Drama follows two sisters’ involvement in the IRA during the Troubles
Channel 4 has picked up Disney+ original drama Say Nothing, Broadcast can reveal.
The move to take on the Troubles-set show, which streams as a Star original in the UK, follows C4’s acquisition of fellow FX on Hulu US drama The Veil.
Say Nothing, which is produced by Color Force and FX Productions, is a dramatisation of the non-fiction book Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Empire of Pain author Patrick Radden Keefe.
The series follows sisters Marian and Dolours Price as they grow up in Belfast from the 1970s to the 1990s, become involved in the IRA and become potent symbols of radical politics. It also explores the inquiries into what happened to the Disappeared, including the murdered mother-of-10 Jean McConville.
The cast includes Lola Petticrew as Dolours Price and Hazel Doupe as Marian Price, Anthony Boyle as charismatic but conflicted military strategist Brendan Hughes, and Josh Finan as Gerry Adams, the leading political operator who went on to be a key part of the peace negotiations and who has always denied any IRA involvement. Maxine Peake stars as the older Dolours Price.
The series was acquired for C4 by head of acquisitions Polly Scates.
Say Nothing is exec produced by Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson of Color Force, creator Joshua Zetumer, Patrick Radden Keefe, Edward L. McDonnell, Monica Levinson and Michael Lennox.
All nine episodes of Say Nothing launched on Disney+ in the UK in November 2024. Its opener was watched by 460,000 UK viewers in its first 28 days, according to Barb data supplied by overnights.tv.
Say Nothing was nominated for several Baftas at this year’s TV awards, including for best international programme, and writer Zetumer snagged an Emmy nomination. He told Broadcast’s sister title Screen recently that his “outsider” status allowed him to be more objective in adapting the book’s characters and stories.
Say Nothing will TX on C4 later this year when star Petticrew will also appear in another Troubles-set drama on the PSB, Wildgaze Films’ adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s forbidden love story Trespasses.
Say Nothing lawsuit
Disney+ is facing a defamation lawsuit from Marian Price, now known as Marian McGlinchey, for portraying her as the killer of Jean McConville, an allegation she denies.
In July, Belfast-based Phoenix Law, which represents her, issued formal legal proceedings against the streamer and Minim Productions Limited for what it called “egregious and defamatory” allegations against Price in the series.
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