Almost the entire audience of Channel 4 drama Dirty Business felt that the government needs to do more to protect Britain’s rivers and seas and take stronger action against water company bosses, a survey has found.
Survey Findings
A survey conducted online showed that more than half (54%) of the 4.2 million who watched the show will now stop swimming in UK waters as a result of watching the hard-hitting drama. Asked if they agreed that the government should do more to protect UK rivers and seas, 97% said they did, with the same number agreeing that stronger action was needed to deal with the individuals responsible for the sewage crisis, such as water company bosses.
With 88% claiming their faith in UK water companies decreased after watching the series, it follows that 79% now take more interest in news stories about water quality. A third of those who watched the drama, which was based on real-life events and showed the staggering scale of illegal sewage dumping happening to this day in the UK, intended to raise the matter with their local MP.
Drama's Impact
The three-part drama, starring Jason Watkins and David Thewlis as crusading campaigners Ash Smith, a former detective, and ex-university professor Peter Hammond, aired from February and brought the issue of sewage pollution into the mainstream. Based on the testimony of those involved in the scandal, it told the story of victims, whistleblowers and the corruption within England’s water companies.
Rita Daniels, Commissioning Editor at Channel 4, told The Mirror: “It is clear that Dirty Business had demonstrable impact on viewers, and fully embodies Channel 4’s remit to challenge with purpose. It was our hope that the series would drive conversation about the state of the UK’s waterways, and it is heartening to see that viewers are discussing the issue with others, or raising it with their MP. We hope the series continues to inspire change over time.”
Asked if they’d talked to others about the issues raised in the drama, seven out of ten of those surveyed said they had, with one saying: “I told my family to watch the series and I wrote to my MP. I was shocked to find that sewage is still being dumped in the sea and the rivers. Shameful.”
Actor Thewlis said when the drama aired: “I now find myself telling people all the time - whatever you do don’t swim in the rivers or the lakes. No one should be doing that at the moment, or for the foreseeable future. It’s turned me into a bit of a campaigner.”
Real-Life Stories
Dirty Business also followed the true story of the Preen family who were left heartbroken when their eight-year-old daughter Heather died after contracting E. coli 0157. Heather had been playing on the beach at Dawlish, Devon where days earlier a nearby storm pipe had discharged raw sewage into the sea. It also explored what happened to young surfer Reuben who believes his chronic illness, Meniere’s disease, is a result of surfing in polluted water, changing his life forever.
The Channel 4 Dirty Business Social Impact Study was based on 237 viewers via a bespoke online study.
