Bad Blood: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Bad Blood tells the story of how more than 30,000 people were administered contaminated blood and blood products between the 1970s and the early 1990s, resulting in life-shattering chronic illnesses and more than 3,000 deaths.

The drama centres around four boys at Treloar's, a unique boarding school for disabled children with an attached specialised NHS centre for haemophiliacs whose lives would otherwise have been defined by regular and gruelling trips to the hospital.

While at Treloar's, the boys are given Factor VIII, a revolutionary treatment that promises them the possibility of an increased lifespan and greater freedoms. Unbeknown to them or their parents, the doctors whom the boys trust with their lives use them as guinea pigs in trials to test blood products, some of which are sourced from high-risk, paid donors in the United States, including prisoners.

When the medical establishment learns of the transmission of new diseases, Hepatitis C and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), they fail to act and people across the country are exposed. As the drama unfolds, the children at Treloar's begin to show signs of the diseases.

Bad Blood will dramatise the institutional failures within Government and the medical establishment that led to this avoidable disaster and the cover-up that has tried to hide these failures. It will also show the decades-long fight by the survivors and their families for truth and justice.

Series details

• Title: Bad Blood
• Format: Scripted
• Language: English
• Genres: Drama
• Status in TVmaze: In Development
• Network listed by TVmaze: ITV1
• Network country: United Kingdom
• TVMaze ID: 94607

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: episode order: 4.

Source and licence

Adapted from Bad Blood on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.