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'Good people can do bad things'

8 March 2021

‘I think these shows have an innate sense of decency and optimism that underpins them all. It's compassion and a belief that people are essentially good. If I had to define the essential DNA of Unforgotten, it's that good people can do bad things...

I'm still trying to understand human nature and its complexity, increasingly so in a binary world. Unforgotten is political with a small ‘p', and I would like to explore that more. As I've got older I've become more politically aware. I'd like to articulate some of the wrong turns I think our country has taken...

There are moments in Unforgotten where two characters have a row about something quite profound, and it's just me rowing with myself. I spend my life arguing with myself, trying to work out how I feel. I think it's Priestley who says you have to put it on paper in order to formulate your views. Nothing comes fully formed. It's only in a detective story that the answers are always clear and unambiguous. Maybe that's why I like writing them so much.'

Chris Lang, writer and creator of over 85 hours of prime time drama, including Unforgotten, Tom, Amnesia and A Mother's Son in the Sunday Times.

https://www.chrislang.co.uk/