# Toxic Town
**Toxic Town** is a 2025 British four-part limited series on Netflix, written and created by [Jack Thorne](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-thorne) and directed by [Minkie Spiro](https://www.edgepedia.org/minkie-spiro), that dramatizes the real-life Corby poisonings, in which mothers of children born with disabilities fought Corby Borough Council over the alleged mismanagement of toxic waste.[1](https://about.netflix.com/news/netflix-commissions-limited-series-toxic-town-from-writer-jack-thorne) • [2](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/toxic-town-release-date-cast-news) It was produced by Broke & Bones, with Annabel Jones, Jack Thorne, and Minkie Spiro as executive producers and Delyth Scudamore as producer.[1](https://about.netflix.com/news/netflix-commissions-limited-series-toxic-town-from-writer-jack-thorne)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Four-part limited series, TV-MA, all episodes released February 27, 2025[3](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/title/toxic-town/) |
| Production | Broke & Bones; written by Jack Thorne, directed by Minkie Spiro[1](https://about.netflix.com/news/netflix-commissions-limited-series-toxic-town-from-writer-jack-thorne) |
| Subject | The Corby poisonings, described by Netflix as one of the UK's biggest environmental scandals[1](https://about.netflix.com/news/netflix-commissions-limited-series-toxic-town-from-writer-jack-thorne) |
| Main cast | Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, Claudia Jessie, Rory Kinnear, Robert Carlyle, Brendan Coyle[2](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/toxic-town-release-date-cast-news) |
| Story span | Begins in 1995 in Corby, Northamptonshire; the mothers' fight for justice runs 14 years to the 2009 ruling[4](https://time.com/7262562/best-tv-shows-february-2025/) |
| Reception | 100% Tomatometer from 21 reviews and 85% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; 7.5/10 on IMDb[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/toxic_town) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28631067/ratings/) |
| Viewership | Peak week of 4.8 million views (February 24 to March 2, 2025); 21 days in the Netflix Top 10[3](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/title/toxic-town/) |
## Spoilers
### The story it dramatizes
The series is based on the Corby poisonings, a case in which people in the English former steel town of Corby inhaled toxic dust later linked to birth defects in a cluster of children.[2](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/toxic-town-release-date-cast-news) • [7](https://time.com/7260150/toxic-town-true-story-netflix/) The Corby steelworks closed in 1981, devastating the local economy, and the town council redeveloped the site from the mid-1990s into housing and a theme park.[4](https://time.com/7262562/best-tv-shows-february-2025/) During the reclamation, rust-colored liquid and dust leaked from dump trucks, coated construction workers' clothing, and collected in puddles.[4](https://time.com/7262562/best-tv-shows-february-2025/)
The drama opens in 1995 with two heavily pregnant women, Susan McIntyre ([Jodie Whittaker](https://www.edgepedia.org/jodie-whittaker)) and Tracey Taylor ([Aimee Lou Wood](https://www.edgepedia.org/aimee-lou-wood)), meeting in a hospital shortly before giving birth to babies with disabilities, and follows them and their neighbors through a 14-year quest for justice.[4](https://time.com/7262562/best-tv-shows-february-2025/) [Claudia Jessie](https://www.edgepedia.org/claudia-jessie) plays the third mother, Maggie Mahon; Rory Kinnear plays Des Collins, the lawyer the families hire; Robert Carlyle plays Sam Hagen, a council worker whose documents showed the council's contamination safeguards were largely inadequate; and Brendan Coyle plays councillor Roy Thomas.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/toxic_town) • [7](https://time.com/7260150/toxic-town-true-story-netflix/)
In 2009, a court ruled that Corby Borough Council was liable in negligence, holding that the council had permitted the extensive dispersal of contaminated mud and dust over public areas of Corby and into and over private homes, so that the contaminants could realistically have caused the types of birth defects complained of, save in limited respects.[7](https://time.com/7260150/toxic-town-true-story-netflix/) With its 2009 verdict, an English civil court for the first time linked birth defects to the improper handling of airborne toxic waste.[7](https://time.com/7260150/toxic-town-true-story-netflix/) The case has been called "the British Erin Brockovich," a comparison drawn in a Netflix Tudum conversation between the real Des Collins and [Erin Brockovich](https://www.edgepedia.org/erin-brockovich) herself.[2](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/toxic-town-release-date-cast-news) • [8](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/toxic-town-des-collins-erin-brockovich?inapp=true%2F)
