Based on the 2009 Corby poisonings and the subsequent environmental court case, it has been dubbed in some quarters as "the British Erin Brockovich".

The drama tells the real-life story of families fighting for justice after children in the Northamptonshire town, Corbyn, were born with birth defects which were believed to be the result of industrial pollution.

After an extensive legal battle, the High Court ruled in 2009 that Corby Borough Council was negligent in managing waste that impacted pregnant woman and their babies.

It was thanks to former Newcastle University professor, Louise Parker, who is an expert in paediatrics, community health and epidemiology, that saw the successful outcome of the families case.

Professor Parker testified that between 1989 and 1998 children in Corby were 2.5 times more likely to be born with upper limb defects than in the rest of the Kettering Health Authority area, which was statistically “quite significant”.

She was called on to investigate, due to her expertise, and the knowledge she had was instrumental in the outcome of the case.

The four-part series, written by Jack Thorne, has now been transferred to the screen by Netflix with a stellar British ensemble cast including Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, Claudia Jessie and Rory Kinnear. 

Jack Thorne said: “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 added: “It’s a story of people who are not part of the system that have never thought the system would work for them, working within the system and [fighting for] the result they deserved.”