Toxic Town will be released on the streaming platform on Thursday, February 27 and stars Doctor Who actress Jodie Whittaker, Sex Education actress Aimee Lou Wood and Bridgerton star Claudia Jessie.
Netflix first announced they would be developing the project in 2023. According to Netflix, Toxic Town is "a story about community, focusing on three mothers who engage in a David and Goliath battle for justice."
The newly released trailer introduces community members Tracey Taylor (played by Wood) and Susan McIntyre (played by Whittaker), whose child was born with a deformed hand. "Didn't drink. Didn't smoke. Sometimes kids are just born different," says Whittaker's Susan, thinking about all the possible reasons behind her child's birth defect. Together with other mothers, Susan is challenging Corby City Council, whose alleged mismanagement of toxic waste has caused birth defects in the city. “My son has been in pain his whole life and it wasn't his fault,” Whittaker's character claims.
Toxic Town was written by Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials). Jessie plays Maggie Mahon, one of the mothers who also fought for justice. The rest of the cast includes Robert Carlyle as Sam Hagen, Brendan Coyle as Roy Thomas, Rory Kinnear as Des Collins, Stephen McMillan, Lauren Lyle, Joe Dempsie, Michael Socha and Karla Crome.
In an interview with Tudum, the series writer said that Toxic Town is "really a working-class story" about a group of people, "who are not part of the system and never thought the system would work for them, who work within the system and [fight for] the outcome they deserve."
The upcoming series will join Netflix's roster of series based on true stories, including When They See Us, Mindhunter, Inventing Anna, Unbelievable, The Serpent and Ryan Murphy's two Monster series (Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story).
You can watch the trailer below.
