In just 24 hours, Netflix’s new drama Toxic Town based on an unbelievable true story has shot straight to the top of the charts.
Starring Doctor Who actress Jodie Whittaker and Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood, Toxic Town dramatizes a horrific scandal from the 1980s.
Not unlike how ITV brought to light the shocking injustices against hundreds of people who were wrongly convicted of crimes in the Post Office scandal in Mr Bates vs The Post Office, Toxic Town tells one of the country’s biggest environmental scandals.
It involves the stories of the people involved in the Corby poisonings, as the four-part programme follows a group of four mothers who fought for justice over more than 10 years after their children developed birth defects affecting their hands and feet in one of the UK’s most historically significant cases.
In a landmark High Court ruling in 2009, Corby Borough Council was found negligent in its management of toxic waste at a former steelworks site in the town during the 1980s and 90s.
Get personalised updates on all things Netflix
Wake up to find news on your TV shows in your inbox every morning with Metro’s TV Newsletter.
Sign up to our newsletter and then select your show in the link we’ll send you so we can get TV news tailored to you.
The steelworks in Corby were closed in 1980, and the council then began demolishing the site to repurpose it, but waste was transported through nearby towns in the process.
Toxic dust was released in the air and would transfer between people in public spaces.
18 mothers claimed there was a correlation between their babies being born with defects and the removal of toxic waste, launching an investigation.
The council denied it was negligent and that there was any link between the removal of waste to a quarry north of the site and deformities affecting hands and feet, but the court found there was a ‘statistically significant’ cluster of birth defects between 1989 and 1999, and the council later agreed to pay compensation to the children affected.
While the scandal was horrific, it’s become unknown to many people including Toxic Town writer Jack Thorne, who told Netflix Tudum: ‘I didn’t know the story, I’d never heard of the people involved, and I’d never heard of the case until it was brought to me.’
He added: ‘It had within it a lot of drama, whether it’s the story of the trial itself, or whether it’s the way that these women got together and battled together.’
Thorne went on: ‘The more you look into it, the more complicated it all becomes, I’ve done legal dramas before, but this one… being taken through the actual truth of it and seeing the journey that they had to go on in order to prove this, I found very surprising and shocking.’
He added to Radio Times that he hoped some of the impact made by Mr Bates vs The Post Office would rub off on Toxic Town, saying: ‘I think every writer in the social realism realm took a breath when that came out, particularly when everyone said, “This is what TV drama can do!” We’ve been trying to do that for years… B*****ds!
‘But it was amazing seeing how far it reached and that’s the dream, because there’s a lingering sense that no one paid attention.’
Thousands of viewers have already devoured all four episodes in 24 hours and have called Toxic Town ‘absolutely brilliant’.
On X, a viewer with the handle @Gabrielle6579 wrote: ‘This show is insanely good.’
Many more agreed, with Scott Matthewman posting: ‘If I’m bleary eyed today, it’s because of Toxic Town on @NetflixUK Jack Thorne’s drama about the Corby toxic waste scandal. Great performances from Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, Claudia Jessie, Rory Kinnear et al.’
Rama’s Screen called Toxic Town ‘exceptional’ and added: ‘It’s not a run-of-the-mill biopic drama just to get you to cry over the mothers’ misfortune, but it’s also an engaging investigative drama with its emotional ups and downs. Jodie Whittaker was a firecracker with a lean mean feisty attitude.’
As well as Jodie playing Susan McIntyre and Aimee as Tracey Taylor, the cast includes Bridgerton’s Claudia Jessie as Maggie Mahon, and features Robert Carlyle, Brendan Coyle and Rory Kinnear.
More Trending
In the trailer, Jodie’s character Susan, who is a real person whose son was born without fingers on one hand, says her son ‘has been in pain his entire life and it wasn’t his fault’.
As she fights for justice, Aimee’s character Tracey adds: ‘I’m here for them (the children) and the damage my council did them.’
Early reviews have branded Jodie ‘flawless’ in the series, with The Guardian’s Rachel Aroesti writing: ‘Toxic Town transforms a painfully sad tale of infuriating injustice into something that’s just about bearable to watch.’
Deals of the Day
Save £300 on the 'Ferrari of lawn mowers' that gardeners are calling 'unbelievable'
‘Like sleeping on a cloud’ hail shoppers as £12 mattress protector scores glowing reviews
Our Place launches unmissable Spring sale and it’s prime time to upgrade your kitchenware
Rest your head after the marathon with Simba’s best-selling mattress
Wuka has launched its new Perform Period Shorts just in time for the London Marathon
Toxic Town is now available to watch on Netflix.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
MORE: R-rated 2024 film starring James Bond favourite finally dropping on Netflix soon
MORE: Netflix viewers urge others to watch newly released ‘captivating’ movie
MORE: Inside Jodie Whittaker’s private life with husband who was in Oscar-winning thriller
