Ciaran Flynn
Fermanagh, Irish countryside, 1885. On her 23rd birthday, Beth, who lives on a remote farm with Billy Winters, her tyrannical stepfather, whom she can barely stand, prepares to flee from such a suffocating life with the help of the seductive Liam Ward, without being aware that her decision will unearth deeply buried secrets a long time ago.
In the autumn of 1960, Father Thomas Riley and Father John Thornton were sent by the Vatican to investigate a miraculous event in an Irish home for 'fallen women', only to uncover something much more horrific.
Set in a post-Troubles Northern Ireland, The Truth Commissioner follows the fictional story of Henry Stanfield, played by Roger Allam, a career diplomat who has just been appointed as Truth Commissioner to Northern Ireland. Eager to make good as a peacemaker, the Prime Minister urges a commission following the South African model of Truth and Reconciliation. But, though Stanfield starts bravely, he quickly uncovers some bloody and inconvenient truths about those now running the country; truths which none of those in power are prepared to have revealed.
In a time of starvation, a survivalist lives off a small plot of land hidden deep in forest. When two women seeking food and shelter discover his farm, he finds his existence threatened.
Holed up in a run down pharmacy, a man helps his diabetic wife to survive on dwindling supplies of insulin, trading medicine for food from the outside world. When a stranger comes looking for insulin, and refuses to be turned away, both husband and wife must face the reality of her rapidly shortening life.
When soldier Robin happens upon the dying Robert of Loxley, he promises to return the man's sword to his family in Nottingham. There, he assumes Robert's identity; romances his widow, Marion; and draws the ire of the town's sheriff and King John's henchman, Godfrey.
