Netflix‘s new limited series Toxic Town follows a chilling case that rocked the Northamptonshire town of Corby in the late ’90s and 2000s.
The limited series follows a group of mothers – played by Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, and Claudia Jesse – as they take on the Corby Borough Council after learning toxic waste mismanagement caused their children to be born with disabilities. Dubbed the “British Erin Brockovich,” the drama unpacks how all of the safeguards were cast away for profit by the city council when the Corby Steelworks facility was demolished, putting local families at risk.
Downton Abbey actor Brendan Coyle also stars, as do Rory Kinnear, Robert Carlyle, and Joe Dempsie. The Toxic Town Rotten Tomatoes score currently stands at 75%, so it’s certainly worth the watch.
Decider’s Joel Keller praised the series in a review, calling it “an intense but entertaining watch.”
Is it all rooted in truth? Here’s what we know about the inspiration behind Netflix’s Toxic Town.
Is Toxic Town based on a true story?
The Toxic Town true story began when Susan McIntyre (Whittaker) gave birth to a child with limb differences after noticing “lots of other mothers” having babies “that had problems with their limbs,” as McIntyre told Netflix’s Tudum. When a journalist got in touch with her after noticing a similar trend, McIntyre and fellow Corby mothers Tracey Taylor and Maggie Mahon got in touch with lawyer Des Collins to get to the bottom of the situation.
What happened in Corby?
The Corby Steelworks closed down in 1980 and was later demolished. However, problems began to arise when the local council mismanaged how it disposed of the toxic waste, leading locals to inhale fumes and dust.
One mother, Joy Shatford, told The Independent that she could recall the smell of the fumes in the months before she gave birth to her son, who was born without fingers on his left hand. “You could taste it in the air; it was sour, gassy and acidic. Then it was common knowledge that this was because they were digging up the pits,” she said.
At the time of the trial, one scientist even described it as an “atmospheric soup of toxic materials.”
How did the court rule in the Corby toxic waste case?
A High Court judge in London ruled that the Corby Borough Council had been negligent in its handling of the town’s steelworks facility, according to a report at the time from The Independent. Sixteen of the 18 young people named in the case were able to seek damages from the council, who was reportedly facing a bill of up to £6.6 million, or $8.5 million.
Looking back on that landmark case, Mahon told Tudum, “We were the underdogs and that is the magic of the whole story.”
Toxic Town is streaming now on Netflix.
The post Is ‘Toxic Town’ Based On A True Story? Inside The Real-Life Landmark Case appeared first on Decider.
