THE SILENT KILLER
ANNE-MARIE DUFF AND RAFE SPALL star in a compelling drama about the deadly novichok attack on the streets of Salisbury
NEW
DRAMA The Salisbury Poisonings
Sunday, Monday & Tuesday, BBC1 HD, 9pm
IN MARCH 2018, the eyes of the world turned towards Salisbury when former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, who lived in the cathedral city, was targeted in a shocking assassination attempt.
It was soon discovered that secret agents from Moscow had tried to kill Skripal and his daughter Yulia by exposing them to a deadly nerve agent called novichok. As they lay fighting for their lives in hospital, officials were terrified that hundreds more local residents could be struck down by coming into contact with the poison.
Now, a powerful three-part factual drama, which runs over consecutive nights on BBC1, tells the story of the ordinary people who showed extraordinary bravery to protect the community and avert a catastrophe during those terrifying weeks.
Anne-marie Duff stars as
Tracy Daszkiewicz, director of public health at Wiltshire Council. After learning that just a few drops of novichok would be deadly enough to kill thousands of people, Tracy and her team raced to contain the poison.
‘At the time – and perhaps it was on purpose – we weren’t told just how much of a crisis we were potentially facing,’ says Duff. ‘The ramifications of what happened could have been globally catastrophic and we can’t underestimate that.’
Two years on, the attack is mainly remembered for the agents appearing on Russian TV to explain their trip to the city with a story about visiting the cathedral as tourists. And Duff admits she only began to grasp the true human toll as she spent more time with Tracy ahead of filming.
‘Like many people, I remember bits and pieces from that time,’ she says. ‘But you forget about the collateral damage in terms of human lives. It certainly wasn’t a joke or something to laugh about if you lived in Salisbury.
‘I’ve never played a real person that’s still alive before. I’ve played lots of people from history, but I’ve never actually tried to tell the tale of someone who is around to hear it. So it was a huge challenge trying to do that responsibly, kindly and truthfully. Tracy’s story blew me away and so did she when I got to meet her, because she’s still connected to it all and assists those who were affected.’
HUMAN COST
The drama has been written by
Panorama journalists Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn, who drew on extensive interviews and first-hand accounts from people affected by the attacks.
‘After we spent a week in Salisbury, we realised very quickly there was a massive story that hadn’t been told on the human level,’ says Patterson. ‘We’d assumed the response effort had been run from the government in London, but we discovered that there were also a lot of people on the ground in Salisbury who had saved numerous lives. We ended up living in the city for weeks to hear more about their stories.’
One of the people the writers met was Detective Sergeant
Nick Bailey, played in the drama by Rafe Spall. Nick had entered Skripal’s house in the hours after the Russian collapsed and was taken to hospital. Unbeknown to the police, novichok had been placed on the front doorknob and Nick also became contaminated, with his life hanging in the balance for several days.
However, the most heartwrenching tale involved Dawn Sturgess, a recovering alcoholic who was battling to rebuild her life when she died after unknowingly spraying herself with the nerve agent three months later.
She came into contact with the novichok when her partner,
Charlie Rowley, found a bottle of ‘perfume’ that had been used by the agents to smuggle the nerve agent into the UK.
Police believe the men – who’ve never been brought to justice – sprayed the substance on Skripal’s front door before dumping the bottle, where it was then picked up by Charlie, who, thinking it was perfume, gave it to Dawn as a gift.
A TRAGIC LOSS
‘At the time, Dawn was dismissed as a homeless drug addict who passed away because of her lifestyle choices,’ says Myanna Buring, who plays the tragic mother-of-three.
‘That’s simply not true. She was a complicated and wonderful human being who left behind an incredible family. She should never have been dismissed like that – her death wasn’t just a statistic, it was a tragedy, and I still well up now when I think about it.
‘Can you imagine losing someone in such a horrific way and having no clear answers about it? This country shouldn’t forget what happened to Dawn.’