I directed Channel 4’s Dirty Business and this is why we need to end the 35-year train-wreck of water privatisation

by

After episode 2 of our show ‘Dirty Business‘ aired on Channel 4, my colleagues Alisa Pomeroy and Rita Daniels shared a particularly interesting tweet with me. It came from a viewer named Josh Folks, who had been monitoring sewage releases from a Thames Water facility in Islip.

“If I’d been s**tting into a river non-stop for 966 hours I’d probably have been arrested by now.”

Okay, let’s be real. If someone were to, uh, continuously pollute a river for forty days straight, they’d absolutely get the attention of the authorities. It’s just common sense, really. A pretty obvious consequence, if you ask me.

But water companies get away with it.

Water companies are collectively releasing untreated sewage into rivers and seas 1,600 times daily. While legally required to treat sewage before releasing it, they are permitted to bypass this process only during exceptionally rare and severe storm events. Each instance of releasing untreated sewage is a crime that could result in a five-year prison sentence.

As a fan of the show, I was really struck by something I learned: the Environment Agency, which is supposed to be policing water companies, has never prosecuted a single executive, owner, or board member for any wrongdoing. Not even once! One of the characters, an Agency whistleblower played by Chanel Cresswell, brilliantly calls them a ‘Potemkin regulator’ – basically, a fake one that just looks like it’s doing its job.

Grigory Potemkin was a powerful Russian military leader who was romantically involved with Empress Catherine the Great. Legend has it he constructed fake villages along her travel route to impress her during their secret meetings. Because of this story, the term ‘Potemkin’ now describes something that appears legitimate on the surface but is actually a sham – like a regulator that isn’t truly functioning as it should.

Dave gave us confidential documents from the Environment Agency, along with his findings about how the Agency operates. These documents revealed that the Agency’s own rules were actually hindering its investigators from doing their work effectively.

When writing the script, protecting Dave’s identity was a priority. I decided to change his gender and cast the talented Chanel Cresswell in the role. However, after about a year of investigating, Dave’s situation at the agency had shifted. They had recognized him as a whistleblower in 2021, and following a long legal process, he ultimately agreed to leave his position.

After dedicating 21 years to his career, Robert Forrester decided to reveal what he knew about the Environment Agency. We reveal his identity in the closing moments of episode 3, and many now consider him a national hero.

We had the chance to meet some truly inspiring people. One was Julie Preen, whose eight-year-old daughter, Heather, tragically died in 1999 after being exposed to contaminated water in Dawlish, Devon. We met Julie and Chris Hines, the founder of Surfers Against Sewage, while having tea at a garden center near Birmingham.

She’d been hurt by the media before, but she felt she could trust Chris, who had supported the family during the inquest. Chris assured her we were trustworthy, and she agreed to let us share her story. Julie and Laura then spent a year carefully discussing all the details of the Preens’ experiences, ensuring the actors, Posy Sterling and Tom McKay, could deliver authentic and moving performances as Mark Preen, Heather’s father, who tragically died by suicide.

Laura dedicated months to finding and building relationships with other people affected and those willing to speak out. Meanwhile, Reuben Santer developed Meniere’s disease after a surfing trip. Though doctors aren’t sure what caused it, he now experiences frequent, debilitating vertigo attacks with severe nausea and may have to manage this long-term condition for the rest of his life.

During filming, many people affected by serious illnesses caused by contaminated water confronted actors portraying representatives from water companies. These real individuals, along with their families, powerfully expressed their pain and frustration. The actors were deeply moved by the experience, and afterward, everyone shared a supportive group conversation.

We also featured genuine national heroes: Ash Smith and Peter Hammond. These investigators spent eight years uncovering the wrongdoings of water companies, and I realized their story was the best way to tell the entire, complex situation. We’d actually met them at the beginning of our work, which helped shape this approach.

As a movie buff, I was really impressed with the research that went into ‘Dirty Business’. It wasn’t just throwing accusations around – everything was backed up with solid proof. The filmmakers, and especially Laura, really dug deep. She spent months sifting through tons of documents – inquest reports, court transcripts, internal memos from the Environment Agency, even engineers’ log books and countless email exchanges. All those tiny details weren’t just background noise; they actually formed the core of the whole story. It’s that level of detail that makes the film so compelling.

The show’s storytelling was built on solid evidence. Every scene and line of dialogue was directly supported by real-life facts. Laura, who everyone on set called the ‘guardian of the truth,’ made sure we stayed accurate to what actually happened during filming. While she sometimes made it tricky for me as the director, the actors really appreciated her dedication to authenticity, and I’m grateful for how good she is at her job.

Want to see this content?

We need your permission to load content on this page, as it requires Google reCAPTCHA to function properly.

In 2023, Laura and I created a film called ‘Partygate,’ which told the story of the fourteen parties held by Boris Johnson during the Covid lockdowns. I was lucky enough to work with incredibly talented actors – Charlotte Ritchie, Alice Lowe, Jon Culshaw, and Kim Nixon – who were skilled in both comedy and drama. When it came to ‘Dirty Business,’ I felt the subject matter – the issues with water companies – was so absurd that I couldn’t portray it seriously, despite the real suffering and tragedy involved.

I brought together a fantastic group of comedic actors – including Alice Lowe, Charlotte Ritchie, Vicki Pepperdine, Juliet Cowan, Chanel Cresswell, Ellie White, and Asim Chaudhry – for the scenes set in the agency and at South West Water, as I’ve done before. Ultimately, around eighty talented performers have created a show that’s both hilarious and heartbreaking. Whether that’s a good thing or simply reflects the ups and downs of life is for the audience to decide.

What the country needs now is for those responsible for illegal activity at water companies to face criminal charges and imprisonment. Zack Polanski, the Green Party leader who is gaining popularity, is proposing that water companies be brought back under public ownership, arguing that the last 35 years of privatization have been a disaster.

Authors

Joseph Bullman

Read More

2026-02-28 13:35