Is Rain Dogs based on a true story?

Rain Dogs is one of the most brilliant dramas of the year so far. The story follows the dysfunctional relationship between close friends Costello and Selby as they struggle with poverty and addiction – with the united goal of keeping Costello's daughter, Iris, safe and happy. But is the funny, dark, and at times devastating show based on a true story? Find out here…

The show, which is available on BBC iPlayer in the UK and HBO in the US, was written by Cash Carroway, a writer who received acclaim for her memoir, Skint Estate. Despite some similarities, Cash has revealed that Rain Dogs is very different from her own story. Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter about whether the tale was a memoir, Cash explained: "There’s lots of me in there. But I’m not Costello (Cooper) and Iris (Fleur Tashjian) isn’t my daughter.

"With the book, there wasn’t much of a story going on; it’s a load of thoughts that I had about my predicament, so I could start from scratch really. I could take Costello to places that I could never go personally."

Cash was originally writing an adaptation of her memoir, which was even announced as a HBO adaptation with Daisy May Cooper signed on to star, but she ended up changing the story to fiction. "As I was writing it, just before that BBC announcement, I said I didn’t want to do this; it was so exposing," she explained.

© Simon Ridgway

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"I don’t dislike the memoir but I dislike the fact that it was my only route to making money from writing; I was only ever allowed to write about myself. So I said it was too exposing and asked if there was any way I could write another show that tells a story about people who live in that world. But I didn’t want to tell my story."

© James Pardon

She added to Big Issue: "Rain Dogs is your classic transformation story; only Costello Jones is trapped in circumstances where she’s not allowed to change. It isn’t autobiographical, but it definitely has firm roots in the chip on my shoulder!"

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