Dirty Business Channel 4 review: a drama-documentary meant to incite righteous anger

dirty business channel 4 follows a drama-documentary that traces real-life amateur sleuths uncovering widespread sewage dumping and a separate family tragedy, and the review material driving the conversation argues it should incite righteous anger now. The programme’s blend of investigative alliance, on-the-ground campaign footage and a campaigning group’s call to “End the sewage pollution scandal” give the story immediate public stakes.

Two neighbours in the Cotswolds, 2016, spot brown murk in the River Windrush

In a 2016 Cotswolds timeline, two neighbours, recently retired and hungry for a project, notice brown murk in the previously beautiful River Windrush and start investigating a curious dumping of sewage. Ashley Smith, played by David Thewlis, is shown as a real-life “Line of Duty” cop who once investigated corrupt cops, while Peter Hammond, played by Jason Watkins, is an Oxford maths professor; together they question the explanation offered by the privatised local water company and dig in.

Algorithm, instincts and a picture of long-term underinvestment

Ash’s infallible nose for dishonesty is paired with a pattern-finding algorithm devised by Peter Hammond, and the two men build a picture that water infrastructure has been destroyed by three decades of underinvestment. That reconstruction in the drama points to environmental calamity on a staggering scale across the country, with thousands of instances of rivers and seas tainted by untreated sewage.

The 1999 Dawlish holiday that ended with an E coli O157 death

A second timeline begins in 1999 in Dawlish in Devon, when Mark and Julie Preen, played by Tom McKay and Posy Sterling, take their two daughters on holiday. Julie has chosen Dawlish because it has Blue Flag status, indicating a clean beach, but the family find what seems to be effluent pumping out of a pipe on the shore. Eight-year-old Heather steps in the dirty water; within two weeks she has died from E coli O157 poisoning.

Ultimately the cause of the outbreak was not identified, and a jury returned a verdict of misadventure. The coroner’s recommendations included the tertiary treatment of all sewage in the area to make it pathogen-free and a summertime ban on dogs on the beach.

Regulatory strand in EA offices in 2008 and policy shifts through the 2010s

When the two men realise the problem is as much with the regulator, the Environment Agency, as with the water companies, the drama opens a third strand set in the EA offices in 2008. A change is announced towards the end of the Labour administration, and the story ties that to later political choices: the effects are shown to be greatly worsened by David Cameron’s drive to cut spending and slash regulation in the 2010s. The review highlights the policy phrase “operational self-monitoring, ” which moves the burden of identifying potential breaches of environmental law from the EA.

Dirty Business Channel 4 uses comedy, corporate evasions and campaign footage

The drama is described as a blast of controlled fury and as working through comedy as a weapon. Scenes in 2016 capture faux-mocking banter between a garrulous Ash and a nervy Peter that are often as funny as they are disquieting; by contrast the events from 1999 onwards are portrayed as pure horror for the Preens, their true story ending with further tragedy drawn with devastating starkness.

Corporate statements that Ash and Peter receive are staged as supercilious evasions, read by actors playing executives direct to camera, while real footage shot by campaigners is woven into the drama to show the extent of the damage. The review material suggests the series could become the next Mr Bates vs the Post Office in forcing public disgust and shifting official attitudes.

Campaign call: "End the sewage pollution scandal" and 38 Degrees details

The headlines pushing for action include the line “End the sewage pollution scandal. ” That campaign material is promoted by 38 Degrees, with a stated address of 10 Queen Street Place, First Floor, EC4R 1BE, London. The promotional text gives corporate details as TM 38 Degrees | 2022 Limited by Guarantee, Registered Company No. 06642193 in England and Wales, and lists the registered office as 10 Queen Street Place, First Floor, EC4R 1BE, London, UK.