Netflix has just added Toxic Town, its much-anticipated new series that dramatises the true story of one of the UK’s biggest environmental scandals.
The four-part limited show is based on the real case of the Corby poisonings that started in the 1980s and rocked the small English former steel town of Corby.
Netflix’s plot synopsis reads: “Toxic Town is a dramatised series that’s based on the real case of the Corby poisonings, which saw a group of mothers (three of whom are played in the series by Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, and Claudia Jessie) challenge their town’s council over alleged toxic waste mismanagement.”
The case is often referred to as “the British Erin Brokovich”, with the group of mothers – whose children had developed birth defects – confronting their town’s leadership about its alleged mismanagement of toxic waste materials.
Toxic Town was written by Jack Thorne (National Treasure, The Virtues) and produced by Annabel Jones and Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror).
Its cast also includes Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey), Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones), Karla Crome (Misfits), Michael Socha (This is England), Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting) and Rory Kinnear (Skyfall).
You can read some of the positive reviews for Toxic Town right here:
The Guardian: “Jodie Whittaker and Aimee Lou Wood are exceptional as mothers battling corporate greed after a very British scandal in their town. This real-life drama may be cheesy at times, but it is a life-changing story that very much needs to be told.”
The Independent: “It’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office all over again as Jodie Whittaker heads a fine cast bringing a historic injustice to wider attention.”
The Telegraph: “It is a real-life David and Goliath tale, and in the scrappy Susan McIntyre, one of the mothers whose child was affected, [Netflix] have an Erin Brockovich figure.”
The Times: “Its writer, Jack Thorne, manages to make a bleak and enraging story sing with a fizzing script.”
Toxic Town is streaming on Netflix now in its entirety.
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