## Production and release
Netflix commissioned the series in August 2023, and filming began in late August 2023, predominantly in Liverpool and surrounding locations in the [East Midlands](https://www.edgepedia.org/east-midlands); the Liverpool Echo reported that the council chamber at Liverpool Town Hall was transformed into a courtroom for the production.[1](https://about.netflix.com/news/netflix-commissions-limited-series-toxic-town-from-writer-jack-thorne) • [9](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/NEWS/TOXIC-TOWN-NETFLIX-LIMITED-SERIES-WHAT-WE-KNOW-SO-FAR-02-2025/) All four episodes were released on Netflix on February 27, 2025.[3](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/title/toxic-town/) The British Board of Film Classification classified the episodes individually, with running times of 53m 40s, 47m 51s, 52m 45s, and 65m 34s, and noted discrimination, language, and violence.[10](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/toxic-town-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi4ndk2)
The cast and crew worked to honor the real families: several cast members met or emailed the people they played, and the production sourced hours of video footage in which the real-life politician told his story.[11](https://bbc.com.im/news/articles/cd654e1ddy7o) Thorne described the case as a defining moment in history and called it "a genuinely working-class story" about people who had never thought the system would work for them working within the system for the result they deserved.[1](https://about.netflix.com/news/netflix-commissions-limited-series-toxic-town-from-writer-jack-thorne) • [2](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/toxic-town-release-date-cast-news)
## Reception
Critical response was strongly positive. The Guardian's review called Whittaker and Aimee Lou Wood exceptional as mothers battling corporate greed, and Time listed the series among the best new TV shows of February 2025, noting that it avoids procedural dryness by grounding the story in the daily lives of the affected families.[12](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/feb/27/toxic-town-review-jodie-whittaker-aimee-lou-wood-netflix-obviously-award-worthy) • [4](https://time.com/7262562/best-tv-shows-february-2025/) On Rotten Tomatoes the limited series holds a 100% average Tomatometer from 21 reviews and an 85% average Popcornmeter score.[5](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/toxic_town) IMDb users rate it 7.5/10 from about 13,000 ratings, with episode scores rising from 7.5 for the first episode to 8.0 for the last.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28631067/ratings/)
Audience interest was substantial: the series peaked at 4.8 million views in the week of February 24 to March 2, 2025, and spent 21 days in the Netflix Top 10.[3](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/title/toxic-town/) Its release also reignited public interest in the case; in September 2025 ITV News reported that families in the Corby area were demanding answers amid fears that more children could have been affected by the toxic waste scandal.[13](https://www.itv.com/news/2025-09-07/new-fears-that-more-children-were-impacted-by-corby-toxic-waste-scandal)
## References
1. [Netflix Commissions Four-Part Limited Series 'Toxic Town' from Writer Jack Thorne, About Netflix](https://about.netflix.com/news/netflix-commissions-limited-series-toxic-town-from-writer-jack-thorne)
2. [Toxic Town: Cast, Release Date, Photos, Plot of the New Limited Series, Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/toxic-town-release-date-cast-news)
3. [Toxic Town – Latest News, Release Dates, Viewing Statistics and More, What's on Netflix](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/title/toxic-town/)
4. [The Best New TV Shows of February 2025, Time](https://time.com/7262562/best-tv-shows-february-2025/)
5. [Toxic Town, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/toxic_town)
6. [Toxic Town (TV Mini Series 2025) – Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt28631067/ratings/)
7. [The True Story Behind the Environmental Poisoning Scandal in Netflix's Toxic Town, Time](https://time.com/7260150/toxic-town-true-story-netflix/)
8. [Toxic Town: Des Collins and Erin Brockovich Talk about the New Series and Corby Case, Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/toxic-town-des-collins-erin-brockovich?inapp=true%2F)
9. [Toxic Town Netflix Limited Series: Everything We Know So Far, What's on Netflix](https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/NEWS/TOXIC-TOWN-NETFLIX-LIMITED-SERIES-WHAT-WE-KNOW-SO-FAR-02-2025/)
10. [Toxic Town, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/toxic-town-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc0xmdi4ndk2)
11. [Netflix shines light on Toxic Town true story of Corby scandal](https://bbc.com.im/news/articles/cd654e1ddy7o)
12. [Toxic Town review – Jodie Whittaker is obviously award-worthy in this bittersweet tale, The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/feb/27/toxic-town-review-jodie-whittaker-aimee-lou-wood-netflix-obviously-award-worthy)
13. [Toxic town: Families demand answers as fears more could be impacted by Corby waste scandal, ITV News](https://www.itv.com/news/2025-09-07/new-fears-that-more-children-were-impacted-by-corby-toxic-waste-scandal)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Scripted television and comedy series › Drama and prestige series (individual series) › Family and relationship drama › Family and domestic drama › Family sagas and household dramas*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license