Keeley Hawes and her production company Buddy Club have set a new two-part drama at ITV called Honour, which will dramatise the mistakes and fallout from the police’s investigation into the real-life honour killing of Banaz Mahmod.
Gwyneth Hughes (Vanity Fair, Remember Me) is penning the scripts for Honour, and Hawes will also star as Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode, who relentlessly pursued answers after Mahmod’s disappearance.
Here’s an official synopsis from ITV…
Honour tells the powerful story of Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode’s passionate search to discover the fate of missing 20-year old Banaz.
DCI Goode, played by Keeley Hawes, discovered that Banaz had been to the police five times to report threats to her life from members of her own family. Appalled that her own colleagues had missed multiple chances to save a young woman’s life and prevent a so-called “honour” killing, Caroline vowed that she would not rest until she finally got justice for Banaz. It was a promise that quickly became personally consuming. This tense and emotionally vivid drama brings Caroline’s long and unwavering quest to life.
“It is a privilege to be working on Honour as Buddy Club’s first ever project,” said Hawes in a statement. “In a time where honour killings are still rife, it is critical to shine a light on such an important subject. Banaz Mahmod’s story, and DCI Goode’s subsequent investigation, is certainly one that needs to be told and I am proud to be a part of it.”
Gwyneth Hughes added “Banaz Mahmod met her brutish death on the orders of her own father and uncle, which I find profoundly unsettling. That this story is ultimately so uplifting is down to the sheer heroism and dedication of the police officers who hunted down her killers. Caroline Goode and her team felt real love for this girl they’d never met. I found their unusual warmth and humanity deeply moving.”
Filming on Honour will get underway in September, and the series should debut in 2020 on ITV.
