The BBC is making a new drama based on the story of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe who was imprisoned in Iran and her husband’s campaign to free her.
The show, described as a “factual drama”, is based on the forthcoming book A Yard of Sky written by the couple and is made by the same firm who produced The Salisbury Poisonings drama.
Its four hour-long episodes will cover the day Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe, a British-Iranian citizen, was arrested at Tehran airport in 2016 to her release six years later.
A BBC spokesperson says: “Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Richard Ratcliffe’s extraordinary experiences captured everyone’s hearts; their journey is one of despair, courage and hope, spanning two countries and six years, and ultimately, it’s a story of how this family, who were forced apart by international events, were finally reunited.”
The couple have regularly spoken about their ordeal with Ms Zaghari-Ratcliffe saying prison changed her “forever”.
Speaking at Scottish Liberal Democrat conference in Edinburgh, she said she had “underestimated how tough freedom would be” after being released.
She said: “I came out, I had to rebuild my relationship with our family, and with the neighbourhood and community and society.
“I am a different person, Richard has changed, my daughter is nine. When I left her she wasn’t even two, so we are very different people.”
She continued: “I was hoping I would be in a better place in terms of recovery, but with what is happening in Iran and the Middle East… there are a lot of external factors that stop me from feeling like a normal person and getting on with my life.”
