'Must-see' series based on real-life medical tragedy available to watch for free

Following the triumph of Mr Bates vs The Post Office and the forthcoming drama The Hack, featuring David Tennant and centred on the phone-hacking controversy, real-life tragedies with survivors at the heart have been dramatised for television.

Now, the devastating true account of a medical catastrophe in Canada has arrived on ITVX.

Unspeakable chronicles the Canadian Tainted Blood Tragedy, during whichthousands of individuals were exposedto HIV and hepatitis C via contaminated blood supplies.

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Regarded as one of Canada's most severe public health catastrophes, patients awaiting transfusions for various reasons including operations, births or cancer treatment, plus hundreds suffering from haemophilia and other blood disorders, became infected.

The description for the eight-episode series states: "The Sanders and the Landrys are shaken when a disease called AIDS is threatening the country's blood supply. Each family has boys with hemophilia."

Every instalment tracks different periods throughout the controversy, from its emergence to infection during the 1980s, through to compensation and official apologies beyond 2005.

The programme initially broadcast in 2018, drawing from the publications Bad Blood by Vic Parsons and The Gift of Death by Andre Picard, reports the Express.

The cast includes Sarah Wayne Callies, Michael Shanks, Shawn Doyle, Camille Sullivan, Aaron Douglas and Brian Markinson.

The programme garnered outstanding critical acclaim upon its debut, with one reviewer describing it as "compelling" whilst another praised it as "complex and powerful".

Another viewer commented: "There is a famous saying "Those who don't know history are doomed to repeat it." For those who don't know or don't remember where the most damaging health crisis in the history of Canada comes from, this is a must see series. How many mistakes were made and how many people could have done something but did not. Worst thing? Reality was far more disturbing."

A different person remarked: "If you ask me what mini Series is a must see show I would Gladly to say is Unspeakable. There is so much information you never knew about at the time when Aids came out. You only learned one side and not the whole truth."

Another viewer described it as "extremely powerful" whilst someone else praised it as: "An eye-opening, heart-opening series, beautifully written, shot and acted."

"Gripping docudrama of a dark time in Canadian history that should be part of the school curriculum. This should never happen again," one admirer penned.

Creator Robert C. Cooper revealed his aim was "to evoke an emotional response" during a CBC interview when the programme initially broadcast.

He added, according to Metro: "It was a big story and yet you talk to a lot of people today and unless they were directly affected, it seems like there is a generation that really knows nothing about it.

"One of the reasons the show is called Unspeakable is not just the disaster or tragedy that occurred, but because one of the reasons it happened is because people were afraid to speak up - the stigma of AIDS, the prejudice that went on at the time."

Unspeakable is available for viewing on ITVX