Is Say Nothing based on a true story?

The series is set during the Troubles in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, and stars Lola Petticrew, Hazel Doupe, Anthony Boyle, Josh Finan and Maxine Peake, among others.

But what is the series about, and is it based on a true story? Read on for everything you need to know about the real-life inspiration behind Disney Plus series Say Nothing.

What is Say Nothing about?

Say Nothing is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Patrick Radden Keefe, which tells a story of murder and memory in Northern Ireland during The Troubles.

The synopsis for the series says: "Spanning four decades, the series opens with the shocking disappearance of Jean McConville, a single mother of 10 who was abducted from her home in 1972 and never seen alive again.

"Telling the story of various Irish Republican Army (IRA) members, Say Nothing explores the extremes some people will go to in the name of their beliefs, the way a deeply divided society can suddenly tip over into armed conflict, the long shadow of radical violence for all affected, and the emotional and psychological costs of a code of silence.

"The series stars Lola Petticrew as Dolours Price and Hazel Doupe as Marian Price, young women who became potent symbols of radical politics.

"Anthony Boyle stars as Brendan Hughes, a charismatic but conflicted military strategist, and Josh Finan as Gerry Adams, a leading political operator who would go on to negotiate peace and has always denied having any involvement with the IRA. Maxine Peake stars as older Dolours Price."

Is Say Nothing based on a true story?

It is. Keefe's book was an investigative look at the Troubles in Northern Ireland, with a particular focus on the abduction and murder of Jean McConville in December 1972.

The book told the story of four primary real-life subjects - McConville herself, Dolours Price, an IRA member who ascended to the top of the organisation, former IRA member Brendan Hughes and Sinn Féin leader Gerry Adams.

McConville was a mother-of-10 who converted from Protestantism to Catholicism after she got married. In December 1972, then a widow, she was taken from her home by the IRA in December 1972, killed by a gunshot to the back of the head and secretly buried.

The IRA did not admit its involvement in her death until after the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, at which point the organisation claimed she was killed because she was passing information to the British Army.

Price and her sister Marian, who is still alive to this day and whose story is also dramatised in the series, were members of the IRA. Price was part of a group known as The Unknowns, who transported accused traitors across the border into the Republic of Ireland.

She later stated that she, Pat McClure, and one other member of The Unknown were tasked with killing Jean McConville. She said the murder was committed by the third member.

She and Marian were later arrested in London in relation to car bombing attacks in London in 1973. They were originally sentenced to life imprisonment, but their sentence was eventually reduced to 20 years. Price served seven years, and notably went on hunger strike to be moved to a prison in Northern Ireland.

Both sisters were freed on humanitarian grounds in 1980 and 1981, as they both suffered from life-threatening anorexia. They went on to publicly oppose the Good Friday Agreement.

Hughes was a commanding IRA officer and the main organiser of the Bloody Friday bombing attack. He was arrested in 1973, but later escaped inside a rolled-up mattress in the back of a dustcart.

He was re-arrested in 1974 following a tip-off, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, although he later received an additional five-year sentence for assaulting a prison officer. During his sentence, Hughes also went on hunger strike.

He was released in 1986, and became increasingly critical of Sinn Féin in later years, and went on to accuse Adams of being an IRA leader. He died in 2008, after being hospitalised due to a chest infection and flu.

Adams, who is still alive, is the former president of Sinn Féin and a prominent Irish republicanist, who went on to become a major figure in the Northern Ireland peace process. He has been accused of being a member of the IRA leadership in the 1970s and '80s, but he has always denied any involvement in the organisation.

In 2014, he was held for questioning for four days by the police in connection with McConville's abduction and murder, before he was released without charge. He has always strongly denied playing any part in it, and stood down as leader of Sinn Féin in 2018.

These stories are all explored in the new adaptation, although, as with any dramatisation, some creative licence is sure to have been employed throughout.

Say Nothing will be released on Thursday 14th November on Disney Plus. Sign up to Disney Plus now for £4.99 per month or £79.90 for a full year.

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