Jodie Whittaker hopes Netflix's Toxic Town shines a light on true story of a mass poisoning

These lionesses were incredible. They had their cubs in their mouths, and however long it took, they carried them to the finish line. They weren’t lawyers but they knew that they were right. Had the council been the ones fighting for justice, they might have had a bigger headline.

A story is never finished if it’s still having an impact. Lessons haven’t been learnt, unfortunately — water companies are being fined for dumping sewage and major buildings and housing projects have been built over reclamation sites. You hope the containment is there, but we have no sense of whether there’s going to be a disaster down the line.

Did you meet Susan before filming?

No, but the mums did come on set one day. It was really emotional and nerve-racking, because I knew how fiery Susan was. If she didn’t like the way I was doing it, she’d say so. I was very needy and asked her, “Do I sound like you?” Because that accent mixing Corby and Glasgow is challenging! She just said, “Yeah,” and gave me a big cuddle. After that, the narcissistic actress got her head out of her arse. This was not about me!

How do you feel about Susan now, having embodied her struggle?

Susan, as a single parent, was fighting before it even started. A woman who is opinionated, who doesn’t conform and speaks her mind is instantly met with a brick wall — people have made up their minds already.

It was easy to pin Connor’s limb difference on her behaviour or lifestyle, the medication she’d been on, the fact she liked a drink. Her son was in hospital, having operation after operation and was in so much pain, and she was blamed.

I’ve not had to experience screaming into a tunnel when you know you’re right and everyone’s saying you’re wrong. I’m sure, emotionally, she wasn’t OK with being hated in the town, but she marched that march anyway.

What impact do you hope Toxic Town will have?

I asked Susan whether she feels the people in her life know what she went through. I think this will shine a light on the fight, and her grace and integrity.

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Toxic Town will stream on Netflix from Thursday 27th February. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

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