The lead roles in the drama series are for Aimee Lou Wood (center photo), known from Sex Education, the outgoing Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker (r.) and Robert Carlyle (The Full Monty, left).
Rory Kinnear (far left), known from Years and Years, among others, and Corby resident Brendan Coyle (far right), who starred in Downton Abbey, among others, are also on board Toxic Town. Written by His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne, the series centers on Corby's scandalous toxic waste spills and the ensuing legal battle dubbed the "British Erin Brockovich." Production will begin later this month in the UK under an Equity contract, meaning the series will not be affected by the US strikes.
Toxic Town follows the tragic toxic waste case in the East Midlands and three mothers' 'David and Goliath fight for justice'. After the closure of one of the largest steel mills in Europe in the mid-1980s, the council demolished the site as part of an urban renewal program that saw waste transported through densely populated areas in open trucks.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the rate of upper limb anomalies in babies born in Corby was three times higher than in children born in the surrounding area. Eighteen families filed a lawsuit that was eventually won by the UK Supreme Court in 2009. A settlement was reached a year later.
Thorne, who co-wrote the similar Channel 4 series The Accident (2019), called the case a "defining moment in history". "It showed our ability to close our eyes and ears to the safety of our people," he added. "It also showed the remarkable way people will fight for what is right."
Jones described writer Thorne as the "voice of a generation, bringing an intelligence, intensity and empathy to the human story behind the historic case." The producer of Toxic Town is Delyth Scudamore. Thorne wrote all episodes and co-wrote episode three with Amy Trigg.
The streamers, who are taking a US assignment break due to the strikes, have recently shown a penchant for ordering contemporary British true crime series. Disney+ is making a Jeff Pope-written drama about Jean Charles de Menezes, the innocent Brazilian shot in Britain as police hunt a group of terrorists, while also commissioning a series based on Alex Dahl's novel Playdate, the greatest nightmare for parents
