THE POWERFUL AND MOVING FOUR-PART DRAMA ABOUT THE INFECTED BLOOD SCANDAL WRITTEN BY SCREENWRITER PETER MOFFAT, PRODUCED BY WORLD PRODUCTIONS AND DIRECTED BY JULIA FORD HAS COMMENCED FILMING
ITV drama, Bad Blood, tells the story of how more than 30,000 people were administered contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and the early 1990s, resulting in life-shattering chronic illnesses and more than 3,000 deaths. The negligence and subsequent cover-up represents what Andy Burnham calls “perhaps the greatest untold injustice in the history of our country”.
Bad Blood is written by BAFTA award-winning screenwriter Peter Moffat (Your Honor, Criminal Justice, Silk), who has worked closely with the victims and their families whose lives were torn apart by the scandal.
The cast includes Iain Glen (Game of Thrones, Jack Taylor), Ben Chaplin (September 5, The Thin Red Line), Susan Lynch (A Thousand Blows, Happy Valley), Luke Treadaway (Embassy, A Street Cat Named Bob), Patrick Fabian (Better Call Saul, The Debut), Precious Wura Alabi (Saviour, Boiling Point), Hannah McClean (Close To Home, Blue Lights), Joe Absolom (Code of Silence, Blade Runner 2049), Ron Cook (Des, I Fought The Law), Peter Sullivan (A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder, Criminal Record) and Cal MacAninch (Downton Abbey, Ahsoka).
The powerful drama based on a true story is produced by World Productions (Anne, Until I Kill You, The Bombing of Pan Am 103, Malpractice, Line of Duty) led by multi-award-winning Executive Producer, Simon Heath, the CEO and Creative Director of World Productions, part of ITV Studios.
ITV’s Director of Drama, Polly Hill has commissioned the series which will air on ITV and STV and be available for streaming on ITVX and STV Player.
The drama centres around four boys at Treloar’s, a unique boarding school for disabled children with an attached specialised NHS centre for haemophiliacs whose lives would otherwise have been defined by regular and gruelling trips to the hospital.
While at Treloar’s, the boys are given Factor VIII, a revolutionary treatment that promises them the possibility of an increased lifespan and greater freedoms. 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.
When the medical establishment learns of the transmission of new diseases, Hepatitis C and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), they fail to act and people across the country are exposed. As the drama unfolds, the children at Treloar’s begin to show signs of the diseases.
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 will also show the decades-long fight by the survivors and their families for truth and justice.
Commented Polly Hill:
We hope this drama will allow our audience to fully understand the infected blood scandal that started decades ago. We want to thank the team because it is testament to the importance of this story that we have Peter Moffat’s scripts and Julia Ford directing and it is produced by World Productions. We all hope the drama can do justice to all those affected by this scandal and the victims’ long fight for justice.
Commented Peter Moffat:
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.
Commented Simon Heath:
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. It’s an honour to be working with Peter, Julia, Joe, Abi and the rest of the team to bring this story to the screen.
The drama will be directed by Julia Ford (Believe Me, Unforgivable), who won Best Director at the RTS Awards for Until I Kill You in 2025, and produced by Abi Bach (The Hack, Black Earth Rising, The Honourable Woman), with Simon Heath, Joe Williams (Mr Bates vs the Post Office, The Hack), Annabel Jones (Toxic Town, Black Mirror), Julia Ford and Peter Moffat serving as executive producers.
The production is supported by the North East Production Fund delivered on behalf of the North East Screen Industries Partnership (NESIP) by North East Screen, with funding from the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority (MSA) and Tees Valley Combined Authority (TVCA).
Bad Blood is produced in association with, and distributed internationally by, ITV Studios.
