Netflix's new true story drama Toxic Town arrived on Thursday, and viewers are already "glued" to the four-part series about the toxic waste scandal in Corby, a town in Northamptonshire.
Featuring a star-studded cast, including Jodie Whittaker (Doctor Who), Claudia Jessie (Bridgerton), Robert Carlyle (Trainspotting), Aimee Lou Wood (Sex Education) and Brendan Coyle (Downton Abbey), the series tells of three mothers' fight for justice after their children were born with defects in what Netflix described as "one of the UK's biggest environmental scandals".
Fans were full of praise for the gripping drama, with one person writing on social media: "Absolutely glued to this! Excellent stuff and a true story that I had no awareness of. Cracking soundtrack too!!" while another compared the show to ITV's Mr Bates vs The Post Office, which is a semi-fictionalised account of the Post Office Horizon scandal.
© Ben Blackall/Netflix"#ToxicTown on @netflix is this year's Mr Bates vs The Post Office. A powerful story about ordinary people fighting appalling injustice and corruption. Class performances all round and tight scripting. A true story of determination and resilience," they penned.
Another viewer hailed leading stars Aimee-Lou Wood and Jodie Whittaker's performances as "fantastic", while another called the show a "must-watch".
The synopsis reads: "Toxic Town is a story about community, focusing on three mothers who take on a David and Goliath fight for justice. By tracing through the years of their fight, a terrible truth comes to the surface - one of stinging injustice."
© Ben Blackall/NetflixThe three main mothers are based on real people, as well as solicitor Des Collins (played by Rory Kinnear) and former council worker Sam Hagen (Robert Carlyle).
Aimee, who plays Tracey, revealed what she hopes audiences will take from the show. "Well, the real Tracey's view is a very practical one – she wants people to know about toxic waste," the actress told Netflix.
© Ben Blackall/Netflix"She wants people to know the effects it can have. She wants people to be empowered enough to ask questions about what is going on. For her and the other mums, they didn't have the information to understand what was happening. When they were cleaning that dust off their cars, they really didn't have a clue it was toxic. How could they? They didn't realise it was poisoning them."
Toxic Town is available to stream on Netflix.
