Narrated by Brian Dennehy, the film follows the Protestant Willis family from the west of Ireland as they flee to Canada in the Spring of 1847 at the height of the Great Famine, ultimately arriving in Toronto, The story is intercut with commentary from historians and other experts.

Professor Peter Gray of Queen's University Belfast opines: "People think that Irish Catholics have the monopoly on famine suffering, when in fact it crossed the religious divide.

Toronto's Bishop Michael Power, who following a visit to Ireland in 1847, endeavoured to warn the City Council of the human tsunami of Irish that were about to arrive on its shores.

The programme ends with the Willis family arriving at the Grosse Île quarantine station outside of Quebec City at the narrowing of the Saint Lawrence River.

The Willis' story is inter-cut with Robert Kearns, chairman of Toronto's Ireland Park, touring the island, which is now an Irish Memorial and National Historic Site.

The Willis family continue their journey to Toronto, while the eastern ports and cities of British North America were overwhelmed by typhus-infested refugees who caused health crises wherever they went.

Production shifted to Canada in May 2008 where locations included Discovery Harbour, Black Creek Pioneer Village and St. Michael's Cathedral standing in for Toronto of 1847.

In Ireland it garnered a 26% share of the audience, placing second only to Desperate Housewives, and in Canada it attracted a total viewership of 370,000 during its transmission on 16 March 2009.

Bill Harris of Sun Media hailed it as an "excellent and emotional docu-drama" that "documents the exact moment when the fates of the two nations became intertwined.

"[9] A senior executive for History Television said "We have a great sense of pride when Canadian productions and coproductions find a wide and engaged audience.

McGowan told the Canadian Press that, for most Canadians, the Great Famine of Ireland is a period quite remote; for some, it is completely unknown[15] and he hopes that "while this volume focuses on just one year, in one city, its intent is to encourage further social study of the Irish experience in Canada, while putting faces and voices to the bare statistics that have come to distinguish 'Black '47' from the other phases of Irish migration.