ITV's "powerful and moving" real-life drama starring Blue Lights actor begins filming

Bad Blood, the upcoming ITV drama starring Blue Lights' Hannah McClean, has gotten an exciting update ahead of its release. With a stacked cast and a real-life story to boot, the series could be a big hit.

The drama tells the story of a UK scandal, which saw over 30,000 people be administered with contaminated blood samples between the 1970s and 1990s. Overall, it is thought that over 3,000 deaths were caused by the error.

In addition to McClean, the cast for the series also includes Iain Glen, Ben Chaplin, Susan Lynch, Luke Treadaway, Patrick Fabian, Precious Wura Alabi, Joe Absolom, Ron Cook, Peter Sullivan and Cal MacAninch.

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Written by Peter Moffat, it has now been confirmed by ITV that filming for the four-part series is under way. A premiere date is not currently known, though a photo of a clapper board has been shared by the broadcaster.

The drama will focus on four students at a boarding school for disabled children, which is not alleged to not be linked to the majority of the 3,000 deaths that occurred separately in the UK. The school had a specialist NHS centre for haemophiliacs and the four students were given a treatment, though the parents were allegedly unaware that it comes with major risks.

"Unbeknown to them or their parents, the doctors whom the boys trust with their lives use them as guinea pigs in trials to test blood products, some of which are sourced from high-risk, paid donors in the United States, including prisoners," reads the synopsis.

"Bad Blood will dramatise the institutional failures within Government and the medical establishment that led to this avoidable disaster and the cover-up that has tried to hide these failures," it continues, with the search for "truth and justice" also being depicted.

Speaking about the "powerful and moving" project, Moffat said: "It has been deeply humbling to hear the personal stories of the infected and affected, and a real privilege to be trusted with their accounts."

"This drama is an active testament to a decades-long fight for justice by so many victims of this appalling scandal. We hope it can make a difference by ensuring their voices are properly heard," he added.

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Polly Hill, Director of Drama at ITV, said: "We hope this drama will allow our audience to fully understand the infected blood scandal that started decades ago… We all hope the drama can do justice to all those affected by this scandal."

"Peter's scripts brilliantly capture the full horror of the infected blood scandal with the inspirational quest of the victims and their families fighting for the truth to be heard," said executive producer Simon Heath.

Bad Blood has no release date.

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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.