What is the story behind Netflix’s Toxic Town?
James Grant
BBC News, Northamptonshire
Netflix/PA Images
Jodie Whittaker (left) and Aimee Lou Wood star in Toxic Town, based on the Corby toxic waste scandal
A Netflix drama based on a town’s toxic waste scandal is now available to stream.
Toxic Town depicts the real-life battle of families in Corby whose children were born with defects in what Netflix described as “one of the UK’s biggest environmental scandals”.
Here is everything you need to know about the show and the real events in the Northamptonshire town that inspired it.
What happened in Corby?
The Netflix show is the dramatised story of what happened to contaminated waste after the Corby Steelworks closed
Netflix said Toxic Town focused on mothers who fought a “David and Goliath battle for justice”.
In 1979, about 10,000 people worked at Corby’s steelworks, but, with Britain experiencing a decline in heavy industry, steel production became uncompetitive, leading to the site’s closure in 1980.
Thousands were left unemployed, prompting the local council to launch a regeneration project.
The British Steel Corporation demolished the works, and using government and European grants, the council began reclaiming the land.
The project involved moving millions of tonnes of contaminated waste to Deene Quarry, on the outskirts of the town.
Netflix
Former Doctor Who actress Jodie Whittaker (centre) leads the cast of Toxic Town
Years later, concerns arose when mothers living near the reclamation site gave birth to children with upper limb deformities.
A 1999 Northamptonshire Health Authority study found no unusual cluster of birth defects.
However, solicitor Des Collins, after reading about the cases, conducted his own investigation, revealing birth defects in Corby were three times higher than in the surrounding area.
Mr Collins assembled a team of experts, including toxicologists and pollution specialists, to argue that the council’s mismanagement of toxic waste had spread contaminated dust throughout the town.
The heavy metal cadmium was identified on the former steel site, and a medical expert cited research linking it to birth defects in animals.
After a three-month civil court hearing, Justice Akenhead ruled in favour of the claimants, marking the first time a UK court recognised airborne pollutants harming unborn babies.
Corby Borough Council disputed the verdict and prepared an appeal, but reached a private settlement with the families in 2010.
The local authority no longer exists, having been replaced by the North Northamptonshire unitary council in April 2021.
The case remains a landmark ruling in environmental justice.
Who created the show and who are the stars?
Netflix/ PA Images
Brendan Coyle as Roy Thomas (left), and Robert Carlyle as Sam Hagen, feature in Toxic Town
The four-part series features an ensemble cast led by former Doctor Who star Jodie Whittaker as Susan McIntyre.
She is joined by Sex Education’s Aimee Lou Wood as Tracey Taylor and Bridgerton’s Claudia Jessie as Maggie Mahon – all real mothers who fought the court case.
The Diplomat’s Rory Kinnear plays solicitor Des Collins, who took on the case and appeared in the BBC documentary from 2020, similarly called Toxic Town: The Corby Poisonings.
The Full Monty’s Robert Carlyle plays Sam Hagen, a then-Corby Borough Councillor and Downton Abbey’s Brendan Coyle, who is from Corby originally, stars as Roy Thomas, a fictional amalgams of several people from the authority.
The Netflix series is written by Jack Thorne, known for His Dark Materials and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.
Speaking to BBC Radio Northampton, Thorne said: “It felt like this incredibly and shameful thing happened and I had no idea it happened.
“Bringing attention to that, not just for Corby, but the implication for every single one of us, felt an important thing for TV to do.”
He said the “hardest bit” was deciding which mothers to focus on in the drama as all “deserve attention”.
What have the families said?
Tracy Taylor (pictured) is played Aimee Lou Wood in Toxic Town
Speaking to the BBC, Tracey Taylor, whose daughter Shelby died at four days old, said: “I don’t think the people of Corby realise just how much they have been affected by this. Hopefully they will now, and hopefully they’ll see why us mothers had to stand strong and do it.”
Fellow Corby mother, Maggie Mahon, whose son was born with a club foot, said seeing the show was “emotional”.
Getty Images
The steelworks in Corby, pictured, closed in 1981
BBC Radio Northampton has produced an eight-part documentary series called In Detail: The Toxic Waste Scandal, which will be available for download in March.
The documentary is presented by 32-year old George Taylor, who was born in 1992 with a unilateral upper limb defect.
His parents Brian and Fiona had run the King’s Arms pub in Weldon, near the clean-up site, and the court heard dusty workers from the reclamation team had spread contaminants throughout their bar.
“I’ve never had the chance to really understand what happened in Corby that left us kids the way we are,” said George
“Even if people know this story – I think they’ll be surprised by what we found. It’s been an eye-opener.”
