ITV Commissions Four-Part True-Crime Drama

ITV has commissioned a four-part true-crime drama, Believe Me, written by Jeff Pope and produced by Etta Pictures.

Believe Me tells the story of three victims of one of the most prolific sex attackers in British history, John Worboys, dubbed by the media as the “black cab rapist” after preying on women under the cover of being a “respectable” licensed taxi-cab driver. The drama focuses on the ordeal of the women who reported sexual assaults by Worboys and how the Metropolitan Police failed to thoroughly investigate these women’s allegations.

Aimée-Ffion Edwards (Slow Horses), Miriam Petche (Industry) and Aasiya Shah (Raised by Wolves) play the women Worboys sexually assaulted. Daniel Mays (Des) takes the role of Worboys.

Pope will executive produce the drama alongside Saurabh Kakkar on behalf of Etta Pictures. Julia Ford (Until I Kill You) will direct the series. Catrin Lewis Defis (The Winter King) will produce the series.

“The series goes on an emotional journey with the victims of Worboys’ attacks, showing what happened to them when they reported being raped and assaulted, the pain and indignity of the process and how this dehumanized them,” said Pope. “But most shocking of all is how they felt that not being believed by the police and having the attacks recorded, essentially, as non-crimes, was as traumatizing for them as the actual assaults.”

“We are really proud to be working with Jeff Pope to bring this important story to the screen,” said Polly Hill, director of drama at ITV. “For too long, the women were not heard by the police, resulting in more victims and ultimately resulting in a landmark case brought against the Met. Jeff’s scripts, as always, are brilliant in bringing this difficult but important story to the screen, and I am delighted that Julia Ford will be directing the piece.”

The drama will air on ITV1 and STV and be available for streaming on ITVX and STV Player. Believe Me is produced in association with, and distributed by, ITV Studios.

Believe Me will be filmed in Cardiff and is produced with the support of the Welsh government via Creative Wales.