Dirty Business: new TV show reveals the truth behind Britain’s sewage scandal
A major new factual drama from Channel 4 investigates one of the biggest corporate and public health scandals in British history – we hear from its stars and the real people who inspired it
Sewage was dumped into UK waterways at least 585,000 times in 2024, the date of the last public report. That’s an average of more than 1,600 times a day, once every 54 seconds. And these were the recorded spills; campaigners believe there could have been as many as one million sewage discharges. In spite of this, shareholders of UK water companies were paid £1bn in dividends in 2023-24.
These are huge, hard-to-come-by figures that obscure their real-world impact – but a vital new factual drama from the makers of Partygate reveals the devastating health and environmental stories behind the statistics. Based on a decade-long investigation into England’s water companies, Dirty Business tells the stories of real whistleblowers and people who believe their lives have been destroyed after encountering sewage-polluted water.
Starring David Thewlis, Jason Watkins, Posy Sterling and Asim Chaudhry, the three-part series will be broadcast over three days from Monday 23 February at 9pm on Channel 4, and is available to stream. The show’s release coincides with a fountain activation in London’s South Bank reflecting the real stories of people who believe they’ve been affected by the sewage scandal: the Fountain of Filth.
“Dirty Business tells an extraordinary, urgent story about what happens when ordinary people decide to challenge a system that has failed them,” say Alisa Pomeroy, head of documentaries and factual entertainment at Channel 4, and commissioning editor Rita Daniels. “This series exposes a scandal hiding in plain sight [and] affecting millions across the UK.”
Dirty Business follows the story of two unlikely detectives, who notice that the fish in the river running through their idyllic Oxfordshire hamlet are dying. They contact their water company to find out why, and the company’s evasive reply sparks an investigation.
David Thewlis, who plays former police detective Ash in the drama, says: “What shocked me about this story was just how much has been allowed to go unchecked – two ordinary men uncovering negligence, illegal pollution and corporate indifference that should never have been tolerated. Being a part of this series has been a chance to channel the anger and frustration so many feel about what’s been done to our rivers and communities, and to show the courage it takes to stand up and demand accountability.”
Jason Watkins says he wanted to make the series because of how human and grounded the story is. “It’s told through ordinary people who refuse to look away when something isn’t right. Dirty Business captures the quiet determination it takes to stand up to a system far bigger than the individual.”
Ultimately Thewlis and Watkins’ characters feel compelled to take the investigation into their own hands. Turning detective, they establish that the local sewage works is dumping raw sewage into their waterways.
“What drew me to this role was the courage it takes to speak out when a system is failing,” says Asim Chaudhry, who plays a whistleblowing sewage plant worker who shares vital insider information. “There’s anger, frustration, and a deep sense of responsibility in the character, and I wanted to bring to life the human side of standing up for what’s right, even if there’s a risk it might come at a personal cost.”
Meet the real people exposing the sewage crisis
Suzi Finlayson
Lifelong cold-water swimmer Suzi Finlayson believes a Boxing Day swim in sewage-polluted seas nearly killed her in 2024. After swallowing seawater at her local beach, she developed endocarditis, a rare bacterial heart infection that required life-saving open-heart surgery. “I used to be constantly on the go, but my body simply won’t let me do as much anymore,” says Finlayson, whose health and career have been forever changed by what happened. Finlayson hopes that the new Channel 4 show will help bring about change. “I’m hoping positives will come out of us raising awareness.”
Reuben Santer
Reuben Santer, a devoted surfer, saw his life unravel after contracting Ménière’s disease, an incurable inner-ear condition he believes may be linked to surfing in sewage-polluted waters.
Santer had moved to Exeter to pursue his love of surfing – and while he knew the local waters were often polluted, that didn’t always hold him back. In 2022, Santer fell seriously ill after surfing off the north Devon coast, developing vertigo, hearing loss and chronic balance problems that forced him to quit work and give up the hobby he loved so deeply. “Something has to change,” he says.
Sophie Hellyer
Former British junior surfing champion Sophie Hellyer nearly lost her life after contracting severe lung infections that she believes were caused by inhaling sewage-polluted seawater while surfing in north Devon in 2005. Diagnosed with pneumonia, pleurisy and life-threatening complications, she required emergency surgery and spent months recovering. Hellyer managed to return to the ocean – the “playground” she has loved since she was a little girl – but she still lives with permanently reduced lung capacity and other long-term effects. Hellyer is now an ambassador for Surfers Against Sewage and is passionately committed to the campaign to clean up British waters.
Watch more
The show’s release coincides with a bold fountain activation – the Fountain of Filth – that reflects the real stories of swimmers, surfers and beach goers who believe their lives have been affected by the sewage released into England’s waterways.
In the time it takes to read this article, sewage will be released 14 times, on average, into the UK’s waterways – by 2024’s most conservative figure: once every 54 seconds.