'Say Nothing' TV Series: Plot, Cast, And The Real Life Story
The story of Northern Ireland’s Troubles is knotted and complex – something that investigative journalist, New Yorker writer and author Patrick Radden Keefe knew writing his 2018 book, Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland. The conflict was an almost 30-year violent siege in the North of Ireland, which embroiled the British Government, Ulster Loyalist and Irish Nationalist paramilitaries in a bloodied sectarian war over the territory. Its legacy is still very much present in the North’s politics and social landscape today.
Keefe’s book has now been adapted by FX (it’s on Disney+ for UK viewers) for a nine-part TV series. Through a central abduction and murder of a mother of ten and the lives of fascinating prominent figures in the North through the 1970s, Keefe unspools the fraught history of violence, civil unrest, and a forward-facing movement to understand the crimes and atrocities that played out. The mammoth book is riveting (it was also a pick for Dua Lipa’s book club) – punctuated by plot twists, striking historical detail, and voices on stories never meant to see the light of day by their perpetrators.
We’re certainly living through a particularly fervent period for the Irish in pop culture. We can trace that through Channel 4 and Netflix’s Derry Girls, which in 2018 brought the angsty lives of a group of teenagers through Catholic school and the Troubles to screen (starring Nicola Coughlan and Saoirse-Monica Jackson). Then there was Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends and Normal People one-two punch, with the TV adaptation of the latter starring Paul Mescal becoming a cultural phenomenon. The aforementioned Mescal, from Maynooth, is now leading the charge in Ancient Rome for Gladiators II.
But what Say Nothing is saying offers something beyond the buzzy pop culture juggernauts. It is dark and deeply disturbing, asking tough questions of redemption and retribution, trauma and responsibility. Here’s what to expect.
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What is the plot of 'Say Nothing'?
Say Nothing begins in 1972 in the notorious Divis Flats, a complex of high-rise buildings that were home to Belfast Catholics and a microcosm of activity by the paramilitary group, the Irish Republican Army. The Troubles are building – a clash that sees Republicans fighting for the reunification of Ireland, and Loyalists and the British government clawing to keep the union. We meet Jean McConville, a widowed mother of 10 children, who has just moved into the flats. Jean is swiftly abducted from her home by masked IRA members in front of her horrified children to go and ‘talk’. She is accused of being an informant to the British government, and she is never seen again.
We then meet Dolours and Marian Price, two young women from west Belfast and an IRA family who are initially part of the peaceful civil rights movement, campaigning for more rights for Catholics in the north. After being beaten during a peaceful protest, the teenagers join up the IRA’s armed struggle.
Dolours Price is the key protagonist, as we follow her journey from passivist to a key player in the Provisional IRA. The story is told in historical flashbacks and candid interviews Dolours does that take place decades later as part of a historical archive project. Her story and that of Jean McConville’s sinisterly intertwine.
Is 'Say Nothing' based on a true story?
The TV adaptation is based faithfully on Radden Keefe’s 2018 non-fiction book of the same name, and shocking stories he uncovered. He is an executive producer of the series.
'There’s a responsibility. I think that’s the price of admission, the price of trespassing into someone else’s world, be that an American writing about people in Belfast or a guy writing about young women. You have to get it right,' Keefe told Variety. 'You have to earn the right to tell that story. That was part of the reason that, for me, it’s been such a rich and rewarding experience working so closely with [series creator Joshua Zetumer] and the rest of the team to try and get those little details as authentic as possible.'
Radden Keefe told The Guardian that the embers for the book first stirred when he read a New York Times obituary of Dolours Price in 2013, which made mention of the disappearance of Jean McConville. 'Right there, in this little article, were the seeds for the whole thing: the idea that there were these two very different women, and how they were connected by these acts of violence,' he said.
The series stays true to some key moments of the conflict as told from the perspective of real-life figures in the IRA including the Price sisters, future Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams, and IRA commanding officer Brendan ‘The Dark’ Hughes. To this day though, Adams denies being a member of the IRA or having been connected to any violence or deaths (like that of Jean McConville) despite multiple reports over the years.
The series’ focal plotline, the murder of Jean McConville, is one of the most harrowing real-life stories, and also, one of many examples of the IRA’s ‘disappearing’ of alleged informers to the British state. People the IRA believed to be 'traitors' were often killed. Keefe's book uncovers some of the key details of McConville's killing, like who was allegedly present and who fired the shot that killed her. Her children have continually denied the allegations against their mother. Her body was not found until 2003, and her murder remains officially unsolved. McConville’s family have campaigned for the arrest of Adams over the murder.
