Northern Star Pictures

Brendan’s mother Eilis reveals a dark secret on her deathbed, one to which Brendan must find the answer – what happened to her lost child?

In 1970’s Northern Ireland, a young boy, bereft of his mother, defies his father to get the Glam Rock album he so desperately wants. It’s Belfast - early 70’s… BOOM! Something’s in the air and it’s not a bomb, it’s a revolution. Glam Rock is drowning out the noise of armoured cars. As British soldiers patrol the streets, kids are glued to Top Of The Pops, entranced by Marc Bolan, the androgynous, satin-clad, glitter-god. In a high-rise flat lives a recently bereaved father and his ten-year-old son PJ, who is desperate to get his hands on the new T. Rex album Electric Warrior. The problem is he’s skint and his Da is on the dole. PJ comes up with a cunning plan to get the dough, involving a sock, a prosthetic leg and a pawnbroker. Ruthless is a humorous, heartwarming story of how a prosthetic leg and a T. Rex album become the conduit for overcoming grief.

Mark Thompson teams up with historian Dr Fionnan O’Connor to discover the fascinating story of what was once the greatest whiskey industry in the world.