Keeley Hawes will play a real-life detective in a TV drama about a woman murdered for “falling in love with the wrong man.”
The drama will tell the story of Detective Chief Inspector Caroline Goode’s “passionate search” to discover the fate of missing 20-year-old Banaz Mahmod.
She disappeared in 2006 and her body was found 100 miles away buried in a suitcase in a garden in Birmingham three months later.
Banaz was raped and tortured before succumbing to an agonising death.
Her father and uncle were among those jailed for life for her “barbaric” murder.
The two-part drama, Honour, was written by Gwyneth Hughes, whose credits include Vanity Fair and Dark Angel.
Line Of Duty, Bodyguard and The Durrells actress Hawes said: “It is a privilege to be working on Honour.
“In a time where ‘honour killings’ are still rife, it is critical to shine a light on such an important subject.
“Banaz Mahmod’s story, and DCI Goode’s subsequent investigation, is certainly one that needs to be told and I am proud to be a part of it.”
ITV commissions two part drama, Honour, starring Keeley Hawes – as the real-life detective who brought five killers to justice in the true story of Banaz Mahmod, the young Londoner murdered by her own family for falling in love with the wrong man. https://t.co/BJJMIZJjTX pic.twitter.com/zJQkjd4Y2E
— ITV Press Centre (@itvpresscentre) June 24, 2019
DCI Caroline Goode vowed that she would not rest until she finally got justice after discovering Banaz asked police for help several times but was not taken seriously.
Writer Hughes said: “Banaz Mahmod met her brutish death on the orders of her own father and uncle, which I find profoundly unsettling.
“That this story is ultimately so uplifting is down to the sheer heroism and dedication of the police officers who hunted down her killers.
“Caroline Goode and her team felt real love for this girl they’d never met. I found their unusual warmth and humanity deeply moving.”
Filming begins in September.