Trespasses premieres in the United States on PBS on September 20, 2026 and streams through PBS.org and the PBS app. The four-part drama stars Lola Petticrew as Cushla Lavery, a young Catholic schoolteacher in 1975 Northern Ireland who begins a dangerous affair with Michael Agnew, an older married Protestant barrister played by Tom Cullen. Gillian Anderson plays Cushla’s widowed mother Gina. The series is adapted from Louise Kennedy’s acclaimed novel and originally aired in the UK in 2025.
Calling Trespasses only a forbidden-romance drama undersells what makes the story difficult. Cushla and Michael’s affair takes place during the Troubles, when religion, politics, policing, class and community identity shape ordinary decisions. Their relationship is risky because they are not simply two people whose families disapprove. They live on opposite sides of a social divide that can become physically dangerous.
Trespasses quick facts
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| U.S. premiere | September 20, 2026 |
| Where to watch | PBS, PBS.org and PBS app |
| Episodes | 4 |
| Original UK broadcast | Channel 4 in November 2025 |
| Based on | Trespasses by Louise Kennedy |
| Adapted for television by | Ailbhe Keogan |
| Director | Dawn Shadforth |
| Lead cast | Lola Petticrew, Tom Cullen, Gillian Anderson |
What is Trespasses about?
Cushla Lavery is a 24-year-old Catholic schoolteacher living outside Belfast in 1975. She works at school during the day and helps at the family’s Anchor Bar, where the customers include people whose politics and loyalties do not comfortably fit in the same room. At home, Cushla also looks after her widowed mother Gina, whose drinking and unhappiness have become another responsibility Cushla carries.
While working at the bar, Cushla meets Michael Agnew. He is older, married, Protestant and a barrister known for challenging police brutality and defending people caught up in politically charged cases. Their attraction develops into an affair that both of them know can have consequences beyond embarrassment. As the relationship deepens, Cushla is pulled between desire, family duty, professional responsibility and the danger surrounding the people she cares about.
The story is also about what Cushla sees through her students. She becomes concerned about a child from a vulnerable family, drawing her into another part of the community’s suffering. That choice matters because Trespasses repeatedly asks whether private compassion can remain private in a society where almost every relationship can be read politically.
Trespasses cast and characters
Cast at a glance
| Actor | Character | Who they are |
|---|---|---|
| Lola Petticrew | Cushla Lavery | A 24-year-old Catholic schoolteacher and part-time bar worker whose affair with Michael drives the story. |
| Tom Cullen | Michael Agnew | An older married Protestant barrister who begins a relationship with Cushla. |
| Gillian Anderson | Gina Lavery | Cushla’s widowed mother, whose grief and drinking strain their relationship. |
| Martin McCann | Eamonn Lavery | Cushla’s pragmatic brother who runs the family pub. |
| Oisín Thompson | Gerry Harkin | Cushla’s colleague and friend who becomes an important confidant. |
| Emily Taaffe | Betty McGeown | A member of the McGeown family connected to one of Cushla’s pupils. |
| Conlaoch Gough-Cunningham | Tommy McGeown | A young member of the McGeown family affected by sectarian violence. |
| Barry Ward | Victor McIntyre | A supporting character in Michael’s social and political circle. |
Lola Petticrew as Cushla Lavery
Lola Petticrew carries the series as Cushla. The character is young enough to imagine a different life but old enough to understand exactly why the choices available to her are restricted. Her work as a teacher gives her a public role in the community, while her shifts at the Anchor Bar expose her to conversations and people she would not encounter in the classroom.
Cushla’s affair with Michael is therefore only one part of a larger pressure system. She is managing Gina at home, worrying about a pupil and his family, working alongside Gerry, and trying to move through a place where people notice who speaks to whom. Petticrew has to make Cushla’s desire for freedom believable without making her oblivious to the risks around her.
Tom Cullen as Michael Agnew
Tom Cullen plays Michael, a married Protestant barrister whose politics make him controversial even before the affair begins. He publicly criticizes coerced confessions and police violence, and his legal work places him close to the conflict surrounding Northern Ireland in the 1970s.
Michael’s position gives the romance a complicated power balance. He is older, professionally established and already married. Cushla may be drawn to his confidence and worldview, but the story does not allow the audience to forget that their relationship exists inside unequal personal circumstances as well as a dangerous political environment.
