so compelling.”
She added, “I thought this is a very important story to tell to highlight the plight not only of what Nazanin went through, but of all other hostages who are taken for political reasons all over the world. By telling Nazanin and Richard’s story, we can highlight what it is like to be a state hostage. People don’t really know what it’s like to be in solitary confinement, to have endless fake trials or to be used as a political pawn. I think this story illuminates what it was like for Richard and Nazanin to go through this terrible experience.”
“Prisoner 951” was produced by Fremantle’s Dancing Ledge Productions for BBC One and BBC iPlayer. Fremantle is handling international sales.
