Channel 4 has unveiled a first look at its upcoming factual drama, Dirty Business, based on a decade-long investigation into England's water companies and the whistleblowers and victims who believe their lives have been ruined after encountering sewage-polluted water.
Harry Potter star David Thewlis and Line of Duty's Jason Watkins lead the cast as two ordinary men who uncover negligence from their water company.
© ANDREW BAKERDavid said of the series: "What shocked me about this story was just how much has been allowed to go unchecked - two ordinary men uncovering negligence, illegal pollution, and corporate indifference that should never have been tolerated."
Following the huge success of ITV's hard-hitting drama, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, about the shocking Post Office scandal, which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters who were wrongly prosecuted for false accounting and theft, we've seen more broadcasters and streamers produce similar high-impact, true story dramas.
After Mr Bates vs the Post Office came Netflix's Toxic Town, about the Corby toxic waste case, the BBC's Prisoner 951, which dramatises the wrongful imprisonment of British-Iranian citizen Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe in Iran, and ITV's The Hack, about the News of the World phone-hacking scandal.
It looks like viewers are in for another compelling drama about a shocking scandal with Channel 4's Dirty Business, which follows two unlikely detectives who notice that the fish in the river of their idyllic Oxfordshire hamlet are dying.
Intrigued? Keep reading to find out more.
What is Dirty Business about?
The series, which is written and directed by multi-Bafta winner Joseph Bullman (Killed by my Debt, Partygate), centres around a former police officer and a computer science professor, who team up to investigate the dumping of untreated sewage into local waterways.
The synopsis reads: "Dirty Business follows the story of two unlikely detectives, who notice that the fish in the river running through their idyllic Oxfordshire hamlet are dying. They contact their water company to find out why, and the company's strange and evasive reply sparks an investigation that remains ongoing to this day."
© Channel 4David Thewlis plays Ash, a concerned citizen and former police detective of a small town in Oxfordshire, who notices that his local river is becoming increasingly polluted. He stars opposite Jason Watkins as Peter, Ash's neighbour and a Professor of Computational Biology, who uses his scientific rigor and investigative skills to establish that their local sewage works is not treating sewage correctly, subsequently and frequently dumping raw, untreated sewage into local waterways.
Meanwhile, Asim Chaudhry (People Just Do Nothing) plays a whistleblowing sewage plant worker, Mickey. "Burdened by the inefficiency and neglect by the water company he works for, he partners with Ash and Peter to supply information on critical failures from the inside," the synopsis teases.
© Photography by Rob Baker AshtonThe series also follows the true story of the Preen family, who are left grieving after their eight-year-old daughter Heather dies from contracting E. coli 0157.
"Heather had been playing on a beach where days earlier a nearby storm pipe had discharged into the sea," reads the synopsis. "The Preens believe Heather's death was the result of her coming into contact with the raw sewage.
© Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock"It also follows the story of young surfer Reuben who believes his chronic illness, Meniere's disease, is as a result of surfing in polluted water, changing his life forever."
One of the show's leading stars, Jason, was drawn to the story because of "how human and grounded" it is. "Dirty Business captures the quiet determination it takes to stand up to a system far bigger than the individual, and shining a light on the real human cost of environmental damage and corporate neglect felt both urgent and important to be part of," he said.
Who else stars in the show?
The show boasts an impressive cast, including Grace actor Craig Parkinson, Call the Midwife's Charlotte Ritchie and The Crown actor Alex Jennings.
Other cast members include Bafta Rising Star nominee Posy Sterling, Tom McKay, Jon Culshaw, Vicky Pepperdine, Chanel Cresswell and Lucia Keskin.
A release date has yet to be announced.
