Stroud-based actor Susan Lynch is set to appear in a major new ITV drama about the infected blood scandal, with filming now under way in the North East.
Bad Blood will dramatise the scandal in which more than 30,000 people were given contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and early 1990s. The disaster caused chronic illnesses and the deaths of more than 3,000 people, according to the production’s description.
The drama is expected to be screened next year. It is being made by World Productions, the company behind programmes including Anne, Until I Kill You, The Bombing of Pan Am 103, Malpractice and Line of Duty.
A drama about the scandal’s victims
Bad Blood centres on four boys at a boarding school for disabled children with an attached specialist NHS centre for haemophiliacs. At the school, the boys are given Factor VIII, a treatment described in the production material as offering the possibility of a longer life and greater freedom.
The boys and their parents are unaware that doctors are using them in trials of blood products. Some of those products are sourced from high-risk paid donors in the United States, including prisoners.
When the medical establishment learns that new diseases, including Hepatitis C and AIDS, are being transmitted, it fails to act, exposing people across the country. As the story develops, children at Treloar’s begin to show signs of the diseases.
The series will examine the institutional failures in government and the medical establishment that led to the disaster, as well as the subsequent cover-up. It will also follow the decades-long campaign by survivors and their families for truth and justice.
Susan Lynch joins ensemble cast
Lynch, whose previous credits include Happy Valley, Killing Eve and A Thousand Blows, joins an ensemble cast led by Iain Glen, Ben Chaplin, Luke Treadaway, Patrick Fabian, Precious Wura Alabi, Hannah McClean, Joe Absolom, Ron Cook, Peter Sullivan, Craig Kelly and Cal MacAninch.
The drama has been written by BAFTA award-winning screenwriter Peter Moffat. His credits include Your Honor, Criminal Justice and Silk. Moffat has worked with victims and families affected by the scandal while developing the scripts.
“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.”
Moffat said the drama was intended as “an active testament” to the victims’ decades-long fight for justice and expressed hope that it would help ensure their voices were heard.
ITV production team and broadcast plans
ITV Director of Drama Polly Hill said the programme was intended to help audiences understand a scandal that began decades ago. She also said the production team hoped to do justice to those affected and to the victims’ long fight for justice.
Bad Blood is directed by Julia Ford, who won Best Director at the RTS Awards for Until I Kill You in 2025. Abi Bach is producing, while Simon Heath, Joe Williams, Annabel Jones, Julia Ford and Peter Moffat are executive producers.
The production is supported by the North East Production Fund. The fund is delivered on behalf of the North East Screen Industries Partnership by North East Screen, with funding from the North East Mayoral Strategic Authority and Tees Valley Combined Authority.
The drama is being produced in association with ITV Studios, which will also distribute it internationally. For viewers in Stroud, the production marks the latest screen credit for Lynch as the new series prepares for its expected broadcast next year.