''Hillsborough'' is a

television film A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

written by

Jimmy McGovern James Stanley McGovern (born September 1949) is an English screenwriter and producer. He is best known for creating the drama series '' Cracker'' (1993–1995), for which he received two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. He als ...

and starring

Christopher Eccleston Christopher Eccleston (; born 16 February 1964) is an English actor. A two-time BAFTA Award nominee, he is best known for his television and film work, which includes his role as the ninth incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC sci-fi series '' ...

and

Ricky Tomlinson Eric "Ricky" Tomlinson (born 26 September 1939) is an English actor. He is best known for his television roles as Bobby Grant in ''Brookside'', DCI Charlie Wise in '' Cracker'' and Jim Royle in ''The Royle Family'', and playing the titular char ...

. Set between 1989 and 1991, the film is a dramatization of the

Hillsborough disaster The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal human crush during a football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest in the ...

, which saw 97 football supporters lose their lives at Hillsborough in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

Background

In April 1989,

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

met in the semi-finals of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. The match was played at

Hillsborough Stadium Hillsborough Stadium is a 39,732-capacity association football stadium located in Owlerton, a north-western suburb of Sheffield, Yorkshire, England. It has been the home of Sheffield Wednesday since its opening in 1899. The ground has been sub ...

but was abandoned 7 minutes after the match had started when it became clear that the fans packed in to the Leppings Lane end of the ground were being crushed against fencing. 94 fans died that day, with a 95th victim dying a few days later, the 96th victim dying in 1993, and the final death toll reaching 97 in 202

Production

In 1995, two women who had lost children in the disaster asked McGovern if he would write their story. He began by interviewing the families of the victims and became so angry at the unfolding story that he brought in writer Katy Jones to verify that his writing was not skewed in any way. The film was produced by ITV Granada, Granada Television for

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

and aired for the first time on 5 December 1996. Since then, it has been repeated four times: 10 years after the disaster (15 April 1999), 20 years after the disaster (17 April 2009), on 14 September 2012 after the report by the

Hillsborough Independent Panel The Hillsborough disaster was a fatal Crowd collapses and crushes, human crush during a association football, football match at Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, on 15 April 1989. It occurred during an FA Cup semi-fina ...

was published, and on 1 May 2016 after the conclusion of the second inquest, which ruled that the then-96 victims were unlawfully killed. Though filmed after the death of

Tony Bland Anthony David Bland (21 September 1970 – 3 March 1993) was a supporter of Liverpool F.C. injured in the Hillsborough disaster. He suffered severe brain damage that left him in a persistent vegetative state as a consequence of which the hospita ...

, who died in March 1993 after being in a coma for nearly four years, the time setting of the film concluded in 1991 when the death toll stood at 95.

Cast

as Trevor Hicks *

Annabelle Apsion Jane Annabelle Apsion (born 17 September 1960 in Hammersmith, London) is an English actress best known for playing Monica Gallagher in the hit television comedy-drama '' Shameless'' (2004-2013), Joy Wilton in '' Soldier Soldier'' (1991-1995), a ...

as Jenni Hicks * Sarah Graham as Sarah Hicks * Anna Martland as Victoria "Vicki" Hicks *

as John Glover *

Rachel Davies Rachel Davies is an English actress. She has numerous television credits to her name, including ''Boon'' (1986), '' A Little Bit Of Lippy'' (1989), ''Emmerdale'' (1993–94), '' Band of Gold'' (1995–96), '' Hillsborough'' (1996), and '' The Ch ...

as Teresa Glover *

Scot Williams Scot Williams (born 29 November 1972), is an English actor, writer, and producer for stage, film and television. Early life Williams is a native of Liverpool, Merseyside and grew up around Penny Lane, a street made famous by the Beatles song. H ...

as Joe Glover *

Stephen Walters Stephen Walters (born 22 May 1973) is an English actor. A regular in British television and film, he has played a wide range and variety of character roles in both drama and comedy. Walters is most commonly associated with unpredictable, compl ...

as Ian Glover *

Mark Womack Mark Edward Womack (born 9 January 1961) is an English actor, known for starring in '' Liverpool 1'', '' Sorted'' and Willy Russell's ''Dancin thru' The Dark''. In 2020, he appeared in the ITV soap opera ''Emmerdale'' as DI Mark Malone. Person ...

as Eddie Spearritt *

Tracey Wilkinson Tracey Wilkinson is an English actress primarily known for her role as Di Barker in the series '' Bad Girls''. She joined the prison drama in Series 2 as a caring prison officer new to G-Wing, but by the end of her time on the programme in Series 7 ...

as Jan Spearritt * Kevin Knapman as Adam Spearritt *

Ian McDiarmid Ian McDiarmid (; born 11 August 1944) is a Scottish actor and director of stage and screen, best known for portraying the Sith Lord Emperor Sheev Palpatine / Darth Sidious in the ''Star Wars'' multimedia franchise. Making his stage debut in '' ...

as the Coroner

Reception

The film was generally well received by the public and television critics. The

Independent Television Commission The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003. History The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...

praised Granada for the drama in its annual programme review, describing it as '' 'arguably the most powerful drama on the screen in 1996'.'' It won the

BAFTA Television Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...

for Best Single Drama, Best Editing and Best Sound. In 2000, the

British Film Industry The United Kingdom has had a significant film industry for over a century. While film production reached an all-time high in 1936, the "golden age" of British cinema is usually thought to have occurred in the 1940s, during which the directors ...

placed ''Hillsborough'' at number 54 in its list of the

100 Greatest British Television Programmes The BFI TV 100 is a list of 100 television programmes or series that was compiled in 2000 by the British Film Institute (BFI), as chosen by a poll of industry professionals, with the aim to determine the best British television programmes of any ...

Home media

Five months after the twentieth anniversary of the tragedy, on 7 September 2009, the ''Hillsborough'' docu-drama was released on DVD.

References

External links

* {{Jimmy McGovern 1996 television films 1996 drama films 1996 films British association football films Films set in 1989 Hillsborough disaster Television shows produced by Granada Television English-language television shows Films shot in Greater Manchester Films set in Sheffield 1990s British films British drama television films