David Thewlis, Jason Watkins, Asim Chaudhry, and BAFTA Rising Star nominee Posy Sterling have been cast in Channel 4's upcoming factual drama 'Dirty Business'. The three-part series, produced by Halcyon Heart, is based on a decade-long investigation into England's water companies and the stories of whistleblowers and victims affected by sewage-polluted water.
The drama follows two unlikely detectives who notice fish dying in a river running through their Oxfordshire hamlet. After contacting their water company, a strange and evasive reply sparks an ongoing investigation. Thewlis plays Ash, a former police detective, while Watkins portrays Peter, a biology professor who discovers that the local sewage works is dumping raw, untreated sewage into waterways. Chaudhry features as a whistleblowing sewage plant worker.
The series also tells the true story of the Preen family, whose eight-year-old daughter Heather died after contracting E. coli 0157. She had been playing on a beach where a storm pipe had discharged raw sewage days earlier. Additionally, it follows young surfer Reuben, who believes his chronic illness, Meniere's disease, resulted from surfing in polluted water.
Multi-BAFTA winner Joseph Bullman, known for 'Killed By My Debt' and 'Partygate', writes and directs the project. Producers are Laura McCutcheon and Meeshan Saxena, with Aysha Rafaele as executive producer. The series was commissioned by Channel 4's Head of Documentaries Alisa Pomeroy and Factual Entertainment Commissioning Editor Rita Daniels.
