Stop your poisonous comments!
Detective who nearly died in novichok attack defends wife over her portrayal in TV drama
THE police officer who nearly died in the novichok attack has defended his traumatised wife over her apparent behaviour in the aftermath.
Detective Sergeant Nick Bailey hit back yesterday at ‘negativity’ towards his wife Sarah over how she was portrayed in BBC1 drama The Salisbury Poisonings.
In the second episode, broadcast on Monday night, Sarah, played by Annabel Scholey, learns that her husband contaminated their family home when he returned from investigating the nerve agent attack on Sergei and Yulia Skripal in March 2018.
After being told she cannot remain in the house, she returns to retrieve their cat before swearing at family liaison officers and pouring herself a glass of wine.
Mrs Bailey was also criticised online for apparently having not changed the bed sheets after her husband had sweated in them while reacting to the poison.
The three-part drama, which concluded last night, follows the aftermath of the poisonings in which Russian agents tried to assassinate former spy Mr Skripal and his daughter by leaving poison at his Salisbury home.
Detective Sergeant Bailey, who is played by Rafe Spall, wrote on Twitter: ‘I’ve seen quite a bit of negativity towards my wife regarding episode two and the way she handled it. Those scenes with Sarah could never truly reflect the extreme emotion and trauma she went through that day. Cut her some slack and be kind.’
One viewer had posted on Twitter: ‘Yeah let’s drink from a glass in a house potentially covered in life-ending toxin.’ Another wrote: ‘The wife is a bit silly, did the real person act like this?’
Mrs Bailey tweeted that some of the smaller details in the drama were inaccurate. She wrote: ‘I’d like to point out I changed the bed (twice), bleached everywhere...’ Executive producer Laurence Bowen revealed last week that the BBC1 series had been shown in advance to the Baileys and other families linked to the story, leading to small changes being made.
The Skripals were found slumped on a bench in the city centre. Traces of novichok were found on Mr Skripal’s front door. Police named two Russian agents they believe carried out the attack.
The Salisbury Poisonings, which is available on iPlayer, features Anne-Marie Duff as Tracy Daszkiewicz,
the director of public health for Wiltshire, and MyAnna Buring as poisoning victim Dawn Sturgess, who died after coming into contact with a perfume bottle believed to have been used to carry the novichok.
Johnny Harris plays Miss Sturgess’s partner Charlie Rowley, who survived, with Stella Gonet and Ron Cook as her parents Caroline and Stan. Mark Addy plays Mr Skripal’s friend Ross Cassidy.
The Salisbury Poisonings drew more viewers than any other new TV drama for six years.