BBC One's new drama, Crossfire, has had viewers glued to the screen with its compelling plot that sees gunmen break into a holiday resort.
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The three-parter stars Keeley Hawes as Jo, a mum enjoying a holiday with family and friends in the Canary Islands when suddenly shots ring out in their hotel. But how true is the story? Find out if the thriller is based on real-life events here…
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Is Crossfire based on a true story?
Crossfire is not based on a true story. The show's creator and executive producer Louise Doughty said that while the plot is entirely fictional, she did research "very carefully what has actually happened in these incidents".
"I think the first thing to say is how appalling it must be for anyone who has ever experienced this," she told RadioTimes.com. "None of us can begin to imagine how awful that must be and I think our hearts go out to all of them, because it's just an unspeakable horror really to have to go through.
"I just wouldn't have been comfortable basing it on a real-life event, I would have found that too difficult to do."
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Speaking to the BBC about the inspiration behind the show, she revealed that she got the idea while on a family holiday in Tenerife. "I was lying on a sun lounger one day in a hotel complex; my family were scattered around the complex," she explained.
© Photo: BBCThe series is not based on true events
"I had one child in the pool and one had wandered off somewhere and I couldn't help thinking what if some sort of gun attack happened on the resort at this particular moment.
"I thought 'What would I do?' Of course, we would all like to think we would behave heroically; the truth is not all of us would."
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Louise went on to say that she wanted to write about a group of ordinary people and "the human choices that we all make under pressure" and the "consequences of those decisions that reverberate for years to come".
© Photo: BBCKeeley Hawes stars as Jo in the drama
What is Crossfire about?
The BBC synopsis reads: "Sunbathing on her hotel room balcony while on a dream holiday with her family and friends, Jo's world is turned upside down when shots ring out across the complex. Gunmen, out for revenge, have, in an instant, turned a slice of paradise into a terrifying heart-breaking hell."
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