According to the series, Say Nothing, based on a book by Patrick Radden Keefe, Gerry Adams is a liar, a traitor, and a murderer. Gerry Adams defence is that he was never a member of the IRA and could not therefore have ordered the killings of informers. The series examines the disappearance and murder of Jean McConville who was alleged to have been a ‘tout’ or informer.
The series has some great acting by Maxine Peake, with an excellent supporting cast, many of whom came from the series Blue Lights, which is about the ‘Troubles’ from a police perspective. There are a few curious inconsistencies. Both Dolours Price, the younger and the older, played by Maxine Peake, do a lot of smoking in the film. However, Dolours in real life hated smoking.
A more serious problem is the basis upon which the IRA decided that Jean McConville was an informer. It was alleged in the film that people that she informed upon noticed that she was wearing red slippers when she pointed them out, while she was hiding behind a white curtain or sheet at the time of making the identification. This seems to be the most implausible and fragile of reasons for condemning a person to death. Hopefully the book provides a more detailed and plausible account.
Anyone who has romantic notions about armed struggle should be enlightened by this series, based on the life and death of Dolours Price and her sister, Marian. They were responsible for the bombing of the Old Bailey in London in 1973. Ian Curr August 2026.
Official trailer — FX: Say Nothing | Official Trailer | FX
YouTube
Say Nothing — SBS On Demand: Watch Say Nothing on SBS On Demand — SBS currently lists all nine episodes of the series.
SBS Australia
SBS also has an SBS-specific trailer, published on 29 July 2026: Say Nothing S1 | Trailer — SBS