Sheridan Smith Named For New BBC One Drama

BBC One has announced Sheridan Smith is to star in a new drama, The Moorside Project (w/t). Filming is due to commence this Spring.

The drama is being made by ITV Studios and will see Sheridan star as Julie, chair of the Moorside residents and tenants association, and who is prominent in the search to find missing teenager Shannon Matthews.

Smith will be joined by Sian Brooke as friend and neighbour Natalie, Siobhan Finneran as Christine Freeman, and Gemma Whelan as Karen Matthews, Shannon's mother.

The two-part drama is said to provide a fresh perspective on the story which gripped Britain. It will focus not on the crime itself, but the community that lived through it. It will show how a group of women worked to bring the community together in an attempt to find Shannon who had disappeared. The Moorside Project (w/t) will focus on the spirit and determination of the women at the forefront of the campaign – as well as the impact the situation made on them when the truth of the girl's disappearance was revealed.

The drama is written by Neil McKay, produced by Ken Horn, directed by Paul Whittington and Ken Horn and executive produced by Jeff Pope for ITV Studios, Head of Factual Drama, and Neil McKay and Lucy Richer for the BBC. It has been commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller of BBC One and Ben Stephenson, former Controller of BBC Drama.

Commenting on the role, Smith said: "The story is a fascinating mixture of what I thought I knew and a whole lot more that I had no idea about. The themes of faith and trust in human nature, and the way the whole community came together really inspired me."

Jeff Pope added: "For a short period of time the nation's focus was on a small corner of West Yorkshire as a young girl went missing in suspicious circumstances. By the time Shannon Matthews had been found alive, we perhaps felt we knew all there was to know about the Moorside estate and the people who lived there. But what we discovered as we researched into this fascinating story is that those conclusions were drawn far too quickly."

Neil McKay commented: "This drama takes us into the heart of a story and a community that was defined more by prejudice than genuine understanding. It has been a privilege to research and write. To have the story brought to life by such an outstanding cast, led by the extraordinary Sheridan Smith, is a truly thrilling prospect."

Charlotte Moore, Controller of BBC One, said: "Drama has the ability to tackle sensitive subjects from different perspectives and consider the impact of a crime rather than the crime itself. This was an extraordinary story of our time that rocked a community and thrust it under the media spotlight. As a nation, we only ever saw it from one perspective and I hope this drama will capture what it was like to be at the centre of that community – how they responded and lived through it. On BBC One it's important to bring human stories to life and allow the audience to come to their own conclusions."

www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre

(JP)