The horrifying true story behind Netflix series Toxic Town

Published: Feb 26, 2025, 14:45

Netflix

Netflix has your next TV obsession lined up with Toxic Town, a new drama series inspired by a shocking true story.

The streaming service has been steadily expanding its true crime dramatization library in recent months, for better (Apple Cider Vinegar, Woman of the Hour) or worse (Monsters… sorry Ryan Murphy).

Next in line is Toxic Town, which stars Doctor Who icon Jodie Whittaker and The White Lotus Season 3’s breakout star Aimee Lou Wood as a group of mothers whose fight for justice is a modern-day David and Goliath story.

With the new Netflix series landing very soon, you may want to familiarize yourself with the real-life case behind it. Warning: some may find this content distressing.

True story behind Netflix’s Toxic Town

Known as one of the biggest environmental scandals in the UK, the Corby poisonings involved toxic waste from steelworks in Corby, Northamptonshire, causing severe birth defects in children in the ‘80s and ‘90s.

Between 1984 and 1999, the Corby Borough Council undertook the demolition, excavation and redevelopment of the former Stewarts & Lloyds site after the steel industry’s decline in the area.

However, instead of safely disposing of the toxic materials, waste was improperly handled, releasing hazardous chemicals into the air.

As approximately 200 million tonnes of waste was transported through the area, often in open lorries, a worrying trend emerged: an unusually high number of babies born suffered from birth defects, including limb differences.

Families affected by the incident realized the mothers had come into contact with the waste while pregnant. Suspecting a link between the two, they launched a legal battle against the council, despite years of denial and resistance from officials.

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In 2009, after a decade-long fight, the High Court ruled in favor of the families, acknowledging that Corby Borough Council had been “negligent” in handling the toxic waste.

This was a groundbreaking victory in environmental justice, holding a local authority accountable for causing birth defects while setting a precedent in UK law.

The following year, it was announced that a settlement had been reached, with 19 children who were affected to receive compensation for their conditions. Shockingly, Corby Council still did not accept responsibility.

Due to the similarities in the cases, the Corby incident has been described as “the British Erin Brockovich.”

Are the Toxic Town characters based on real people?

odie Whittaker as Susan, Aimee Lou Wood as Tracy in Episode 4 of Toxic Town

Toxic Town is set to tell this story through the eyes of the mothers who fought for justice after their babies were born with defects due to the mishandled Corby cleanup, with many of the characters based on real individuals.

This is true for Jodie Whittaker’s Susan McIntyre, whose son Connor was born with a hand difference in 1996. Aimee Lou Wood portrays the real-life Corby mom Tracey Taylor, whose daughter was so impacted by the poisonous air that she later died.

Claudia Jessie takes on the role of Maggie Mahon, another mother whose child was born with a birth defect. Sam Hagen, a former council worker who went on to become a supporter of the campaign, is played by Robert Carlyle.

Meanwhile, the solicitor who fought for the families, Des Collins, is portrayed by Rory Kinnear.

However, some of the characters have been fictionalized. They include council deputy leader Roy Thomas (Brendan Coyle) and waste disposal contractor Pat Miller (Ben Batt), who are said to be amalgams of the antagonists in this case.

Brendan Coyle Roy, Robert Carlyle as Sam in Episode 3 of Toxic Town

Speaking about the cast, Toxic Town writer Jack Thorne told Netflix’s Tudum, “Truly, it was a company of dreams. I couldn’t believe that we were able to get these people, and that they were prepared to be part of this story. And boy, did they all deliver.

“[Robert Carlyle] just transformed himself. And Jodie [Whittaker] similarly… I’ve never seen her do anything like this, sort of finding that chaos and that truth and that bravery that Susan has got. And then Aimee Lou [Wood] – that quietness and that tragedy.

“Each of them just brought something new that I’d never seen them do before. And when you’re with a cast that’s doing that consistently, it’s so exciting to watch and it’s so beautiful.”

Toxic Town plot was the most “complicated” to nail

Thorne went on to describe why the case was the most complex drama series he’s had to put together, not only due to the timeframe and how long it took for the Corby mothers to seek justice but also because of the scale of people who were affected.

“The more you look into it, the more complicated it all becomes. I’ve done legal dramas before, but this one… being taken through the actual truth of it and seeing the journey that they had to go on in order to prove this, I found very surprising and shocking,” he continued.

What’s more, Thorne had never even heard of the case before it was brought to him by co-executive producers Annabel Jones and Charlie Brooker.

“I didn’t know the story. I’d never heard of the people involved, and I’d never heard of the case until it was brought to me,” he added.

“It had within it a lot of drama, whether it’s the story of the trial itself, or whether it’s the way that these women got together and battled together…

Joe Dempsie as Derek in Episode 1 of Toxic Town

“It’s not just this simple hero’s journey of women banding together and fighting the man and getting this court victory. There’s nothing simple about it at all.

“You see where their power comes from, which is really just in the most basic level of humanity that they show for each other.”