A seminal scene shows the Price sisters at the Burntollet Bridge incident of 1969, where 100 peaceful protesters were ambushed and attacked by 300 Loyalist thugs. The moment radicalised Dolours and Marian and inspired them to join the IRA.
The Price sisters’ home life shown in the drama is also in keeping with the real-life Dolours’ account: the family care for their aunt Bridie Dolan, an IRA bomb maker who lost her eyes and both hands when a grenade exploded at age 27. Scenes show Dolours holding a cigarette for her aunt to smoke. Their father, Albert Price, was a prominent founding IRA member who was imprisoned for his activity.
The sisters’ own paramilitary activities have been well documented: both were part of the unit that launched the very first car-bomb attacks on London in 1973. Dolours and Marian went on hunger strike while in prison for 200 days, and were the subject of brutal force feeding. Marian was freed first in 1980 due to ill health, with Dolours spending another year behind bars before her release was granted.
As also detailed in the book and show, Dolours married actor Stephen Rea, known for starring in The Crying Game (and later, V for Vendetta). She and Marian went to see The Freedom of the City, a play starring the Belfast actor, the night before the Old Bailey bombing. After her release from prison in 1980, Rea and Dolours were married in 1983.
As shown in the series, Dolours engaged in multiple audio interviews where she gave detail of the time in the IRA, as well as information on unsolved crimes (including that on McConville). Both were vocal critics of Gerry Adams, who she alleged was her IRA commander, and his move into politics over armed struggle, as well as the peace process in Northern Ireland.
Marian Price was sent back to prison in 2011 for terrorist activity, and released in 2013 following campaigns both by dissident republicans and human rights groups. Dolours died in 2013.
The series diverges from reports of real life events when it comes to Jean McConville's actual assassination. The show sees Marian pull the trigger. While Dolours in real life claimed it was she who drove McConville across the Irish border to her death, Marian has denied any involvement.
Who is in the 'Say Nothing' cast?
Say Nothing features a host of real-life characters from across The Troubles. Widowed mother of 10 Jean McConville is played by Judith Roddy. Young Dolours Price is played by Lola Petticrew and older Dolours is played by Maxine Peake. The teenage Marian Price is played by Hazel Doupe, and older Marian is played by Helen Behan. Young Brendan 'The Dark' Hughes is played by Anthony Boyle, and older Hughes is played by Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. A young Gerry Adams – a figure probably the most widely known to audiences – is played by Josh Finan, while Michael Colgan plays older Adams. British Army Counterintelligence expert Frank Kitson is played by Rory Kinnear, and the Price sisters' aunt Bridie is played by Eileen Walsh. Actor and later husband of Dolours, Stephen Rea, is played by Damien Molony.
What have reactions to 'Say Nothing' been like?
Anthony Boyle, the Belfast-born who plays Brendan Hughes, praised the scripts, telling Variety: 'It was as if the writer was from Belfast and they’d lived on the Falls Road.'
Helen McKendry, Jean McConville’s eldest daughter, and her husband Seamus McKendry told the Sunday World they thought it was 'brilliantly made', but that some of the most important scenes were lacking. 'The abduction scene in the first episode was poorly portrayed,' Mr McKendry told the Sunday World. 'I think it should have shown the full horror of what happened. It didn’t and it left you to guess what had happened.' He added: 'I was worried Helen would have a really bad reaction to the programme but she handled it well.' They also said there had been no consultation by the makers of the show with Jean's family. 'They never once lifted the phone to ask us what is your opinion on this or that.'
Say Nothing has received a spate of positive reviews. Time magazine described it as the 'must-watch political thriller of 2024'. The series currently has a score of 93% on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. The New Yorker praised Maxine Peake (Dolours Price) for 'a wonderful showcase' of her 'perennially underrated' abilities.
Critics have however noted the lack of wider historical context for the story. In Vulture, they noted a need for 'a full picture of what British occupation materially meant in the day-to-day of West Belfast' to reflect the full scale of the atrocities of The Troubles.
Where can I watch 'Say Nothing'?
You can watch all nine episodes of Say Nothing now on Disney+.
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