Trespasses, a four-part television adaptation of Louise Kennedy’s 2022 debut novel, arrives on PBS this weekend with a romance at its heart and the Troubles as its fraught backdrop. The limited series follows 24-year-old Cushla Lavery, a Catholic schoolteacher, and Michael Agnew, an older Protestant barrister, as their clandestine relationship unfolds against a community split by sectarian strife.
Plot and performances
The drama is led by Lola Petticrew as Cushla and Tom Cullen as Michael. Cushla teaches at a local school and helps in the family bar run with her brother; Michael is a member of the Protestant professional class, noted for defending Catholic youths accused of throwing stones and viewed with suspicion by both sides because of his opposition to extremism.
A recent review described the production as emphasising the sensual and scandalous elements in its publicity, yet finding the actual series more measured in tone — a show that relies heavily on conversation and the slow accretion of tension rather than constant spectacle. The camera, the review notes, tends to stay close to Cushla’s perspective, meaning viewers learn and reassess alongside her.
"scandalous, risqué, racy, torrid, titillating and steamy"
Direction and adaptation
The adaptation was scripted by Ailbhe Keogan and directed by Dawn Shadforth. Rather than turning the narrative into a thriller or a purely erotic melodrama, the series is described as deliberately measured — its dramatic energy often supplied by dialogue and the slow pressures of a community under strain. That approach seeks to balance the lovers’ personal choices with the wider political and social forces closing in around them.
That intimacy with Cushla’s viewpoint has consequences for how the characters are revealed. Michael’s maturity and charisma are part of his appeal, but the series keeps some distance from fully endorsing his motivations, leaving room for viewers to question his intentions as the relationship deepens.
- Setting: Outside Belfast, 1975, during the Troubles.
- Format: Four-part limited series on PBS.
- Key cast: Lola Petticrew (Cushla Lavery), Tom Cullen (Michael Agnew), Martin McCann (Eamonn Lavery).
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Lola Petticrew | Cushla Lavery |
| Tom Cullen | Michael Agnew |
| Martin McCann | Eamonn Lavery |
Scenes in the family bar and at the school are among the central locations, and the series leans into small, everyday moments — a crossword, a shared look, lessons in Irish — that acquire heavier meaning in the charged context. These quieter choices are part of the show’s technique: to let the emotional stakes accumulate rather than to signal them through melodrama.
Context and consequences
Adaptations of historical fiction always carry a double responsibility: to the source material and to the real communities whose past is being depicted. By anchoring the camera with Cushla, the series privileges the experience of someone caught between private desire and public danger. That perspective can encourage empathy, but it also demands careful handling of the historical realities of 1975 Northern Ireland.
For South African viewers who follow international prestige drama, the series offers both a romantic storyline and a reminder of how intimate relationships can be refracted by wider political turbulence. It may prompt discussions about how television dramatizes contested pasts and the ethical questions of representing communities still living with the memory of conflict.
Ultimately, Trespasses appears designed to be as much about conversation as about consummation — a slow-burning drama that asks viewers to watch, judge, and then revise those judgments as the story unfolds. Whether you come for the promised heat or stay for the historical drama, the limited series stakes its claim as a thoughtful, character-led portrayal of love in a time of violence.