Gillian Anderson as Gina Lavery
Gillian Anderson plays Gina, Cushla’s mother. Channel 4 described Gina as a “glorious wreck,” and PBS’s character guide emphasizes the grief and drinking that have narrowed her life. Gina can be difficult for Cushla to care for, but she is not written only as an obstacle. Her knowledge of the community and her response when tragedy arrives give the mother-daughter relationship more depth than constant conflict.
Anderson is also an executive producer on the series, alongside novelist Louise Kennedy and director Dawn Shadforth. Her involvement makes Gina one of the adaptation’s most prominent supporting characters rather than background family color.
Martin McCann as Eamonn Lavery
Martin McCann plays Eamonn, Cushla’s brother and the person who keeps the family pub functioning. Eamonn represents a survival strategy shaped by experience: keep your head down, avoid drawing attention and do not assume the world will reward honesty. That instinct clashes with Cushla’s choices as the affair and the McGeown family’s troubles become harder to contain.
Oisín Thompson as Gerry Harkin
Oisín Thompson plays Gerry, Cushla’s teaching colleague. He begins as a friend whose company offers a less dangerous kind of closeness, but he also becomes someone Cushla can confide in as the pressure around her increases. Gerry matters because his relationship with Cushla shows what trust looks like outside the secrecy of her affair with Michael.
How does the series connect to Louise Kennedy’s book?
Trespasses is based on Louise Kennedy’s debut novel of the same name. The book was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction and is set in the same 1975 Northern Irish environment. Kennedy is an executive producer on the adaptation, while Ailbhe Keogan adapted the novel for television and Dawn Shadforth directed all four episodes.
Executive producer Amanda Posey has explained that the team chose a four-part series rather than a film because the novel’s supporting characters, atmosphere and social detail would be difficult to preserve in a shorter format. That is useful context for book readers: the adaptation is not only interested in the central affair, but also in the community around Cushla and the accumulated consequences of smaller choices.
If you enjoy literary adaptations, you may also want our guides to East of Eden on Netflix and Lord of the Flies on Netflix.
What historical period is Trespasses set in?
The story takes place in Northern Ireland in 1975 during the Troubles. PBS frames the background around conflict between mainly Protestant loyalists and mainly Catholic nationalists over Northern Ireland’s political future. In the series, that history is not presented as distant exposition. It affects the bar, the school, policing, relationships and the level of danger attached to choices that might seem private elsewhere.
Viewers do not need to be experts on the period before watching, but understanding that the violence was not an abstract backdrop helps explain why Cushla’s actions carry such weight. The series uses the political climate to show how fear can regulate everyday behavior long before a bomb explodes or a gun appears on screen.
Was Trespasses already released in the UK?
Yes. Trespasses originally aired on Channel 4 in the UK in November 2025. The September 20, 2026 date is specifically the U.S. PBS premiere, so American viewers are getting the series after its original British broadcast. PBS will also make the episodes available through PBS.org and the PBS app.
How many episodes are there?
The adaptation has four episodes. The short run is intentional: it gives the series more room than a feature film to preserve the novel’s relationships and social texture while still telling a complete, tightly structured story.
Frequently Asked Questions
Trespasses premieres in the U.S. on PBS on September 20, 2026.
PBS says the series will stream on PBS.org and the PBS app.
Lola Petticrew plays Cushla Lavery, a Catholic schoolteacher living near Belfast in 1975.
Tom Cullen plays Michael, an older married Protestant barrister who begins an affair with Cushla.
Gillian Anderson plays Gina Lavery, Cushla’s widowed mother.
Yes. The four-part drama is adapted from Louise Kennedy’s novel Trespasses.
There are four episodes.
Why Trespasses is worth watching
Trespasses works best when the romance, family story and political setting are treated as inseparable. Cushla’s affair with Michael is compelling because it collides with everything else in her life: her mother’s dependence, her brother’s caution, her pupil’s suffering and the surveillance of a divided community.
The cast also gives the adaptation a strong center. Petticrew has the difficult job of keeping Cushla active rather than simply trapped, Cullen has to make Michael’s idealism and selfishness coexist, and Anderson gives Gina a tragicomic energy that prevents the household from becoming one-note misery. For U.S. viewers discovering the series through PBS, it is a compact book adaptation with far more going on than its “forbidden love” label suggests.