Sunday

Sunday is a television drama, produced by Sunday Productions for Channel 4 and screened on January 25 2002. It dramatises the events of “Bloody Sunday” through the eyes of the families of the dead and injured, specifically those of Leo Young, older brother to John Young, who was killed on the day. The timescale covers events in the years prior to Bloody Sunday, and subsequent events up to and including the Widgery Tribunal. It was written by Jimmy McGovern and directed by Charles McDougall, and the Channel 4 transmission was followed by a live studio debate about the issues involved. Generally overshadowed by the rival Bloody Sunday, shown eight days previously by ITV, Sunday was criticised for eulogising the civilian characters to the point of parody, while portraying the military as crude and unbelievable stereotypes. The script specifically follows the line that the events of Bloody Sunday were premeditated by the British political and military authorities, and deliberately covered up afterwards. While the ITV’s Bloody Sunday filmed most of its scenes in Ballymun in Dublin, Sunday filmed the majority of its scenes in Derry itself. Streets and areas where the actual events of Bloody Sunday happened were used by the production team, such as William Street, Creggan, Craigavon Bridge and Harvey Street, where in the now well-known scene of Father Edward Daly was filmed waving a blood stained handkerchief escorting men carrying one of the victims, Jackie Duddy. It was released on DVD in the UK in February 2007.