How Long Is “The Unloved”?

Oscar-nominated actress Samantha Morton makes her directorial debut for Channel 4 with a powerful single drama that gives an intimate child's eye view of life in a children's home. The Unloved stars acclaimed actors Robert Carlyle ( 28 Weeks Later ) and Susan Lynch ( Elizabeth: The Golden Age ) alongside the two young leads - Molly Windsor as Lucy and Lauren Socha as Lauren - who were cast through a series of open auditions held across Nottingham schools, drama groups and at The Television Workshop (where Morton herself attended aged 12). Morton worked with acclaimed writer Tony Grisoni ( Red Riding, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ) to create the fictional script, with filming taking place in Morton's home town of Nottingham. Lucy is 11 years old. She lives with her father. One day, not for the first time, he beats her. The next time she returns to school, Lucy asks to see her social worker, Jackie. Lucy is known to social services and has been in foster care before, but none of her foster parents have any placements available. Jackie takes her to a children's home, Crop Row, where she is left with nothing save for the school uniform she is wearing. Lucy is placed in a room with 16-year old Lauren who, appalled at having to share, is initially hostile to the younger girl but a friendship begins to grow between the two girls. When a Christmas party at the home goes terribly wrong, Lucy runs away in search of her mother.