A sinister poisoning scandal: Inside the harrowing true story of Netflix’s Toxic Town

Toxic Town releases on Netflix today, and the show has a real life scandal so unfair it’s being compared to the post office scandal from Mr Bates VS the Post Office. Starring Jodie Whittaker and Aimee Lou Wood, the show tells how the town of Corby was engulfed in a poisoning scandal after mothers realised babies in the town were being born with birth defects from toxic dust they’d all been breathing in. The true story Toxic Town is based on makes the Netflix show essential watching, and all four episodes are out right now. Here’s what actually happened – and it’s hard to believe this all went down in a small English town.

The real-life experiences of these families are brought to vivid attention in the Netflix series. Spanning four episodes, it chronicles the lives of mothers who endure the constant presence of toxic orange dust, often finding themselves in hospital waiting rooms as their children undergo frequent surgeries and medical visits. The mothers who lived through these hardships and later became part of a class-action lawsuit provided consultation for the show and brought a fascinating perspective to the series.

The Corby poisoning scandal was an environmental and health crisis in the town of Corby, England, caused by pollution from a steelworks plant. For years, the plant released toxic chemicals, including cyanide, into the air, soil, and water, leading to serious health problems for local residents. Many people in the area, especially mothers and children, suffered from high rates of cancer and birth defects. In response, a group of affected residents filed a class-action lawsuit, seeking justice and compensation. The case brought attention to the long-term impact of industrial pollution on public health and the environment.

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After a journalist reached out to Susan McIntyre, played in Toxic Town by Jodie Whittaker, eventually 19 families signed up to a lawsuit attempting to uncover the wrongful disposal of toxic waste from Corby’s closed steelworks.

Here’s what the people affected by the Toxic Town story have shared in real life

Aimee Lou Wood plays Tracey Taylor in Toxic Town, and the real life Taylor had a child who was born with an ear defect and then died shortly after. Taylor remembers in the press notes for the show “a fine dust that got everywhere,” as if “the Sahara desert had just done a great big whoosh over.”

“You could clean your desk, and by the time you picked up your coffee cup, it was thick with dust again.” She also explained how she never left the house at lunch because her throat would burn from the air she was breathing in.

Another true part of the Toxic Town story are Maggie and Derek Mahon, played by Claudia Jessie and Joe Dempsie in the Netflix show. Derek worked at the reclamation site of the steelworks, and Maggie said “I had to brush the dust off his clothes when he came home.” Their son was born with a club foot.

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