New drama about ‘one of UK’s biggest scandals’ arriving on Netflix this month

The shocking case has been referred to as "the British Erin Brockovich".

Toxic Town stars Doctor Who's Jodie Whittaker, Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood and Trainspotting actor Robert Carlyle, and is based on the Corby toxic waste scandal - which was blamed for causing birth defects in the area.

Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood and Claudia Jessie star in Toxic Town. Premiering February 27.

Based on one of the UK’s biggest environmental scandals, the limited series follows a group of mothers fighting to bring a terrible truth to surface and justice for their children. pic.twitter.com/CRznIRNNFf

— Netflix (@netflix) February 5, 2025

The four-part series, premiering February 27th, focuses on the group of mothers who fought for justice.

The series, written by Jack Thorne, also stars Skyfall actor Rory Kinnear, Downton Abbey’s Brendan Coyle, Bridgerton’s Claudia Jessie and Skins actor Joe Dempsie.

In a landmark High Court ruling in 2009, Corby Borough Council was found negligent in its management of toxic waste at the former steelworks site in the town during the 1980s and 1990s.

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 Mr Justice Akenhead found there was a "statistically significant" cluster of birth defects between 1989 and 1999.

The council later agreed to pay compensation to the children affected.

Speaking to Tudum, Thorn admitted that he wasn't aware of the disturbing case initially.

"I didn’t know the story," he said. I’d never heard of the people involved, and I’d never heard of the case until it was brought to me by [my co-executive producers Annabel Jones and Charlie Brooker]."

Once Thorne dove into the material, he was shocked at how perfectly the unfolding of events aligned itself with the dramatic structure of a television series.

"It had within it a lot of drama," he added. "Whether it’s the story of the trial itself, or whether it’s the way that these women got together and battled together."

Given what the women had to do in order to get accountability from those in power, Thorne also found their commitment to be tremendously inspiring.

"There’s just so much internalized blame that these women obviously had [to deal with]," said Thorne. But, he notes, they were able to "collectively join together and work to actually empower not just themselves and their children, living or dead, but a whole community."

"It was just so incredible to see and to see how it affected other parts of their life," he continued. "It’s not just this simple hero’s journey of women banding together and fighting the man and getting this court victory. There’s nothing simple about it at all. You see where their power comes from, which is really just in the most basic level of humanity that they show for each other."

Toxic Town will be available to stream on Netflix UK & Ireland on Thursday, 27 February.