Airdate: The Salisbury Poisonings

SBS will screen new UK miniseries The Salisbury Poisonings in late August.

The 4 part series on the Novichok poisonings in 2018 will screen across 4 consecutive nights at 8:30pm, leading into new Australian drama Hungry Ghosts at 9:30pm.

SBS Director of Television and Online Content Marshall Heald: “Bringing this exceptional drama to Australian screens could not have come at a better time. The Salisbury Poisonings is a chapter from recent history, which bears some parallels to what we, as a country, and the rest of the world, have been dealing with since the start of this year. It’s about how an entire community came together to successfully fight an invisible enemy; a truly inspiring story of hope, resilience and remarkable courage.”

This screened as a 3 part series on the BBC in June to strong reviews, but the distributor sends as 4 eps internationally.

The critically-acclaimed four-part dramatisation focuses on the impact the Novichok poisonings had on the local community of Salisbury, England in 2018, and how ordinary people and public services reacted to a crisis on their doorstep, displaying extraordinary heroism as their city became the focus of an unprecedented national emergency. The drama captures the bravery, resilience and, in some cases, personal tragedy of the unsuspecting locals, who faced a situation of unimaginable horror so close to home.

The cast includes Anne-Marie Duff (Sex Education, His Dark Materials), Rafe Spall (Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom), MyAnna Buring (The Witcher), Johnny Harris (Jawbone), Annabel Scholey (Walking on Sunshine) and Mark Addy (Game of Thrones).

The Salisbury Poisonings is executive produced by Laurence Bowen (The Eichmann Show) and Chris Carey (Les Miserables) for Dancing Ledge Productions, Lucy Richer for the BBC and by the writers of the drama, Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn. It is directed by Saul Dibb (Journey’s End, The Duchess, Bullet Boy), who also executive produced, and produced by Karen Lewis (Years and Years, Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax). Dancing Ledge Productions works internationally with Fremantle, with the latter handling global distribution for the drama series.

8:30pm Monday 24 – Thursday 27 August on SBS and available to stream on SBS On Demand at the same time as broadcast.