The British actress Emily Watson is to star in a BBC drama based on the London 7/7 bombings. Watson will play Julie Nicholson, whose daughter Jenny was killed at Edgware Road underground station. 

Emily WatsonEmily Watson will star as Julie Nicholson

A Song For Jenny is based on Nicholson's own account of the day and will be written by the playwright Frank McGuinness. Nicholson herself told the Radio Times that she was overjoyed with the re-telling of her tragic story. 

"I believe it is in safe hands and I have long admired and respected the work of Frank McGuinness," she said.

The drama will be broadcast in July 2015, in conjunction with the 10th anniversary of the attacks - the first time that British suicide bombers attacked civilians in their own country. According to the BBC, it inflicted the greatest loss of life in a UK terrorist attack since the Lockerbie bombing.

More: check out our Emily Watson

More: watch the Testament of Youth trailer

Watson is a hugely accomplished actress and won a BAFTA for her inspired performance in the Fred West drama Appropriate Adult in 2011. She said she hopes to do Nicholson's story justice.

"Although daunted by the task ahead, as a Londoner who was there on 7/7, I feel honoured to be part of the team asked to tell this compelling story," she said.

"I hope we can do it justice," added the actress.

BBC One controller Charlotte Moore said the drama will serve as "a fitting tribute to those who lost their lives in the tragedy of the 7/7 London bombings."

"But it will also be a very personal story, exploring universal themes of grief, loss and forgiveness through one mother's struggle to reconcile her feelings with her faith," she added. 

Watson has numerous projects in some form of development, including an adaptation of Vera Brittain's autobiography Testament of Youth - a recollection of coming of age during World War I. She stars alongside Kit Harington and Hayley Atwell.