Skripal poisoning inspires NI writer to create TV drama

A FORMER BBC NI reporter has written a major new factual drama on the Salisbury poisoning case which sent shockwaves through international politics and sparked a diplomatic crisis between the UK and Russia.

Former Russian military intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned by the deadly nerve agent Novichok in Salisbury, Wiltshire, in March last year.

Mr Skripal (66) and his 33-year-old daughter were left fighting for their lives in hospital after being found unconscious on a park bench, but ultimately survived.

Mother-of-three Dawn Sturgess later died in hospital while her partner Charlie Rowley (45) was left seriously ill after the couple was also exposed to the nerve agent in the nearby town of Amesbury in June last year.

The television drama, co-written by Declan Lawn and Adam Patterson, focuses on the impact

Humbled: Declan Lawn

that the poisonings had on the local community.

It tells the story of how ordinary people and public services reacted to a crisis on their doorstep as their city became the focus of an unprecedented national emergency.

Leading the cast is Shameless star Anne-Marie Duff, who is joined by Rafe Spall of The Big Short and Mark Addy, who is known for his roles in Game Of Thrones and Downton Abbey.

The series also stars Annabel Scholey, Johnny Harris and MyAnna Buring.

Mr Lawn, from Ballymena, spent 10 years working as an investigative reporter for BBC Panorama. He also presented BBC Radio Ulster current affairs programmes.

He said he was “inspired by the capacity for television drama to act as a companion to journalism, telling powerful stories about how the modern world really works”.

The 42-year-old added he was “delighted to have such a great cast” for Salisbury “and was grateful to everyone who told us their stories over the last year”.

Mr Lawn said it was a “privilege” to be able to tell the story of those that found themselves at the centre of events in Salisbury.

“During research we have been humbled to hear their stories and to be able to tell them in this drama,” he said.