Bradford actress Natalie Gavin stars in a new television drama about a group of women struggling to cope with their men behind bars.

Natalie, who got her break playing Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar in a film about her life, is in Prisoners’ Wives, starting tonight.

In the series, about four different women, Natalie plays Lou Bell, a feisty young mother determined to give her son opportunities she never had. A tough upbringing has made her volatile and cynical, but with her boyfriend serving time on her behalf, having taken the rap for her drug-dealing, and her son struggling with his father’s absence, Lou has never needed the support of others more.

Natalie, 25, and the other actresses visited a prison and met real prisoners’ wives to prepare for their roles.

Natalie started acting at Buttershaw School, the same school Andrea Dunbar went to, and went on to play Andrea in The Arbor, the 2010 Bafta-nominated film about the playwright.

She said she felt a strong connection with Andrea. “Some of my family are from Buttershaw and I found out while making the film that my dad lived on Brafferton Artbor, where Andrea lived, and he knew her,” she said. “We went to the same school. It was where I found my passion and where Andrea found hers.”

l Prisoners’ Wives starts tonight on BBC1 at 9pm.