Watch Jodie Whittaker Meet The Real Susan McIntyre From 'Toxic Town' And Hear Her True Story
Includes spoilers for the show 'Toxic Town'
Netflix's latest mini-series that's captured UK audiences is Toxic Town, a dramatisation of the true story of a group of Corby mothers who battled for justice when their children suffered as a result of one of the UK’s biggest environmental scandals.
Unlike some dramas which amalgamate a lot of characters, most of the on-screen people in Toxic Town are based on the real victims. At the core of the show is Susan McIntyre, played by Jodie Whittaker. When he was born, Susan's son's had limb difference — his hand was affected by the contaminated materials — though it took them years and a huge court battle to uncover that this was the case.
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In a special film made by Netflix, Jodie Whittaker is seen meeting the real-life Susan McIntyre, Aimee Lou Wood meets Tracey Taylor, and Maggie Mahon, played by Claudia Jessie, also features.
Speaking about meeting Susan, Whittaker says: 'The main hope for me is that it is something she’s really proud of and that represents fundamentally what those mothers went through.'
The conversation between Jodie and Susan starts off lightly, with the pair joking about the karaoke scene between the two and Jodie's hair: 'It’s taken me over a year to grow my hair back,' she jokes.
Susan opens up more about her real-life story, and the weeks around the birth, which are played accurately and honestly in the show: 'Connor was born with no fingers on his left hand… At the beginning when he was first born, I couldn’t bear to look at his hand and it was really hard. But the more I looked the more I didn’t have to look at that, I had to look at him, because I loved him so much.'
After years of fighting, the women managed to defeat Corby Borough Council in court for their part in the issues that affected their children.
Speaking about those days in court in 2009, Susan says: 'That was a really scary moment, going to court and facing it all. At the end of the day I went to tell the God’s honest truth.
'When we got the verdict, it was just like wow, we’ve actually won.
'My pride was, the way we fought it. We fought it to the end.'
Later, the actor and former Doctor Who says to all of the mothers: 'It is honestly such a huge honour to give given the opportunity to be a part of telling the story, because I think for us guys, particularly I think me and Aimee Lou, we had lots of scenes together that were in the hospitals and so we could feel appreciate - without ever knowing what you’ve been through - what it must be like to be day in and day out in those environments and then someone question the validity of your claims is unimaginable and completely unacceptable.'
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