When is The Salisbury Poisonings on BBC One and what is the new drama about?

The shocking events of March 2018 are now the subject of a new prime time drama  
Kimberley Bond8 June 2020

Viewers have been spoilt for choice with the amount of unmissable drama that’s been on our screens this year and The Salisbury Poisonings is about to become the next must-see series.

The eagerly-anticipated drama, based on the 2018 incident which saw Sergei and Yulia Skripal poisoned with Novichok, is about to drop on BBC One.

Here’s everything you need to know about the three-part series...

Is there a trailer for The Salisbury Poisonings?

The BBC released the first full-length trailer for The Salisbury Poisonings in May - you can watch it above.

What is The Salisbury Poisonings about?

The three-part drama follows those closely involved in stopping the outbreak
BBC/Dancing Ledge/Ray Burmiston

Based on the shocking true events that took place in March 2018, the series dramatises the Novichok poisonings that shook the small city of Salisbury.

Ex-Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were targeted and both ended up in hospital in critical conditions.

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Also affected was British national Dawn Sturgess, who came into contact with the nerve agent thanks to a perfume bottle found by her boyfriend, Charlie Rowle. While the Skripals managed to recover from the incident, Sturgess was fatally poisoned and died in July the same year.

The BBC describes the drama as “telling the remarkable story of 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 Salisbury Poisonings 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 synopsis reads.

Who's in the cast?

Rafe Spall stars as a Detective Sergeant
BBC/Dancing Ledge/James Pardon

Anne-Marie Duff (Sex Education, His Dark Materials) plays Tracy Daszkiewicz. While she may not be a name you immediately associate with the 2018 incident, Daszkiewicz was Wiltshire’s Director of Public Health, and a central figure in coordinating the response to the nerve agent poisonings, including launching a track and trace programme to see how far the nerve agent had spread.

Rafe Spall (Trying, War of the Worlds) plays DS Nick Bailey, who finds his life turned upside down when he’s on-duty and hears there are two people with a suspected fentanyl overdose.

Myanna Buring also stars
BBC/Dancing Ledge/James Pardon

Myanna Buring (The Witcher, Downton Abbey) plays Dawn Sturgess, bringing a more three-dimensional look at the woman who died from the poisoning, following often simplistic descriptions of her in newspaper reports.

Comedy actor Darren Boyd, Wayne Swann, Stella Gonet, Ron Cook and Melanie Gutteridge all also star.

When is the BBC drama released?

The Salisbury Poisonings will air on Sunday 14, Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 June on BBC One, at 9pm.

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