With a cracking script from Peter Mullan (who also directed) this is an accurate skewering of the hypocrisy of the Magdalene Asylums, where "fallen women" were forced to live and work in spartan conditions until as recently as 1996. Originally intended for the rescue and rehabilitation of prostitutes, in their later years the asylums extended their "welcome" to unmarried mothers, the mentally challenged, abused girls and even those considered promiscuous or simply too beautiful.

So it is with the four teenagers in this story, who are committed in the 1960s. Among them Anne-Marie Duff, who went on to find fame as Fiona Gallagher in the first series of Shameless, and Nora-Jane Noone, who appeared in several episodes of Coronation Street in 2005 and will shortly be back on our screens in the new adaptation of The Day of the Triffids.

Four young women are sent to live at a Madgalene Asylum where their parents or guardians hope the sisterhood can correct their "sinful" behaviour. Crispina (Eileen Walsh) and Rose (Dorothy Duffy) have given birth to children out of wedlock, Margaret (Duff) was raped by her cousin and the orphan Bernadette's (Noone) only "transgression" was to have been caught flirting with the boys.

All are set to work in the laundry, where the nuns rule with rods of iron and use cruel and unusual punishments designed to break the girls' spirits. Some of the inmates are crushed by the regime while others develop a bond of friendship. They realise that their only way out is to escape from the establishment, but Sister Bridget (Geraldine McEwan) has eyes in the back of her head.

The Magdalene Sisters: Film4, Thursday 26 February, 9pm

Worth a look:
This Is Spinal Tap: ITV4, Saturday 21 February, 10.50pm
The 6th Day: Five, Monday 23 February, 9pm
Ray: ITV3, Tuesday 24 February, 10.30pm
The Player: Film4, Tuesday 24 February, 11.20pm