How the Warrington bombing became a BBC Two hit drama

The detonation tore through the centre of Warrington and claimed the lives of Tim Parry and Johnathan Ball.

Three-year-old Johnathan died at the scene, having been shopping for a Mother's Day card with his babysitter.

Tim Parry was 12 years old and died five days later in hospital.

The 2018 drama told the story of Colin and Wendy Parry, as well as Sue McHugh, in the wake of the bombing (Image: Newsquest)

The tragedy inspired a hit song by the Cranberries in 1994, 'Zombie,' which became the group's biggest hit.

March 20th's events also inspired a BBC Two drama in 2018, which marked 25 years since the bombing - its writer, Nick Leather, is from Newton-le-Willows.

The drama, Mother's Day, was broadcast on BBC Two in 2018, and told the story of Colin and Wendy Parry, as well as Sue McHugh from Ireland, in the aftermath of the bombing.

It was incredibly well-received by critics and audiences alike, with a special screening taking place at the Peace Centre when the drama was first broadcast.

IT was a day Warrington residents will never forget. 

Speaking to the Warrington Guardian ahead of the 30th anniversary of the bombing, Nick said he'd always wanted to tell the story of the bombing.

He said: "There are not many moments in our lives when something on the news stops being something on the news and it becomes something actually in your own world."

Nick recalled the moment he heard about the bombing: "I was in the car with my dad on the way into Warrington town centre, and we heard on the radio a warning telling people to avoid the town centre, so we had to turn around."

One of the reasons the events resonated so much with Nick was due to the similarities between himself and Tim Parry: "In the case of Tim, I looked at that family and it just looked so much like my own.

"He was in town buying some Everton goalkeeping shorts at the time - I'm an Everton fan, I'd been into that same sports shop to buy Everton gear."

Reflecting on the reactions of Colin and Wendy Parry - Tim's parents - Nick said: "To watch them respond with love, and to disarm the hate with their own love, it just blew me away.

"I think for everyone it was so utterly heroic in the face of what the whole family had experienced."

When asked what he thinks the biggest lessons we can learn from the bombing are, Nick said: "It's the hardest thing in the world: how do you respond to hate?

"And if you can somehow, miraculously, respond with love then problems can be solved, and anything can be overcome.

"If you can do that, somehow, then we're alright - and it's the test for us all."

Nick wrote the drama 'Mother's Day' which was broadcast in 2018 (Image: BBC)

Nick added: "The reason I wanted to tell the story was because I don't think I could have done that.

"Maybe it's the test for all of us, but just in much smaller ways: have we got that in us?

"If they can do that, we've not really got any excuses, have we, the rest of us?"

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